DETRIOT, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University softball
team need a seventh inning rally to move into the NCAA Midwest
Regional #1 final against Wayne State on Sunday (May 16) at
Noon.
After dropping its winners bracket game to Wayne State 9-0
earlier in the day, the Cardinals needed a rally in the top of the
seventh to push the game into extra innings. Ashley Coffin
(Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson HS) laced a leadoff double off
the fence to to give SVSU its first scoring chance of the
afternoon. A sacrifice bunt by Ashley Jordan
(Freeland, Mich.) to advance Coffin to third, set-up a deep SAC fly
by Jillian
Peterson (Freeland, Mich.) to knot the score at 1-1.
Jessica
McKeith (River Rouge, Mich.) dropped a perfect bunt to lead off
the eighth inning and after a walk to Shannon
McLaughlin (Benton Harbor, Mich./Watervliet HS), Nicole Bigelow
advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt to give the Cardinals
runners on second and third. Freshman Kailah Happ (Waterford,
Mich./Kettering HS) drove in McKeith with a perfectly placed bunt
for a single to give SVSU a 2-1 advantage.
Kari
Bowlby (Elkhart, Ind./Central HS) would finish off the Hawks in
the bottom of the inning to advance to Sunday's final. Bowlby
scattered seven hits over eight innings of work, allowing one run
and striking out four as she picked up her 11th win on the
season.
SVSU improves to 29-15 overall on the season, while Quincy sees
its season end with a 37-17 overall record on the season.
