Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The winning feeling was back at Brookside.
Ashland University's softball team snapped its three-game losing streak on Tuesday (March 29) with a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of Malone, 3-0 and 10-2 in five innings, at Brookside Park.
"Definitely felt good," said Ashland head coach Sheilah Gulas. "I thought, defensively, we made some strong plays, pitching was solid and the thing I liked about offense today is we really had opportunities in multiple innings in both games."
The Eagles improve to 12-13 overall and 3-3 in the GLIAC, while the Pioneers are 10-10, 1-5.
Ashland got on the board first in Game 1 thanks to an RBI double by sophomore third baseman Marissa Caraballo in the bottom of the second inning. The Eagles' second and third runs came home in the fifth on back-to-back Pioneer errors.
Senior left-handed pitcher Sarah Alley more than made that lead stand up, authoring a three-hit shutout. She struck out five and walked two to improve to 5-5.
Alley also was 2-for-3 at the plate in the opener.
"She had a real strong weekend last weekend, and has carried it into this week," Gulas said.
In the nightcap, Malone scored twice the bottom of the first, but the Eagles responded with two runs in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by sophomore pinch-hitter Sadie Cunningham and an RBI infield single by junior center fielder Ally Farrah.
Ashland took the lead in the top of the third on an RBI single by junior second baseman Kalene Freshour, then Caraballo followed with a run-scoring double and junior shortstop Alexis Van Horn came through with an RBI fielder's choice bunt. Caraballo then stole home for the inning's fourth run, and the fifth came home on an RBI single by Farrah.
Senior first baseman Jen Moore capped off the eight-run explosion with a three-run home run, her fifth of the season.
Moore was 2-for-4 with the homer, a double and three RBIs, and Farrah was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Senior Brittany Flanigan pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to improve to 5-3.
"We finally got to .500 in the GLIAC today, so that's a big thing for us right now," Moore said. "Hopefully, we carry that into tomorrow. We're feeling what it's like to be the winners again. Having that under our belts and understanding what it feels like…I think it's going to help us a lot."
Ashland will play host to Michigan-Dearborn in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday (March 30) at 4 p.m. at Brookside Park. The twinbill was moved up from Thursday (March 31) due to impending rain.
"It's just another opportunity to play," Gulas said. "This team needs to see more pitching, we need more at-bats, we need live baserunning, and anything that we could put together in a practice tomorrow isn't as good as we're going to have in a live situation."
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