Starting April 29, Ashland University women’s softball traveled to Akron’s Firestone Stadium to play in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship.
The Eagles went 3-2 in the tournament, winning against Northwood, Ohio Dominican and Hillsdale. Both losses were to the Oilers.
Their first match-up in the first round was against the Northwood Timberwolves, which the Eagles defeated in a 5-1 final score.
The Eagles took an early lead in that game, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first, and adding one run in both the second and fourth innings. Senior pitcher and All-Tournament player Delaney Lis was the winning pitcher for the Eagles, pitching all seven innings and allowing only one earned run and six hits. She has two strikeouts (SO) and no walks as well.
The Eagles then advanced to the second round on April 30 where they took on the Ohio Dominican Panthers.
This game was much closer, as the Eagles scored one run in the top of the first, thanks to a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Danielle Robbins. The game remained scoreless after that.
Lis once again got the win. She pitched 5.2 innings allowing four hits and walked three.
Redshirt Freshman Olivia Amstutz finished off the game, pitching 1.1 innings and allowing no hits.
The Eagles then turned to the semifinal matchup against the Findlay Oilers on May 1. The Eagles went into the matchup confident after their previous two wins.
The Oilers did not make it easy though. The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth, where the Oilers scored eight runs. The Eagles responded with one run in the bottom of the fifth, and then the Oilers addedseven more runs in the top of the sixth inning, making the final score 15-1.
The Eagles quickly recovered though, preparing for the consolation round against the Hillsdale Chargers.
The Chargers got on the board early with a solo home run in the top of the first. Then, in the bottom of the third, senior third baseman and G-MAC All-tournament player Amanda Kolar singled, scoring two to take the lead.
The Chargers responded with a run in the fourth and three in the fifth to retake the lead.
However, that would change in the bottom of the fifth. Junior shortstop and All-Tournament team player Sophia Martin hit a go-ahead grandslam to give the Eagles the edge they needed to head to the championship game. The final score ended up 6-5.
The Eagles then rested up to return for the final on May 2, where they would face the oilers again.
For the championship game, the Oilers got two runs in the first three innings and three runs in the fourth to lead 9-0.
The Eagles responded in the top of the fifth with a three run homer by Kolar and a two run homer by Martin in the top of the sixth, but that would be the end of the Eagles rally.
The Oilers were able to use their lead against the Eagles, securing the win for the G-MAC championship. This is the Oilers first ever G-MAC softball title.
The Eagles now await to see if they will be an at-large entry into the Division II postseason tournament. Currently, the Eagles sit at No. 5 in the Midwest reigon softball rankings, which puts them under consideration.
The tournaent selection show will be on Monday, May 11 at 10 a.m. on NCAA.com.
