The Tiffin University softball team dropped both games of a twin bill on Saturday afternoon, falling 8-1 in game one, and falling in heart breaking fashion in game two 3-2.
Kimmy Reynolds took to the mound in game one, and was opposed by one of the best pitchers in the GLIAC. Reynolds went the distance, but the Warriors did plenty of damage.
In the 2nd inning, Wayne St. crossed the plate once on a pair of hits to take a 1-0 lead. The Warriors then opened the flood gates in their next at bat, plating 4 runs on 3 hits to take a commanding 5-0 advantage. WSU crossed the plate three more times in the 7th on three hits and a TU error to own a 8-0 lead.
Tiffin plated their only run in the bottom of the 7th on a Kailee Flowers double to left center field that scored Kaitlin Gruenewald to make it a final score of 8-1.
Reynolds took the loss despite going the distance, giving up 12 hits, 8 runs, 7 earned, walked 7, and punched out one. At the plate, the Dragons only managed 4 hits, as Kailee Flowers was 1 for 3 with an RBI double.
In game two, Kelsey Yaratch stepped to the rubber in hopes of earning the split with Wayne State.
The Dragon offense struck for a run in the 3rd inning on a couple of hits. Kailee Flowers doubled with one out, and was sent racing home on Tamara Link's double to the gap to give TU a 1-0 lead.
Wayne State got even with the Dragons in the bottom of the 4th. Wayne State's run was aided by a Dragon wild pitch that moved two runners into scoring position, and then Tiffin uncorked another wild one to allow WSU to tie the game at 1-1.
With the score tied, it was time for the Dragons to get down to business, and in the 6th they did so. Tamara Link led off with a single, and advanced to second on an error by the left fielder. Then Cassandra Brown hit a ball that was nothing more than a routine fly ball to left that was dropped allowing Link to scamper to third. With one out and two on, senior Madison Yanek got the job done, a towering fly ball to center field gave Link plenty of time to meander home to give the Dragons a 2-1 lead.
On the other side, Yaratch was breezing through the Warrior lineup, as she retired eight straight batters before trouble reared its ugly head in the bottom of the 7th.
With two outs, the Warriors were down to their final out. Wayne State prolonged the game with a single to left field to put the tying run aboard. Another single to left turned up the heat on TU as Wayne now placed the tying run just 120 feet from home. Yaratch was then lifted, and Sarah Brown was brought in to close the door on the Warriors. But Wayne St. had other ideas, as another single to left tied the game, and then Tiffin saw its 24th victory of the year sail deep into the right center field gap for the walk-off single for the Warriors.
Yaratch takes the loss on the mound throwing 6 2/3 innings, giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, all earned, did not walk a batter, and fanned 6. At the plate, Tamara Link, in her final home contest, was 2 for 2 with a run scored and an RBI.
The two losses drops Tiffin to 23-21 overall and 14-12 in GLIAC play. Currently, TU sits in 8th place in the GLIAC, and will have to await their fate for next week's conference tournament.
