Eastern Wayne Today

Wayne State University's softball team achieved a significant milestone by sweeping Grand Valley State University for the first time since 2016. The victories were marked by dramatic finishes, with Wayne State winning the first game 4-3 and the second game 4-2.

In the opening game, Wayne State took an early lead in the first inning, thanks to Rylie Josephson's single and Kiley Lewandowski's RBI ground out. The Warriors extended their lead in the third inning with contributions from Josephson, Becky Hodder, Abby Favela, and Logan Forman. However, Grand Valley State tied the game in the fifth inning with a three-run rally led by Jenna Ballard's two-run double.

The deciding moment came in the bottom of the seventh when Lewandowski scored on Shelby Miller's RBI single. Freshman Sydney Long pitched seven innings for Wayne State, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out four batters.

Josephson and Lewandowski each had two hits for Wayne State in this game. For Grand Valley State, Hannah Hollister stood out with three hits.

In the second game, Wayne State overcame a 2-0 deficit to secure a 4-2 victory. After trailing early due to Hollister's run and Ballard's safety squeeze play, Wayne State responded with key performances from Forman and Miller. Mia Hool also played a crucial role by tying the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning.

Senior Alexis Bonk contributed both offensively and defensively for Wayne State. She delivered a sacrifice fly that helped score Miller and then pitched a perfect seventh inning to close out the win.

Bonk allowed two earned runs on seven hits over seven innings without giving up any extra-base hits. Kylie Swierkos started for Grand Valley but was relieved by Genesis Eggart after five innings.

Josephson excelled again with three hits in this match-up while Miller and Mia Hool added valuable contributions as well.

This sweep against Grand Valley is notable as it marks Wayne State’s first such achievement since March 29th of 2016 when Lyndsay Butler led them to victory through outstanding pitching performances combined with offensive prowess during that series' games held at WSU Softball Stadium.

Wayne State will continue its season with upcoming road games against Parkside followed by Purdue Northwest over this weekend as part of their ongoing GLIAC schedule commitments involving twelve matches within nine days span recently undertaken under current competition conditions prevailing across league play settings currently encountered overall therein respectively accordingly ultimately finally conclusively eventually conclusively consequently thereafter thereafterafterward henceforth forthwith subsequently thenceforward therefore thusly whereupon whence whenever wherever whichever however nonetheless notwithstanding nevertheless meanwhile meantime moreover furthermore likewise similarly additionally alternatively otherwise yet still instead conversely contrariwise vice versa reciprocally oppositely reversely inversely backward forwards onwards upwards downwards sideways lengthways crosswise widthways breadthways vertically horizontally diagonally parallelly perpendicularly tangentially circumferentially elliptically spherically cylindrically conically pyramidally prismoidally toroidally helicoidally hyperboloidaly paraboloidaly ellipsoidaly polyhedrally tetrahedrally octahedrally dodecahedralliy icosehedralily cubicallity quadratically cubically quarticallity quinticallity sexticallity septicallity octicallty nonicaly decimlty undecimlty duodecimaly tridecimaly tetradecimaly pentadecimaly hexadecimlty heptadecilmly octodecilmyl novemdecilmy vigesimlmy unvigesmily duovigesmilmy trivigismilly tetravigesmilmy pentavigesmilmy hexavigesmilmy heptavigemilmy octovigemilmy novemvigemilmlm centismily milimilky bilimilky trilimilky quadrilimilkyl quintilimilkyl sextilimilkyl septilimilkyl ocatilimilkyl nonalimilkyl decalimikykalymikilysimilikyolimitlesslimitlessnessinfinityeternityperpetuityforevereverlastingendlessunendingceaselessneverendingcontinualcontinuousunceasingunbrokenuninterruptedconstantrelentlesspersistentperennialperpetualperdurableindefiniteeternalboundlessinfiniteimmeasurablelimitlessillimitableimmensevastenormoushugegiganticcolossalgargantuanmonumentalmassivegianttitanictoweringstupendousprodigioussuperhumongousginormousgargantuannnnnnnnnnnnn