Softball: Farnum wins 200th game in split at Adrian

ADRIAN, Mich. – Olivet College head softball coach James Farnum won his 200th game, as the Comets split a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) doubleheader today at Adrian College. Olivet won the first game, 5-2, before the Bulldogs salvaged the split by winning game two, 10-3.

In the first game, the Comets did all of their damage in the fifth inning. Freshman Konnor Geiger led off with a single. Sophomore Christine Wood came into the game to run for Geiger. Senior Ashley Milheim then put down a bunt, and the third baseman threw the ball away at second base trying to get the out there. Sophomore Kelsey Scheenks followed with her own bunt attempt which was thrown away by the pitch. On the play, Wood scored, Milheim advanced to third and Scheenks got to second base.

Sophomore Ashlynn Grubb lined a single to plate Milheim and move Scheenks to third base. Freshman Kris Forest roped a single through the right-side of the infield to bring home Scheenks and advance Grubb to third base. Freshman Katie Ordiway entered the game to run for Forest. After the second out was in the books, sophomore Devon Mayse hit a double down the right field line. Grubb scored easily from third, while Ordiway hustled around the bases and scored from first. Two walks loaded the bases before a strike out ended the inning.

Adrian scored an unearned run in the home half of the fifth. The Bulldogs then used a two-out hit to score their second run in the seventh.  

For the game, Olivet had seven hits, including two for sophomore catcher Jessica Palumbo. Milheim reached base safely in all four of her plate appearances, twice on walks, once on a hit and the last time on a fielder's choice. Grubb threw a complete game, five-hitter to earn the pitching win. She struck out seven and walked one batter.

In the nightcap, Adrian scored two runs in the second inning on a two-run double by K'Ya Toles-Burton. The Bulldogs added to their lead with another run in the third inning. The Comets cut their deficit to one run in the bottom half of the third when freshman Madison Spry blasted a two-run home run over the fence in left-center field.

Adrian used a two-out rally to push across four runs in the fifth to go up 7-2. Olivet plated an unearned run in its half of the fifth on Spry's RBI-single to plate Grubb. The Bulldogs got that run back in the sixth to regain their five-run cushion, 8-3. Adrian capped the scoring with a two-run top half of the seventh.

For the game, the Comets recorded nine hits. Forest, Mayse and Spry all went 2-for-4. Spry also drove in three runs. In the circle, freshman Delaney Maki suffered the loss after yielding 10 earned runs on 13 hits in six and two-thirds innings. Freshman Becca Neal got the final two outs in the seventh.

Olivet is back in action Saturday when it travels to Grand Rapids to play Calvin College for a league doubleheader, starting at 1 p.m.

Milestone wins for Coach Farnum

• No. 1 – 6-4 vs. Menlo (Calif.) on March 1, 2004, at Sun West Tournament (Anaheim, Calif.)
• No. 73 – 12-2 vs. Rockford (Ill.) on March 8, 2007, at Gene Cusic Classic (Fort Myers, Fla.) – to become winningest softball coach in school history
• No. 100 – 9-8 at Rochester College on April 29, 2008
• No. 150 – 3-2 vs. Wartburg (Iowa) on March 8, 2013, at Gene Cusic Classic (Fort Myers, Fla.)
• No. 200 – 5-2 at Adrian on April 21, 2015