Ferris 12, Grand Valley 2

ALLENDALE - Playing well on the road, Ferris State University rolled to a 12-2 five-inning win over Grand Valley State University to sweep a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series on the home field of the Lakers.

The Bulldogs continued to hit the ball well as Ferris pounded out 12 runs on 12 hits. It was a hit party for Ferris as Chelsea Morris had three hits and an RBI, Rachel Wade has two hits and three RBI, Rhea Flores had three hits, Makenzi Peterson had a hit and an RBI, Rachel Mueller had a hit and an RBI, and Amanda Harrington had a hit and two RBI.

The Bulldogs scored once in the first, five times in the third and six times in the fourth.

Kayle Stevenson earned the win as she pitched five innings, allowed six hits, two runs (one earned), four walks and had three strikeouts. With the win, Stevenson improved to 12-6 on the season.

With the win, Ferris improves to 26-16 overall and 17-9 in GLIAC competition.

Bulldogs Split With Lakers In GLIAC Twinbill

BIG RAPIDS - The two long-time West Michigan rivals hit the diamond against each other for the first time this season as Ferris State University hosted Grand Valley State University in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball doubleheader at the FSU Softball Field in Big Rapids on Wednesday.

With the GLIAC softball standings so tight (six teams still feeling they have a shot at winning the whole thing), every game of every doubleheader weighs even more heavily during the final few weeks of the regular season. Wednesday, by the time the dust settled (literally and figuratively), the rivals settled for a split as the Lakers were 1-0 winners in game one before the Bulldogs bounced back for a 2-0 victory in game two to salvage a split in a pair of well-played softball contests.

After starting 2-3 in the GLIAC, the Bulldogs have since improved to 7-4 in league action, but are focused only on the next game.

"We look at each game separately and we try not to look back and we really focus on making sure we're always looking forward," junior outfielder Colleen Roney said Wednesday when asked about the way the team has bounced back since the tough early start to the GLIAC schedule with two losses to nationally-ranked Saginaw Valley State University and one to an underrated Northwood University squad. "Every time we go out to a new game we think that we're on top and we're going to look to get ahead. We want to always make sure we're playing our game."

Ferris' Dana Bowler (5-5) and Grand Valley's Katie Martin (9-4) both pitched gems in a first game that saw the teams combine for just seven hits. The difference in the game was a fourth-inning RBI hit by GVSU catcher Carli Raisutis, who drove in the contest's lone run. Martin allowed four hits and struck out seven Bulldogs. It spoiled a solid pitching effort by Bowler, who threw seven innings, allowed three hits, the one run (earned) and recorded 10 strikeouts.

Offensively, senior center fielder Rachel Wade, sophomore first baseman Chelsea Morris, Roney and junior shortstop Lynsay Weaver each had one hit for the host Bulldogs.

In game two, Ferris scored once in the third inning and one more in the fourth inning for all the run support pitcher senior pitcher Kayle Stevenson needed. Stevenson was superb as she allowed three hits, no runs, walked four and struck out two for her sixth win of the season.

Freshman left fielder Morgan Kramerich batted 3-for-3 at the dish, Wade was 1-for-4 with an RBI and junior catcher Rachel Mueller finished 1-for-2 with a run driven in. In all, the Bulldogs posted two runs on six hits with one error while they held the Lakers of 20th-year head coach Doug Woods scoreless on three hits.

With the split, Ferris now is 16-11 overall and 7-4 in the GLIAC while Grand Valley is 20-12 overall and 8-4 in conference action.

Next up, the Bulldogs host Tiffin University in a doubleheader on April 17 beginning at 1 p.m.

Photo by Sandy Gholston

SPRING 2008 BLOG 15: Grand Valley or not … any win is a big win nowadays

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – Sure, Ferris State was eager to host a doubleheader against long-time archrival Grand Valley State and, yes, the Lakers entered the twinbill ranked 15th nationally.

Still, Wednesday’s 2-1 and 1-0 wins against the Lakers were important for those reasons and more. Races for the regular-season Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and spots in the regional rankings are highly-competitive right now. Ferris, however, took two major steps by sweeping nationally-ranked Grand Valley in a pair of hard-fought battles where defense and pitching ruled the day while the offense was just good enough to get the job done at the FSU Softball Field.

With the conference standings as tightly-compacted at the top as they have been, no one needed to remind Ferris head coach Keri Becker of the importance of Wednesday’s games.

“This was a much-needed sweep for us,” admitted Becker, whose Bulldogs improved to 20-11 overall and 11-3 in the GLIAC to reclaim sole possession of second place behind league leader Wayne State. “It’s always good when you can get wins over Grand Valley, with the rivalry and everything, but at this stage of the season every win is a big one in this conference and we needed to get these wins to keep pace.”

The Bulldogs used to strong pitching performances from juniors Sarah Mueller and Holly Bruntjens. Mueller earned the victory in game one as she threw all seven innings, allowed seven hits, one run (earned), walked none and struck out a pair. Perhaps most impressive of all, for Mueller, was to only surrender one run with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning with no outs. From there, the California native shut the door shut on the Lakers – with the help of a tough defense in support of her. In the nightcap, Bruntjens was on her game. She allowed just three hits with two strikeouts in seven innings against a potent Laker lineup.

The offense wasn’t as strong as it has been this spring, but it got the job done when it counted.

In the opener, Mueller batted 2-for-3 with a run driven in while Krystle Bailey, a junior catcher, was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Both runs were scored in the bottom of the third as Ferris took the lead for good. In game two, Ferris busted up a scoreless tie in the fifth as Bruntjens was credited with an RBI on a groundout to second that plated junior shortstop McKenzie West for the game’s only run.

When it was all over, after Bruntjens and the defense held strong in the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs finally were able to exhale.

“It feels good for us coming off a tough weekend (GLIAC splits at Findlay and Ashland) we had in Ohio to be able to get two wins like this … especially against Grand Valley,” said Ferris senior third baseman Katie Kraai, who had two strong defensive games at third base. “Our defense stepped up and our pitching was really good. We didn’t score as many runs as we would have liked to, but we got what we needed to get the wins and that is what was most important.”