After a solid start to the season, the Bulldogs softball team has hit a rough patch following a seven-game winning streak, winning just one of their last five as of Monday.
Ferris lost two matchups against Davenport by 6-4 and 7-5 on Wednesday, March 26. After, they split the home opener against Purdue Northwest, winning the first game 12-6, thanks to a sixth-inning grand slam from first baseman Alexis Kozlowski, before losing the second game by a score of 3-2.
this season. Photo by: Ciara Brooks | Torch Photographer
The Bulldogs hope to get back on track at home in their first-ever matchup against the newest conference members, the Roosevelt Lakers (9-17, 3-5 in GLIAC).
Junior second baseman Jadyn Joseph is excited to be back on home turf after the long schedule away from home to open the season.
“We’re excited to return home after the continuous improvements we had throughout our preseason,” Joseph said. “We have had great support from the parents and many of them travel to watch us play, so they were at our games in Hawaii, Florida, Ohio and Chicago. We’re excited to keep winning on our home field and play in front of more fans as our games become more local.”
The Lakers have lost three of their last five games, dropping their most recent doubleheader against Wayne State by scores of 6-4 and 9-3. Roosevelt is led on offense by sophomore outfielder Ella Dvoracek, who sports a strong .398 batting average while adding two home runs, eight RBIs and a .477 slugging percentage.
Over the last five games, Kozlowski has been a one-woman wrecking crew for the Bulldogs, sporting a .500 average, two home runs, 11 RBIs, six walks and three stolen bases. Kozlowski currently sits 10th in the GLIAC for her batting average with .382 and a .450 on-base percentage, she’s tied for fifth in RBIs with 23 and sits fourth in slugging percentage with .676.
Despite the Bulldogs recent woes, senior outfielder Riley Kish has confidence in the team’s ability to persevere through this rough patch.
“Our team has performed really well thus far with a few hiccups here and there,” Kish said. “This sport is a game of failure and oftentimes we forget that it really is anyone’s game like I said before. Our offense has been really strong averaging about five runs a game and our defense has played solid. I really believe we are bench-deep and trust each person to perform when their time comes. Our pitchers have worked endlessly and I think we all just have a little fine-tuning to do after our recent loss.”
The Bulldogs face off against the Wisconsin Parkside Rangers (13-13, 4-4 in GLIAC). Over the past two seasons, the Rangers have won five of the nine matchups against the Bulldogs while having a record of 21-19 vs Ferris.
The Rangers have one of the best offenses in the GLIAC, hitting a division-leading 31 total home runs and the best team slugging percentage with .475. Fourteen of those home runs have come from junior catcher Mia Johnson. Johnson leads the GLIAC in home runs, slugging a percentage of 1.034 and an on-base percentage of .518.
Head coach Jake Schumann wants his pitchers ready for the challenge in the Rangers and to ensure the Rangers hitters are off balance.
“The mind set for our pitching staff is to throw strikes and keep hitters off balance as they allow our defense to work,” Schumann said. “Parkside has a strong offense and our goal will be to change speed and location to keep them from getting on a roll.”
The Bulldogs first host the Roosevelt Lakers on Saturday, April 5 at 1 p.m. and again at 3 p.m. The next day, the Wisconsin Parkside Rangers come to town on Sunday, April 6 for games at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.