Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 In the world of fund raising, contributions are closely tracked and broken down by who gives what and when.
On Saturday (Mar. 24) at Brookside Park, AU softball coach Sheilah Gulas didn't need a spreadsheet to remember who is pledging. In a sweep of Saginaw Valley State, there were no nickel-and-dime contributions. Everything that came in was a major gift.
Senior pitcher Emlyn Knerem (Brunswick, Ohio) earned a win and a save as AU stopped the Cardinals (9-9/2-2 GLIAC), 3-2 in 10 innings and 5-4. Knerem went the route in the first game, lifting her record to 14-0. In the nightcap, she got her second save of the season with two innings of work.
Sophomore outfielder Carly West (Ashland, Ohio/Hillsdale), known predominately as a slap hitter, clubbed a two-out double over the head of SVSU left fielder Jenna Holmes in the bottom of the ninth inning in the first game. That hit tied the game, 2-2. West, hitting ninth in the order, was 2-for-3.
Senior third baseman Alyssa Kelley (Mentor, Ohio), steady with both the glove and the bat, went 5-for-7 on the day with two RBI. She had the game-winning RBI in the first game. Freshman pitcher Amber McDermott (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) got the victory in the second game, going five innings and allowing two runs. Her record is 4-2.
These weren't insignificant victories either. SVSU went to the NCAA Division II World Series last season. Also, with these two wins, AU is off to a 3-1 start in conference play and is 19-5 overall. Tomorrow (Mar. 25, noon), Lake Superior comes to town to complete a busy weekend.
In Saturday's first game, Knerem and SVSU ace Alexa Gehrls (7-2) locked up in a battle where hits were as uncommon as wheat pennies. Gehrls allowed a homer to AU designated player Jerrica Young (Loudonville, Ohio) in the first inning and didn't permit another run until the ninth when West's double brought in catcher Tawna Garver (Mansfield, Ohio/Hillsdale) who led off the inning with a double.
In the 10th, the teams began using the international tie-breaker, which means every inning begins with a runner on second base. In the 10th, that was second baseman Cayla Seidler (Massillon, Ohio/Massillon Washington), who came home to score with one out on a single up the middle by Kelley.
Knerem silenced the Cards for most of that first game. Shortstop Kailah Happ tied the game, 1-1 with a homer to left field in the fifth inning and in the ninth, Natalie Wellman homered down the left-field line. Knerem had difficulty with Wellman throughout the first game, the SVSU outfielder went 3-for-4, accounting for half of the Cardinals' hits.
In the second game, Ashland broke out on top, 3-0 after two innings and led, 5-1 after six frames. With that early lead, McDermott took to pumping strikes and she didn't tire until the sixth when her pitches began to catch a lot of home plate. First baseman Lindsay Hayward singled to drive in a run and bring the Cards to within, 5-2. Hayward would finish 3-for-4 with four RBI.
That sixth inning could have been much worse for AU. When the Eagles hooked McDermott, SVSU had scored once and had the bases loaded and no one out. Knerem entered and retired three consecutive hitters to extinguish the fire.
But Knerem would experience more danger in the seventh. Happ led off with a single and after second baseman Ashley Coffin went down on strikes, Wellman doubled her to third. Hayward followed with a double to plate two runs. Knerem ended the uprising by getting designated player Mallie Hall to ground out to third base.
Kelley was 3-for-4 in the second game. AU collected nine hits off the SVSU duo of Jillian Williamson and Jill Kaltz. Williamson (2-7), who started and lasted five innings, took the loss.
AU
SOFT/ALK
