The Tiffin University softball team split their home opener on Tuesday, taking game one 8-0 in five innings, and falling 4-3 in game two.
Kimmy Reynolds took to the mound in game one, and dominated the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Reynolds threw four innings, not allowing a hit, walked 2, and struck out 3.
Reynolds' only trouble came in the 1st inning. She surrendered the two walks in the inning, and an error gave the Wolverines their best chance of the game. Reynolds, with two runners on, fanned the Wolverines' designated hitter to end the inning.
The Dragon offense only managed three hits, but they made the hits count. In the bottom of the 1st, the Dragons struck. Kaitlin Gruenewald and Jena King drew back to back walks, and then Allyson Rock smashed a double to deep left field that landed just shy of the wall. This drove Gruenewald and King home to give the Dragons an early 2-0 lead.
Both teams were kept off the scoreboard in the 2nd and 3rd innings, but Tiffin would distance themselves from the Wolverines in the 4th. The Dragons pushed six runs home on 2 hits, an error, 2 walks, 2 hit by pitches, and three wild pitches. Of the six runs scored, only one was an earned run.
With the no hitter still intact, Reynolds went back to the hill in the 5th. She faced one batter in the inning, an error by the Dragon defense allowing the first base runner to reach since the 1st inning. Dragon reliever Sarah Brown entered the game with a runner on and nobody out. She punched out the first two batters she faced, but the no hitter was ended by the Wolverine leadoff hitter with a single. Brown retired the next batter to preserve a 8-0 win.
In game two, Taylor Spang was handed the ball for the start. She walked two of the first four batters, and a passed ball allowed both runners to move into scoring position. The next batter knocked in the first run of the game on a slowly hit fielder's choice to give Dearborn a 1-0 lead.
The Dragons answered the Wolverines in the bottom half of the inning with two runs of their own. Cassandra Brown singled to start the inning, and was moved to second with an Amanda Rock sacrifice bunt. Jena King walked to put two runners on, and a double steal moved both runners up a base. The first run for Tiffin came on a wild pitch that scored Brown to tie the game.
The second Dragon run came courtesy of Michelle Poe. With two down and a runner at third, Poe dug in and laced a single to score King to give Tiffin a 2-1 lead.
The Dragons were kept quiet at the plate, but Dearborn struck in the 4th. A walk and a stolen base put the tying run in scoring position, and a softly hit grounder moved the runner to third with two down. Spang then uncorked a wild pitch to plate the tying run.
Dearborn scored the go ahead run in the 5th off of reliever Kelsey Yaratch to take a 3-2 lead. The run was manufactured with two hits and a stolen base. Tiffin responded with a run in the bottom of the inning with a hit and two walks. Samantha Ringwalt's single plated the tying run, and Tiffin was dead even with Dearborn at 3-3.
In the top of the 6th, the Wolverines put two on with nobody out, courtesy of a leadoff single and a fielder's choice. The next batter bounced back to the pitcher, and the lead runner was cut down at third base for the first out of the inning. Following the groundout, Dearborn took the lead for good, a sharply hit single passing the outstretched glove of Cassandra Brown to bring home the go ahead, and ultimately, the winning run.
Tiffin had a chance in the bottom of the 7th, needing a single run to force extra innings. Payton Denman smoked a two out single to center field to push the tying run to third with two outs. Filomena Mendoza stood at third with Tamara Link at bat. Link battled throughout the at bat, but tapped a ball back to the mound for the final out.
Yaratch took the loss on the mound for the Dragons, throwing 2 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs, all earned, and struck out 2. The starter, Taylor Spang, lasted 4 innings, giving up 2 runs, 3 walks, and struck out 3.
Offensively, Tiffin pounded out 11 hits in the two games. Allyson Rock and Tamara Link collected the only two extra base hits, both doubles. Rock added two RBI to her line, and Link was the only Dragon with multiple hits in either game.
Tiffin sits at 7-9 overall, and will be back in action tomorrow at Ohio Valley College, and will enter GLIAC play on Saturday and Sunday.
