Box Score
Chrissy Dvorscak's (Sr., Whiting, Ind.) dramatic two out grand slam walk off homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning led Northland to a 6-5 victory over Northwestern College in the opening game of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament today. The LumberJills trailed the Eagles 5-2 going into the frame. Kylie Garing (Fr., Chimacum, Wash.) led off the inning with a double, following a ground out by Marge Koosmann (Jr., Mellen, Wis.) Ashleigh Miller (Fr., Ashland, Wis.) singled to right advancing Garing to third. Aurora Albrecht (Sr., Cadott, Wis.) drew a walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, Dvorscak came to the plate with two outs and lifted the first pitch over the centerfield fence for the game winner.
The game had been tight, with Northland holding a 2-1 lead after four innings when Northwestern struck for four runs in the top of the fifth led by a two run homer by Amanda Rodgers. Brittany Schmitt (Jr., Abbotsford, Wis.), Albrecht, Asia DeVlaeminck (Jr., Mankato, Minn.), and Garing each had two hits for the Jills. Schmitt picked up the win, she allowed three earned runs on five hits while striking out six.
"It was a great finish," said Head Coach Steve Wammer, "we always talk about playing until you have used up all 21 outs. Today we lived that!"
Box Score
In the second game of the day the LumberJills fell to UMAC regular season champion College of St. Scholastica 7-4. In the game Northland struck early when Marge Koosmann ripped a solo home run in the top of the first. However the Saints came right back with four runs in the bottom of the inning. The Jills pulled to within one when they scored a pair of runs in the third, Shon Givens (Sr., Dallas, Texas) scored on an RBI single by Garing. Schmitt who had doubled was driven in on an sacrifice fly by Albrecht.
Koosmann led Northland with two hits while Schmitt took the loss in the circle, giving up seven runs on eight hits and striking out eight.
The Jills will be back in action in the UMAC tournament tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. when they have a rematch with Northwestern College who defeated UM-Morris to stay alive.