Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Grand Rapids, MI - The Blue Devils softball team played a double header at on the road as they traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to play Cornerstone University. Both teams come into this game sitting in the middle of the pack of the conference standings. Cornerstone is one seed above LTU, so coming into these games were must win games for both squads. Game 1 was a nail biter as it was close all game. Clover Brandt was the Game 1 starting pitchers for the Blue Devils. The final score in Game 1 was. Game 2 starting pitcher was Makayla Benz. This game was a pitching duel from both teams.
Game 1 (LTU 4, CU 5): The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning scoring 2 runs. Callie Tatum tripled to right to drive in Sarah Hige. Later that inning, Brittney Wieland came up to the plate and grounded out to third base, but was able to still bring Tatum around to score. CU came back in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game back up at 2. LTU could not find anything going until the 6th inning. Mazie Lawler came up to bat and was able to find a gap in right field for a single that drove in Katie Courne. Hige also grounded out in the same inning, but Lauren Lanphear still was able to score. This brought the score to 4-5, LTU down by 1. That was all LTU had in the tank from the offensive side of things. CU was able to secure this win by a final of 4-5. Tatum went 2-4, 1 run and 1 RBI. Sidney Croskey went 2-3 on the day. Hige, Tatum, Lawler, and Wieland all had an RBI for the Blue Devils.
How it Happened: Clover Brandt got the call to start Game 1 for LTU. She pitched a complete game. She threw a total of 100 pitches. Brandt gave up 5 hits, 5 runs and 3 of those runs were earned. She only struck out 3 hitters while facing 28 batters.
LTU ended this game with 2 errors. The team's batting average in Game 1 was .300. LTU left 8 runners on base and had 3 KO's as a team,
Game 2 (LTU 6, CU 4): Game 2 starter on the mound for the Blue Devils was Madison Shumaker. Madison pitched 3.2 innings. She was pitching a great game, but got caught up in some trouble in the 4th inning, allowing 3 runs of her own. She gave up 6 hits while facing 20 batters. She struck out 3 and allowed 4 runs total. Replacing her was, Makayla Benz. Benz came in to finish the game for LTU. LTU was down 2-4 going into the top of the 6th, but LTU's offense gave Benz some run support, scoring 4 runs in the top half of the inning. This gave Benz a cushion and she settled down from there. Benz pitched 2.1 innings. Struck out 3 batters. Allowed no runs and faced 8 batters.
How it Happened: LTU struggled to get an offense going in this game, until a solid rally came in the top of the 6th inning. LTU scored 4 runs to take the lead. Wieland left of with a single, and Lawler, Elizabeth Coon, and Hige were all able to follow suit and snag a single for themselves which was able to drive in a couple of runs. More offense came from Tatum, where she reached on a fielder's choice to allow Lawler to come around and score. A couple batters later, Katie Courne stepped up to the plate, and blasted a double to left field and that drove in two more runs. That was a huge momentum shifter going into the last couple of innings. Benz was able to shut CU down in the final two innings, to cap off the victory by a final of 6-4. Hige went 3-4 with 1 run and 2 doubles. Tatum went 2-4, 2 runs, and 2 RBI and 1 double. Wieland went 2-4 with 1 run. Lawler and Coon both had 2 hits on the day as well. 10 players were able to find themselves with a hit in this one as the team ended to the game with 17 total hits.
The teams batting average in this game was .472, 6 RBI and only 1 KO and 2 errors on the game. LTU had 5 doubles and left 10 runners on base.
On Deck: The Blue Devils (11-14) next double header will be Saturday, April 24th at home. This game will be played at Detroit Country Day High School in Beverly Hills, MI. Game 1 is scheduled for 11 AM. Game 2 is scheduled for 1 PM.
