Ferris State Returns To Field And Registers Split In Sunshine State Thursday

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University softball squad returned to the field on Thursday (March 8) for a pair of non-league games at The Spring Games in Florida and finished with yet another split as action continued in the Sunshine State.

After a day off Wednesday, the Bulldogs hit the field for an early afternoon twinbill, falling to Saint Anselm 4-1 in the opener before responding with a decisive 10-0 triumph over New York Institute of Technology in a six-inning nightcap.

In the opener, the Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead over Saint Anselm before the opponents' responded with a four-run frame in the fifth to account for the final score. Saint Anselm totaled nine hits to five for FSU in the setback.

Ferris State was led at the plate by third baseman Lexi Hongisto and leftfielder Emily Smith as each tallied a pair of hits. Smith tripled while Hongisto doubled with Emily Reed accounting for FSU's lone RBI in the contest.

In the cirlce, Hannah Leppek gave up no runs on two hits in two and a third innings with Sam Bates allowing four runs on seven hits in four and two-thirds innings in the loss.

Ferris State bounced back in a big way, though, as the Bulldogs managed four runs in the first inning and added five more in the sixth to shutout NYIT 10-0 in six innings. FSU had 10 hits in game two to only two for the opponents.

In the second game, the trio of Smith, Hongisto and Jacki Stone each managed two hits. Both Hongisto and Sawyer Wightman drove in two runs with Kayla Chamberlain and Stone notching doubles along with triples from Hongisto and Stone.

Abby Highway hurled five innings of two-hit, shuotut action with Katie Ross throwing a single scoreless inning for FSU. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts and gave up only two hits.

The Bulldogs, who are now 4-4 in Florida, return to the field on Friday (March 9) with a regional tilt against Ursuline at 2 p.m. (ET) followed by a game against Merrimack at 4:30 p.m. FSU then wraps up the tourney on Saturday (March 10) with two more contests before returning back to Big Rapids.