Ferris Battles To Win Over Mercyhurst

MIDLAND – It wasn’t pretty, but Ferris State University opened the 2008 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Mercyhurst at Currie Stadium in Emerson Park.

Sarah Mueller, a junior who played center field, finished with one hit in three trips to the plate and had two runs driven in. That was at the top of the order, Where the Lakers may have really been hurt was at the bottom of Ferris’ lineup where redshirt freshman Rachel Wade, batting eighth, and junior pitcher Holly Bruntjens, batting ninth, inflicted some of the damage. Wade batted 2-for-3 with a run scored and one driven in while Bruntjens had two hits in three trips with a run scored.

Junior first baseman Amanda Jager had two hits in two trips to the plate with a run scored and a walk.

“I think we had a little too much tension out there on the field and we definitely are going to need to loosen up a little and get back to playing our game,” said Ferris head coach Keri Becker, who was named the 2008 “Michael J. Corbett” GLIAC Coach of the Year. “We know we’re going to need to play better and we’re going to need to score some more runs as we go through this tournament.”

In the circle, Holly Bruntjens was her usual steady self as she tossed seven innings, allowed five hits, one run (earned), walked none and struck out four. The Bulldogs committed a couple of errors, but they were able to overcome those miscues by playing overall steady from start to finish in the contest. It wasn’t the prettiest victory, but a win is a win.

In spite of the win, Becker knows her team has to play better in its next game on Friday, scheduled to be against a Saginaw Valley State team that has been near the top of the conference standings all season.