Oilers Fall Short to Grand Valley
The eighth seeded University of Findlay softball team ended their 2017 season with a 7-4 loss to top seeded Grand Valley State University in the first round of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament on Saturday, May 6 at the Marathon Diamonds in Findlay, Ohio. The Oilers ended the year 20-24 and 10-12 in conference play. This marks the seventh consecutive season Findlay has reached at least 20 wins.
Grand Valley took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but the Oilers answered with a run of their own on a solo shot to deep center field by junior Destinie Keeton, her 8th homerun of the season, which is tied for 2nd most in a season.
The Lakers regained the lead in the bottom of the second with one run and stretched the lead to 4-1 in the bottom of third with two more runs.
The Oilers were able to knot up the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. Junior Amanda Delmonte led off the inning with a walk. With two outs junior Meredith Shepherd connected on a single to keep the inning alive. Junior Madison Arnold cleared the bases with a three run home run to left center field for a 4-4 tie. The home run is Arnold's 11th on the season, which ties the school record in a season set by Samantha Bradburn in 1987.
Grand Valley answered in the bottom of the fifth with three runs for a 7-4 lead, which would end up to be the final score as the Oilers were held scoreless the final two innings.
The Oilers finished the game with four hits and the Lakers connected on 15 hits. Both teams committed two errors in the game.
Senior Jenna Inman started her last game for Findlay. She pitched 2.1 innings giving up four runs on five hits with one walk while striking out one. She ended her career pitching 262.1 innings and picking up 15 victories.
Sophomore Hailey Bryan (12-12) took the loss in the circle for the Oilers. She pitched three innings giving up three runs on nine hits while striking out two. Bryan finished the season with only 18 walks, which is the 2nd least amount in school history with a minimum of 80 innings pitched.
Senior Lauren Trumpler ended her career with 100 career RBIs, tied for 4th all-time, and her .989 fielding percentage is the best all-time. Trumpler also appeared in 167 career games which is the 5th most in school history.
Also playing their last game for the Oilers was senior Jenna Huff. She appeared in 101 games for the Orange and Black and picked up 29 hits.
Junior Madison Arnold ended the season with 92 total bases, tied for 3rd most in a season, and with a .719 slugging percentage which is the 4th highest in a season.