Nationally 13th-Ranked Wayne State Tops Bulldogs In League Twinbill In Motor City

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University softball team opened a busy stretch with a pair of road setbacks to nationally 13th-ranked Wayne State in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Wednesday (April 13) in Detroit.

The host Warriors grabbed a 7-2 victory in the opening game of the twinbill at the WSU Softball Stadium and then capped the sweep with a 5-2 win over the Bulldogs in the nightcap.

The two games began a stretch of five-straight days of conference play for FSU, which is slated to host Lake Superior State in GLIAC play on Thursday (April 14) in the first home action at the FSU Softball Field.

In the opening game against the Warriors, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the opening inning of action with a pair of runs in their first at-bat of the game. However, the Warriors responded to tie it up after two and then built a 4-2 lead heading into the sixth when they added three more runs to account for the final margin.

Wayne State's Lyndsay Butler won her 19th game of the year in the circle by compiling nine strikeouts and gave up only two runs on four hits in the complete game performance. Meanwhile, Megan Vanderwal threw three innings for FSU with three runs and three hits allowed while Megan Jean also tossed three frames and allowed four runs on six hits.

Ferris State was outhit 9-4 for the game with a hit apiece from Alexx Astorga, Michelle Tononi, Casey Bias and Alexis Hongisto. Both Bias and Hongisto drove in runs and Astorga stole two bases for the Bulldogs while also scoring a run.

In game two, it was Wayne State that jumped out to the early lead with two runs in the first inning. However, the Bulldogs answered with two runs in the second before WSU took a 3-2 lead in the third. The score stood until Wayne State finished with two insurance runs in the seventh to notch the win. The Warriors totaled 10 hits to seven for the Bulldogs.

FSU senior Stacy Thompson threw all seven innings for the Bulldogs and gave up five runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and a walk. Meanwhile, WSU's Mackenzie Boehler allowed two runs on seven hits with five K's while moving to 10-2 on the year for the Warriors as they improved to 31-4 overall and 10-0 in the GLIAC.

Ferris State's seven hits included two each from Emily Smith, Sarah Johnson and Alyssa Smith. Both Emily Smith notched two RBI's and doubled with the Bulldogs also receiving a double off the bat of Johnson. Astorga also had a hit for FSU in the setback.

With the two losses, the Bulldogs fell to 21-13 overall and 6-4 in the GLIAC to date this campaign. The two games represented FSU's first action in more than a week and only the second twinbill in the last two weeks.

Thursday's home action versus LSSU will begin with game one at 3:30 p.m. (ET) followed by the nightcap at approximately 5:30 p.m. (ET). The Bulldogs are then also slated to host Hillsdale on Friday (April 15) in a home league twinbill before traveling to Tiffin and Ohio Dominican this weekend.

Ferris State is presently ranked eighth in the initial NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Rankings this campaign.