Oilers Come Up Short at Lewis Invitational
Rosemont, Ill.- The University of Findlay softball team fell in the final day of the Lewis Univeristy Dome Invitational in Rosemont, Illinois. The Oilers fell on the short end of the stick with a loss versus Northwood, 8-4. In the final game of the invitational, the Oilers once again fell to invitational host, Lewis, 7-5. The losses move their record down to 2-4 for the season.
Northwood began the scoring in the bottom of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead on the Oilers, a trend that the Oilers have fought through in the early going of the season.
However, the Oilers strung together a four run inning in the top of the sixth inning. With bases loaded, senior Devyn Zuro drove in sophomore Makayla Cowan and senior Megan Fishes with a two run double. Senior Dylan Wiley then brought in Zuro and sophomore Tori Budzinski after a reaching first on a Northwood error to lead 4-2 going into the bottom half of the inning.
It was a quick turnaround for Northwood who answered with a six run inning which would be all that was needed to close out the game after a 1, 2, 3 seventh inning.
Fisher took the loss after throwing 5.1 innings, allowing nine hits and five earned runs. She punched out five batters throughout her showing.
Offensively, junior Lyndsey Seamon and Wiley led the Oilers with a two hit performance.
Findlay changed the trend of falling behind in the early innings by jumping right out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Fisher was driven in on a fielder's choice by Zuro.
Invitational host, Lewis, would not answer until the bottom of the third, but answered in a big way. Lewis strung together a six run inning on four hits. The Flyers led 6-1.
The scoring stalled momentarily, but the Oilers sprung back and dug into the Flyers lead by scoring three runs in the fifth inning.
In the fifth, freshman Avery Shepherd stepped to the plate with bases loaded. The freshman from Springfield, Ohio cleared the bases with a 3-run double. With one swing of the bat, the Oilers had cut the lead in half down 6-4.
The Oilers held tight in the bottom half of the fifth inning to hold the Lewis baserunner at third, only to keep the momentum going in the top of the sixth by scoring yet again.
In a four hit inning, freshman Emma Bode singled with two outs to drive in Cowan on yet another bases loaded scenario for the Oilers. However, the Oilers left three runners on base to end the inning down one run, 6-5.
The Flyers captialized on a wild pitch to bring one more across in the bottom of the sixth. With one more opportunity in the seventh, the Oilers were able to string a pair of hits together, but were unable to score ending the game in a 7-5 loss despite holding the hits margin 13 to 8.
In the circle, junior Lexie Hilling took the loss in three innings of work. She allowed six earned on six hits along with tallying one strikeout.
Eight different Oilers tallied a hit in the game as the team was led by a perfect 3-3 game at the plate by Fisher and sophomore Olivia Carlton. Fisher also scored twice for the Oilers. Sophomore Bailey Bates contributed two hits in the contest.
The Oilers will look to bounce back in their next contest when they travel to Glenville, West Virginia to play against West Virginia State at 4:00 p.m on February 26th. This will be the first of five game for the Oilers who will participate in the GSC Tournament throughout the weekend.