GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The University of Michigan-Dearborn softball team gave No. 8 Davenport University all it could handle in a critical Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference doubleheader Friday in Grand Rapids, Mich.
In front of a large crowd of Wolverine supporters, UM-Dearborn was edged 4-0 in the opener before a thrilling finale that saw two lead changes in the seventh inning. The Panthers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh of game two to secure a 7-6 win and clinch a share of the WHAC regular season title.
With a WHAC record of 15-4-1, the Wolverines will go to Siena Heights University to finish a tie game from earlier in the season that was called due to darkness. If UM-Dearborn comes away with a win, it would create a three-way tie for the WHAC regular season title, with the Wolverines sharing the crown with Davenport and Madonna University, which split a pair with Aquinas College on Friday.
The Wolverines and Saints are in the eighth inning with the Wolverines at the plate. UM-Dearborn has runners on first and second with no outs. A win would give the softball program its first ever WHAC regular season championship. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in Adrian, Mich.
Game one saw a pitchers dual through three. Davenport got a two-run home run in the fourth and added two in the fifth. Emily Maves allowed just two Wolverine hits, pitching all seven innings for the Panthers. Gina Verduzco (JR/Portage, MI) took the loss for UM-Dearborn, tossing six innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on 10 hits, while striking out six.
The Wolverines got a jump start in the second game when Sarah Prashad (SO/Mississauga, Ontario) laced a triple to the fence to drive in Taylor Moceri (SR/Sterling Heights, MI). Prashad scored on a squeeze play two batters later to make it 2-0. The Panthers tied the score with a pair in the bottom of the frame. UM-Dearborn went right back in front with an RBI triple from Moceri in the second inning, followed by an RBI single from Prashad. With a run in the bottom of the second from Davenport, the score moved to 4-3 and stayed that way until the fifth.
The Panthers got a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead into the seventh, setting the stage for a Wolverine rally. With one out in the inning, Rachel Clem (SO/Stevensville, MI) blasted her first career home run over the centerfield fence to tie the score. Before the large Wolverine crowd could settle back in, Riley Hison (SO/Macomb Township, MI) singled and scored on a Moceri triple to give the Wolverines a one-run lead.
The Panthers battled back again, finding two runs in the bottom half to take the game 7-6.
