Two Walk-Offs Give Softball Home Sweep Vs. Ferris State

Head coach Emlyn Knerem is seeing her young Ashland University softball team grow up in front of her eyes.
 
The Eagles began a 16-game homestand on Friday (April 23) at Brookside Park, and they came away with two walk-off wins against Ferris State, 4-3 and 3-2 in eight innings. Ashland improves to 11-17 overall and 8-10 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Bulldogs are 11-18, 4-15.
 
Since starting the season at 2-11, the Eagles have gone 9-6 in their last 15 games. Ashland has vaulted from last place in the GLIAC to a tie for fourth place, and of its 11 wins so far in 2021, eight have come after it has trailed through the fourth inning or later.
 
"We have so many weapons in our lineup, and even on the bench," Knerem said. "You never know who's going to come up with that big hit. It could be someone different every game, which is really, really cool, and really fun, because we don't have to rely on the same person."
 
Ashland wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in Game 1, as sophomore third baseman Hailey Struckman lifted a sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the first inning. Struckman then struck again in the bottom of the third, as her run-scoring double lifted the Eagles to a 2-0 advantage.
 
Ferris State dented the score column in the top of the sixth, scoring twice to tie the game at 2-all, then the Bulldogs went ahead in the top of the seventh with a single tally. But that only set up Struckman for her bottom-of-the-seventh heroics – a one-out, two-run game-winning single.
 
Sophomore pitcher Kayla Ruperto (4-5) got the win following a scoreless seventh inning in relief. She also was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, and Struckman drove in all four runs and was 2-for-3.
 
The Bulldogs scored first in the nightcap, on an unusual play in the top of the first inning. An infield fly rule was called, but the ball wasn't caught and went into the outfield, allowing Ferris State to strike first.
 
Struckman, however, made sure that FSU lead was short-lived. Her fifth RBI of the doubledip, a single to right field, knotted Game 2 at 1 in the bottom of the first.
 
Ferris State once again pulled ahead with a run in the top of the second, and the score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when senior left fielder Alli Hylton drew a bases-loaded two-out walk to re-tie the game at 2.
 
The Eagles had a chance to end the game in regulation, loading the bases, but an inning-ending double play forced extra innings. It just took one pitch in the bottom of the eighth, however, to end the game in AU's favor, as freshman pinch hitter Jillian Middleton hit her third home run of the campaign.
 
"I knew I had to come in and get the job done," Middleton said. "We have a sophomore class of seven and a freshman class of three who haven't really gotten a season. We're very young, and I think that's to our advantage, because no one knows what we have."
 
Sophomore pitcher Josie Duncan struck out a career-high 13 in the complete-game win, allowing six hits, two runs and two walks. Her strikeout total is the most for an Eagle since Hannah Stroe's 14 whiffs against Ohio Dominican on March 16, 2019.
 
"It's very exciting," Duncan said. "It's coming along in the hitting the most. We've come a long way in the batter's box. It's very nice to know that everybody has our back."
 
"That's not a typical outing for her, really any of our staff," said Knerem of the strikeout total. "Our staff, we are not strikeout pitchers. But it was really nice to see her work today and mix pitches and hit spots and be able to get those outs when we needed them."
 
Struckman was 3-for-4 with an RBI, senior shortstop Abigail Butler was 3-for-4, and sophomore outfielder Haylee Frost was 2-for-2.
 
Of Struckman, Knerem said, "She had the hot bat today. She's been working really hard in practice. She's seeing the ball well and putting the ball in play hard."
 
Struckman said, "Once we're out on the field together for so long, we all just click. It's starting to show right now. We're all doing a job. We want so badly to pass that bat to the girl behind us, so they can get that opportunity."
 
In addition to the winning of late, Ashland's as healthy as a whole as it's been since the season started. Sophomore outfielder Lauren McMillin returned in a pinch-running role on Friday, playing for the first time since Feb. 21.
 
"We finally got the green light today, and she was really excited," Knerem said, "and you can tell how much the girls care about each other in that situation, that they were excited to see her out on the field."
 
Ashland will continue the homestand on Senior Day on Sunday (April 25) at noon vs. No. 14-ranked Grand Valley State.