The women’s softball team rebounded from a series of frustrating losses, securing two wins 15-7 and 6-1 over Lake Superior State this past Sunday. Freshman pitcher Sarah Grunert secured her first ever conference victory and hit her first collegiate home run.
“I just went out there and played,” Grunert said. “The whole team did. We just went out there and didn’t worry about the past. We played like it was a whole new day and it worked out.”
Head coach Joe Abraham said that Grunert is “one heck of an athlete” who can become a dominant player in this league as she gains confidence.
“She has good power at the plate, and can play about any position on the field, and will only get better and better as a pitcher,” Abraham said. “It was a really well-pitched game.”
Typically pitchers throw a couple times a week, but Grunert was unable to pitch much before Sunday’s game on account of the weather — two double headers against Northwood and Saginaw Valley were rained out last week, said assistant coach Erin Porter.
“Because of that, she hasn’t been pitching regularly,” Porter said. “But she overcame that and pitched a wonderful game.”
The Ohio native refused to allow back-to-back hits or walks, giving nearly 60 percent of the batters a first-pitch strike, Porter said.
“It’s just huge to stay ahead of the batters like that,” Porter said.
In addition, Grunert displayed remarkable mental composure on the mound.
“We all played a lot more mentally tough than we have been,” Grunert said. “We didn’t make the little mistakes and everyone hit really well. We played with more confidence and as soon as any one person started doing well, the whole team was there to back it up.”
Nearly every member of the team secured a hit in the two games, and out of 13 innings, five were multiple-runs. Five different players drove in runs in the opener for the Chargers, while five different batters had multi-hit games.
Grunert had four hits and 3 RBIs and fellow hitting star senior Taylor Schulty had four hits and five RBIs.
Although the team had a couple of miscues, the number was significantly down from previous games, Abraham said.
“It took a little time in the beginning to adjust, but we’re starting to gel well together,” said Grunert. “We’ve been improving a lot lately and it’s nice to be able to play outside instead of trapped in a gym.”
The team is only halfway through their season, looking at eight more double headers before the end of the month.
“We’re playing as well as we’ve been playing all year and our new players have a half-a-season under their belts,” Abraham said. “So we’re going to grow up a lot as a team in the next two weeks.”
