A six-run bottom of the seventh inning in Game 1 of Saturday's (April 29) doubleheader against Tiffin at Deb Miller Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex lifted Ashland University's softball team to a split with Tiffin, as the Eagles officially qualified for the 2023 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament.
Ashland is 20-26 overall and 12-10 in the Great Midwest. The Eagles are 12-4 at their new home this season, and after starting the season at 2-12, they are 18-14 in the last 32 games.
The Dragons are 21-24, 13-11, and also have made it to the league tournament.
Tiffin wasted little time jumping on top in Game 1, scoring four times in the top of the first inning. Tiffin added a run in the third for a 5-0 lead, then Ashland got on the board in the fourth with a two-out RBI single from sophomore shortstop
Maddy Burdette. The Dragons added another run in the top of the seventh for a 6-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the seventh, senior third baseman
Hailey Struckman's RBI single started the comeback, then sophomore first baseman
Lily Rockwell cut the deficit to 6-3 with a bases-loaded walk. Burdette's second RBI of the contest, a single, made it 6-4 with one out in the seventh – setting up Severns' heroics.
The second game started with the Dragons scoring twice in the second, then the Eagles responded in the bottom of the frame with an RBI infield single from freshman second baseman
Danielle Robbins.
Tiffin scored five times in the third to increase its lead to 7-1, then a single run in the fourth made it an 8-1 Dragon advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth, Robbins' RBI single made it 8-2, senior center fielder
Lauren McMillin's RBI groundout made it 8-3, and sophomore designated player
Cassidy Shaffer's run-scoring safety cut the deficit to 8-4.
The Dragons made it a 10-4 game in the fifth with a pair of runs, and they added two runs in the seventh for the final margin of victory.
NOTABLES
- Burdette was 3-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs in Game 1, and Robbins (2-for-4, run scored) and Struckman (2-for-4, run scored, RBI) each had two hits.
- Freshman pitcher Mady Hannahs (1-0) earned her first collegiate win by going the last four innings, allowing three hits, a run and a walk and striking out one.
- In Game 2, Robbins was 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Severns and Shaffer each had two of AU's 11 hits. Robbins has reached base 19 times in her last 29 plate appearances.
QUOTABLES
- "I don't think we put our best selves out on the field today," said Ashland head coach Emlyn Knerem. "I don't think, mentally, we were great today. We made some very uncharacteristic defensive errors today. We just have to be better."
- "I was hoping we could take that momentum into the next game," Knerem said. "When you start giving up runs and you are down by a six-, seven-, eight-run deficit, it can be discouraging."
- "She was hitting the ball on the nose, just right at people," Knerem said of Burdette, who is 7-for-14 with four RBIs in the last four games. "It was frustrating for her. It is starting to show now. She's poking the ball well. She's seeing the ball well."
UP NEXT
The last two regular-season games of 2023 on Sunday (April 30) at 1 p.m. at home vs. the Pioneers (14-26, 7-15).
