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UNLEASH THE GRIZZ

Oakland University Athletics

Scoreboard

SB vs YSU
3
Winner Youngstown State YSU 23-11
1
Oakland OAK 13-12
Winner
Youngstown State YSU
23-11
3
Final
1
Oakland OAK
13-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Youngstown State YSU 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3 10 1
Oakland OAK 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 0

W: Ryan (5-1) L: Balcom, Alyssa (2-5)

0
Youngstown State YSU 23-12
3
Winner Oakland OAK 14-12
Youngstown State YSU
23-12
0
Final
3
Oakland OAK
14-12
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Youngstown State YSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Oakland OAK 2 0 0 0 1 0 X 3 5 1

W: Campbell, Sydney (8-5) L: Howell (14-5)

Game Recap: Softball | | Gracie Murray

Golden Grizzlies Slide Past the Penguins for Third League Series Win

ROCHESTER, Mich - The Golden Grizzlies headed back to the diamond after a big walk-off win on Friday, as they finished up their series against the Youngstown State Penguins

GAME 1

In a game dominated by the play at the plate, the hits poured in during the top of the first inning as Youngstown State was in prime position to score, bases loaded with no outs. Alyssa Balcolm, who got the nod in the circle for Oakland, and the Golden Grizzlies defense stood tall, forcing a pair of outs at home and ending the inning with a big strikeout as the Penguins left three runners stranded and the game remained scoreless.

After three scoreless innings on both sides, YSU struck first in the top of the fourth inning as a two-out Jillian Jaske RBI double drove in a run for the Penguins. On the play, Oakland made a huge play as Brooklyn Plitz fired the ball back into the infield, where the cutoff relayed the throw home and caught the potential second run at home plate, ending the inning behind just 1-0.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Reese Ruhlman smacked a one-out single up the middle, followed by another single by Maggie Murphy, advancing Ruhlman to third base as the Golden Grizzlies responded. Taylor Carraway lined an RBI single to center field, scoring Ruhlman and knotting the game 1-1.

Youngstown State answered back the following inning, reaching base in four straight at-bats, capped off by a Hailey Niederkohr RBI single to add two more runs on the board to make it a 3-1 YSU lead.

Oakland tried to rally back in the following innings, but eventually fell to YSU 3-1. 

The YSU bats were on fire in game one of the double header as four players scored multiple hits in the game. Ruhlman was the lone Golden Grizzly with two or more hits, going 2-of-2 from the plate.

GAME 2 

Oakland sprang into action in game number two of the day and the series finale, looking to gain a huge tie-breaker and advantage in the season series between the two top teams. Sydney Campbell and Sophie Howell, the top two pitchers in the Horizon League, dueled once again in the circle as they got the starts for their teams.

Oakland got the ball rolling in the bottom of the first inning as Brooklyn Plitz started with a lead-off single to shortstop. After Jen Krizka and Ruhlman were both hit by pitches, Oakland had the bases loaded and the chance to strike first. Taylor Carraway pulled through with a two-out, two RBI double, scoring Krizka and Plitz to put Oakland up 2-0 early. 

After four innings with no action at the plate in a pitcher's battle, Oakland fired the bats back up in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single to left field by Madi Herrington. The speedy Plitz reached first base on a fielder's choice, eventually stealing second base. Krizka bounced back after going 0-of-4 in the first game of the day, and blasted an RBI double to center field, scoring Plitz to make it a 3-0 game. 

Sydney Campbell threw her third shutout of the season, guiding Oakland to the 3-0 win. She allowed just three hits and forced four three up, three down innings for the Penguins. The defense of Oakland thrived and was as sharp as it has been all year as Jenna Johnston at shortstop and Madi Herrington in left field recorded several putouts each and anchored the left side of the field.

"Sydney did a great job, especially responding after yesterday. She kept them (YSU) on their toes and off balance. She pitched a phenomenal game and we scored runs when we needed to… Scoring early in that first inning was a big key for us," said Oakland Interim Head Coach Sam Henderson after the win.

Plitz went 2-of-3 at the plate, scoring two runs. Carraway earned a team-high two RBI while Krizka added the other, going 1-of-2. The Golden Grizzlies win the series 2-1, earning a big advantage as Oakland now holds tie-breakers and series advantages over both the other teams in the top three of the league in YSU and NKU.

"This is a huge series win for us. They (YSU) are a very good softball team… This is a big momentum swing for us as we have a really busy schedule coming up and we want to just take that and keep going forward," said Henderson.



Oakland plays their second of two back-to-back home series as they host Detroit Mercy in a midweek series on Apr. 9-10.

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