Ferris State Softball Wraps Up Five-Straight Days Of Action With Road Split

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University softball team wrapped up a busy stretch of five consecutive days of action with a split on Sunday (April 17) against Ohio Dominican in Columbus, Ohio.

The Bulldogs, who had swept two of their previous three days of action, dropped a 5-4 decision in the opener at Panther field, but came back to record a 2-1 victory in game two to conclude the weekend.

After the league road split, FSU now wons a 26-16 overall record and is presently 11-7 in the GLIAC to date heading into an eight-game conference homestand.

Host ODU struck first in the opener with two runs in the first inning, but FSU came back to put three runs on the board in the third to grab a 3-2 lead. However, the Panthers answered by scoring three runs in the fourth and limited the Bulldogs to only a single run the rest of the way in the sixth while earning the one-run victory despite being outhit 8-6 by FSU.

Senior Megan Vanderwal hurled three and two-thirds innings for Ferris State with five runs given up on six hits. Fellow senior Stacy Thompson allowed no runs or hits in two and one-third innings of action.

The Bulldogs were paced by third baseman Bailey Darwin's three hits in the game. She also scored a run and had an RBI to help the FSU cause. Meanwhile, Emily Reed had a squad-best two RBI's on a single hit while Alexis Hongisto notched two runs and batted in a run. Sam Bates doubled and scored for Ferris State while Alexx Astorga also posted a hit.

Casey Murdoch earned the win for ODU as she gave up only a single run on three hits in two and two-thirds innings. Abby Lamping came up with the save after tossing four and a third innings with FSU compiling three runs on five hits in her appearance.

In game two, all three runs were scored in the second inning as ODU jumped out in front first before the Bulldogs answered with a two RBI double to center from Emily Smith, which scored both Sarah Johnson and Alexis Hongisto for the eventual game-winning runs.

The two squads combined for only seven hits in the nightcap with FSU owning a 5-2 edge at the plate. Along with Smith's double, Darwin, Casey Bias, Johnston and Astorga also had hits.

Thompson earned the victory in the circle as she pitched a two-hitter with only a single run scored. She notched three strikeouts and walked one in seven innings of action. Lamping suffered the loss for the Panthers after allowing two runs on five hits in six innings of work.

Ferris State will play its remaining conference regular-season games back at home this week. FSU opens the stretch on Tuesday (April 19) hosting Northwood at the FSU Softball Field starting with game one at 3:30 p.m. (ET) and game two to follow at approximately 5:30 p.m. (ET).

The Bulldogs are then also at home for league twinbills against Walsh on Friday (April 22) followed by Malone on Saturday (April 23) and Findlay on Sunday (April 24).