Softball Splits At Home With Dragons In Pair Of 4-3 Games

Sophomore catcher Delaney Keith's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning finished off a three-run rally for Ashland University's softball team in Wednesday's (April 23) opener at Deb Miller Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex, and led to a doubleheader split vs. Tiffin.
 
After winning 4-3 and losing 4-3 on Wednesday, the Eagles, who already have clinched a spot in the 2025 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament, are 23-18 overall and 13-8 in the league. The No. 18-ranked Dragons are 37-11, 19-3.
 
"That's definitely something we needed," said Ashland head coach Jackie Price, who got a split on her birthday, "not only going into this weekend, but also next week. It's good to see us kind of figuring it out. There's some fight, and there's some adjustments being made.
 
"Overall, it's a really good confidence-builder for us."
 
Tiffin broke the scoreless tie with a run in the top of the second of Game 1, then added two more runs in the third. Ashland got on the board in the bottom of the third when senior right fielder Chloe McClure delivered an RBI single.
 
The score stayed at 3-1 until the bottom of the seventh, when McClure drew a bases-loaded walk with one out to get AU closer. Junior second baseman Danielle Robbins, who earlier in the contest set a new program record for career steals with 64, tied the game on an RBI single down the left-field line – setting up Keith's game-winner.
 
"She is one of the kids who handles the pressure pretty well," Price noted. "We are lucky to have her in those moments."
 
To start the nightcap, the Dragons scored twice in the first, then the Eagles responded with a run in the second when sophomore center fielder Delaney Maynard came up with a run-scoring single.
 
Tiffin's two runs in the fifth frame extended its advantage to 4-1. Ashland, however, came back with two in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run single by senior designated player Cassidy Shaffer.
 
MORE ON THE STOLEN BASE RECORD…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• In the opener, Robbins was 2-for-3 with an RBI and the record-breaking steal, and Maynard (double) and Kolar (two runs scored, double) also finished 2-for-3.
• As for her new program record, passing AU Hall of Famer Sunny Litteral, Robbins said, "It feels really good. Sunny Litteral was a beast. It feels really good to be up there with her. It (today) was a really good confidence boost for us. To come out here and just play hard and do that was really good for us."
• Senior pitcher Bryn Grabowski (5-6) tossed the final 4 2/3 innings scoreless for the relief win, striking out five and allowing four hits and a walk.
• Freshman pitcher Abbe McNabb (1-1) allowed five hits, three runs and no walks in 4 1/3 innings in Game 2, but AU got another strong relief outing on Wednesday from sophomore pitcher Mady Hannahs – 2 2/3 frames, four hits, one unearned run, no walks, two strikeouts.
• "They came in and just commanded the field, commanded the mound," Price said of Grabowski and Hannahs.

UP NEXT
The final regular-season doubleheader of the season at home vs. Findlay (29-11, 16-4) at noon on Saturday (April 26).