Softball head coach Keri Becker recorded her 400th career victory on Saturday in a 4-1 victory over Tiffin.
The Bulldogs grabbed split two doubleheaders as they came out with a 2-2 record for the weekend.
After splitting the weekend with Ashland and Tiffin, Ferris improved to 18-13 overall this season and 9-6 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs improved to fifth in the conference standings.
On Saturday, Ferris lost 4-3 to Tiffin in the first game and won the second game of the doubleheader 4-1. Becker, in her 13th season with the bulldogs, is the all-time winningest coach in FSU softball history.
The Bulldogs got out to an early lead with a run in the first inning of the second game. Sophomore third baseman Makenzie Peterson drilled in the first run and finished the day with two RBIs on two hits. Senior pitcher Kayle Stevenson allowed one run on five hits over four innings of work.
In the first game, freshman pitcher Dana Bowler opened with four scoreless innings and tallied nine strikeouts on the day. Tiffin recorded eight hits on the day and scored four runs over the final three innings. The Bulldogs late sixth-inning rally was not enough to overcome a three-run deficit.
“Those are games we need to win down the stretch and the sting of yesterdays’ games are a little bit worse now with a win over Ashland,” said Becker.
With a 3-1 win over NCAA Division II Midwest Region No. 2-ranked Ashland in game two on Sunday, the Bulldogs showed they could tussle with teams atop the GLIAC standings and region rankings. Ferris allowed five hits and committed no errors in the victory. Sophomore first baseman Chelsea Morris hit a two-RBI single in the fourth, helping the Bulldogs get the victory.
“Being able to steal one from Ashland is a good accomplishment because Ashland is a very good team,” said Becker.
Splitting the weekend was not what Becker had in mind, but with a 6-3 loss in the first game of the doubleheader, that is all she could hope for. Ashland managed to bat in six runs on eight hits and Ferris committed three errors in the loss.
“The offense needs to do their job a little bit better with a little bit more timely hitting,” said Becker.
Pitching is what has kept the Bulldogs in games and Becker plans to rely on pitching to help the offense throughout the end of the season. Ferris has allowed five or more runs once in its previous nine contests. Becker said the pitching has kept the team close most of the season and will rely on the pitching for the rest of the year.
With the GLIAC Tournament three weeks away, Becker says that she thinks a handful of teams will be all jumbled up. The top seven teams in the conference standings are separated by six games or less.
“I think everybody is going to have about the same amount of wins and the same amount of losses,” said Becker. “It’s really going to be a crapshoot for who’s going to be in the tournament, which makes it exciting.”Softball season ups and downs