SOFTBALL ADVANCES IN REGIONALS WITH VICTORY OVER LEWIS

The nationally-ranked Ferris State softball team avoided elimination as the Bulldogs handed Lewis a 5-2 loss this Sunday (May 10) morning in 2009 NCAA Division II sub-Midwest Regional Tournament play at the Saginaw Valley State University Sports Complex in University Center, Mich.

Ferris State, which improved to 34-9 overall with the win, broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning with two runs on as many base hits and a Flyers' error. Freshman third baseman Makenzi Peterson (Big Rapids) lead off with a walk and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Peterson would then score the game's first run on sophomore outfielder Rachel Wade's (Canton) RBI single to center field. Wade advanced to second on the play as a result of a Lewis error and after the second out, advanced to third on a passed ball. Senior catcher Krystle Bailey (Wyoming/Rogers) drove in Wade with a run-scoring single to left centerfield.

The Bulldogs, who recorded eight hits in the game to match Lewis' total, went up 5-0 in the fifth frame with a three-run outburst on four hits coupled with three errors by the Flyers. Krystle Bailey knocked in her second run of the contest in the fifth inning with a RBI single to right center field of Lewis starting pitcher Julie Wingerter and scored its second run on the play due to a Flyers' fielding miscue. Junior designated player Rhea Flores (Dearborn Heights/Southgate Anderson) then singled to advance Bailey a base and she proceeded to tally the Bulldogs' third run of the inning thanks to a fielding error.

Lewis began the top of the seventh with three consecutive singles and avoided the shutout with its fourth straight single to make the score 5-1. Junior pitcher Kayle Stevenson (Holland/West Ottawa) then came in relief of senior starting hurler Holly Bruntjens (Gladstone) and induced a fielder's choice which accounted for the Flyers' second run. Stevenson was able to collect her first save following a fly out and an unassisted groundball to Makenzi Peterson at third base.

Makenzi Peterson rounds second base in FSU's elimination game win. (Photo by Sandy Gholston)

Ferris State was led at the plate by Rachel Wade, Krystle Bailey, and senior first baseman Amanda Jager (Kalamazoo/Comstock) as the trio all registered two hits apiece.

Holly Bruntjens was the winning pitcher of record for the Bulldogs as she improved to 14-8 this season. Bruntjens walked one and fanned one in six innings of work before Stevenson took over in the seventh.