Softball Sweeps Vulcans Prior To Start Of Great Midwest Slate

On Wednesday (March 12), Ashland University's softball team played its final two games before the start of Great Midwest Athletic Conference play, topping California (Pa.) twice, 14-10 in eight innings and 8-5.

The Eagles move to 10-8, and the Vulcans are 3-15.
 
In Game 1, the Vulcans scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning, then the Eagles began to chip away. AU scored once in the third on an RBI single from sophomore left fielder Delaney Maynard, then added a second run in the fourth when sophomore right fielder Maren Metikosh did the same.
 
Ashland then kept the run going with a seven-spot in the fifth, as…

• Maynard collected an RBI single.
• Sophomore catcher Delaney Keith followed with a run-scoring safety.
• Sophomore third baseman Sophia Martin launched a two-run home run.
• Junior pitcher Delaney Lis hit her own solo homer.
• Maynard drove in two more runs with a single.

Cal Pa started its own rally with a run in the bottom of the fifth, then three more in the sixth, to tie the score at 9-9 – and force extra innings.
 
The "international tiebreaker" rule was used to start the eighth inning, and the Eagles took the lead with five runs on a Martin RBI double, a three-run homer from junior designated player Amanda Kolar, and junior center fielder Ashley Veldheer's run-scoring single.
 
In the nightcap, Ashland struck first, as Martin's RBI single and Keith's RBI double accounted for two runs in the top of the first. The Vulcans, however, plated four runs in the bottom of the first – keeping the twinbill back-and-forth going.
 
Martin returned serve with a run-scoring double in the third to cut the AU deficit to 4-3, then Metikosh's sacrifice fly in the same inning knotted the game at 4-4. Sophomore shortstop Sophia Smithnosky led off the fourth with a round-tripper to put the Eagles ahead, 5-4.
 
In the fifth, Ashland kept the run going thanks to a Keith RBI single. In the sixth, Maynard made it five runs in a row with a run-scoring double, then Martin six straight runs with a sacrifice fly.
 
BUNCHES OF RUNS…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• Ashland has scored 32 runs in the last three games – the program's most in that span since March 28-April 1, 2023 (33).
• In Wednesday's opener, Maynard was 3-for-6 with four RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base; Martin went 3-for-5 with a double, home run, three RBIs and three runs scored; and junior first baseman Sidney Payton finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base.
• Senior pitcher Bryn Grabowski (3-4) went the last three innings, struck out three and allowed three hits, two unearned runs and a walk.
• In the nightcap, freshman pitcher Abbe McNabb (1-0) earned her first collegiate victory, scattering seven hits, five runs (four earned) and two walks and striking out two in going the distance.
• Keith was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Martin went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and three runs scored; Maynard was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI; and Metikosh finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.

UP NEXT
The start of Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on Tuesday (March 18) at 3 p.m. vs. Lake Erie at Deb Miller Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex.