Oilers Softball Run in GLIAC Tournament Ends
The University of Findlay softball team went 1-1 on the second day of the 2013 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament, but was eliminated in the process. The Oilers defeated Ferris State University by a score of 3-2 before falling 5-4 in ten innings against Wayne State University.
In the opener, the Oilers were tied at 2-2 with the Bulldogs going into the seventh inning before Lauren Mathias got a rally started with a double to left field. Kari Sparling then replaced Mathias as a pinch runner and advanced to third on a groundout by Courtney Dwyer. Then with two outs, Jenna Motuza singled to center for what would turn out to be the game-winning run.
Motuza went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and a RBI while Tori Allen pounded out two hits and walked once.
Tawna Whited picked up the victory in relief of starter Brittany Dauterman, throwing 1.1 innings of shutout ball.
Dauterman pitched the first 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits to go along with five strikeouts.
In the second game, the Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second when Morgan Arnold blasted a double off the fence to score Whited and Emily Reynolds.
The Warriors would cut the lead to one in the fourth inning and then went up by a score of 4-2 in the fifth.
Just like the game before, the Oilers mounted a rally in the seventh to tie the game and force extra innings.
Motuza walked to begin the frame and scored on an Allen double down the left field line. Then, with one out, Carly Borders hit a long fly ball to left field, which was dropped by the Warriors. Borders advanced to second on the play and Allen scored to tie the game at 4-4.
In extra innings, the Warriors loaded the bases with only one out in the eighth, but could not get a runner to cross the plate. The Oilers then did the same thing in the ninth, but were unable to score.
In the tenth, the Warriors scored the winning run on a throwing error.
Allen paced the offense with three hits while Whited added three hits of her own.
Motuza recorded two hits and Arnold drove in two runs.
Dauterman started the game and allowed one run on five hits in four innings of work. Whited took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits in five innings of action.
The Oilers, who are now 27-15 on the year, will wait to see if they qualified for the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament.