VIERA, Fla. – The University of Michigan-Dearborn (5-1) softball team needed clutch hitting on day three of their spring break trip to propel them to two victories. The Wolverines won in extra innings against Ave Maria (FL) (6-3) thanks to a six-run eighth inning and scored five runs in the final two innings against Huntington (4-1) to win 7-0.
Game One
The Wolverines battled against Ave Maria (FL) for the second of three games against the Gyrenes during their spring trip. After a quiet first two innings, the UM-Dearborn offense loaded the bases up in the third thanks to Shae Scott and Aspen Starr base hits and a walk from Makenna Millhorn. The following two batters, Mia Nightengale and Emily McCalla, each singled to score Scott and Millhorn. The Gyrenes needed to make a change in the circle to keep the game within reach, but Olivia Scott drew a walk to score UM-Dearborn's third run.
Amber Cheplick would lead off the fourth inning with a double to left field, and Scott would replace her with a double of her own, scoring Cheplick. Ave Maria would tag the Wolverine starter Paige Maltby for three runs in the fourth to trim the lead down to just one.
The Wolverine offense would score in the seventh inning when Olivia Scott hit a sac fly to center field to score Chloe Grimm and take a 5-3 lead. However, the Gyrenes would tie up the contest on a two-run single to right field in the bottom half of the inning.
With the game requiring extra innings, the eighth inning began with a runner of second base for both teams as a part of the international tie-breaker. Lanie Ellinger would draw a walk to start the inning, and with runners on second and third after a passed ball, Millhorn drove a single to right field to score Scott. The next two batters, Starr and Nightengale, delivered RBIs to make it 8-5 Wolverines. Then, Cheplick and Shae Scott would put together strong at-bats to help the Wolverines add three more runs after the team batted around.
Ellinger (2-1) would get credited with the win in relief as she shut down the Gyrenes in the bottom half of the inning after getting a pair of strikeouts. Maltby threw 4.1 innings in the circle scattering five hits and punching out four in her first start.
Game Two
The nightcap was all Wolverines, as they would limit the Foresters to just three hits. Starter Sydni Uhlenberg worked around a tight strike zone and limited the offense for four complete innings. UM-Dearborn scored two runs in the first two innings, highlighted by Olvia Scott's inside-the-park home run.
The Foresters had their best scoring chance in the fifth inning when they got their first two batters on base. Head Coach Vince Alessandrini made the call to the bullpen to bring Ellinger into the game. However, Ellinger got three ground outs to end the Forester threat and the inning.
The Wolverines would put the game out of reach in the final two innings scoring five runs in the last two frames thanks to RBI base hits from Cheplick, Shae Scott, and Marisa Vermiglio.
Uhlenber (3-0) was credited with the win after scattering three hits in her four innings of work. Ellinger was credited with the save throwing three complete innings and striking out three in relief.
