FINDLAY, Ohio -- The 11th-ranked Wayne State University softball team (43-7 overall) blanked Tiffin University (27-18-1) 2-0 in the opening game of the 2016 GLIAC Tournament being held at Marathon Diamonds.

The game began auspiciously as the first two Dragon batters (Cassandra Brown and Michelle Poe) struck out on 11 and eight pitch at bats, respectively.  After throwing 19 pitches to the first two hitters, WSU junior Lyndsay Butler (Cambridge, Ont. / Centennial C.V.I.) needed just 75 pitches to complete the final 6 1/3 innings.

The Warriors had a chance in the first inning on singles by junior center fielder Allie Buchanan (Cambridge, Ont. / Galt C.I.) and sophomore outfielder Kristen Lucas (Newmarket, Ont. / Mulock S.S.), but were unable to get a key two-out hit.

In the bottom of the third, senior first baseman Gabby Williams (South Lyon, Mich.) singled on bad hop base hit before senior third baseman Jade McGarr (Guelph, Ont. / St. James Catholic) worked a two-out walk.  Wayne State left two more on in the frame.

Cassandra Brown led off the top of the fourth with a single and Sarah Brown's blooper just in front of second base resulted in a two-out hit for Tiffin, but Butler retired the next batter on a ground out.

Butler had a one-out single in the fifth but the next two hitters were retired on ground outs.

After a 1-2-3 top of the sixth for Butler, her fifth perfect inning of the game, senior Shelby Spano (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Stevenson) worked an eight pitch one-out walk in the bottom of the sixth.  Pinch-runner Hailey Lazarek (Allen Park, Mich.) advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single up the middle by freshman shortstop Hannah McClounie (Essex, Ont. / St. Anne Catholic).  After TU's Cassandra Brown made a diving stop up the middle on a batted ball by sophomore second baseman Kylee Barrett (Croswell, Mich. / Croswell-Lexington), senior catcher Ali Lince (St. Clair Shores, Mich. / Lakeview) lined an 0-1 offering into right center scoring McClounie.

Dragon Jena King led off the seventh with a single, but Butler induced the next three batters to hit into ground outs.

IN THE CIRCLE

Butler improved to 25-4 by notching her ninth solo shutout of the campaign.  She struck out seven and did not walk a batter, while limiting the Dragons to three singles.

Kimmy Reynolds started for Tiffin and left after a leadoff single in the bottom of the third.  She hurled 2.0 innings and allowed three hits with zero walks and zero strikeouts.  Kelsey Yaratch (3-7) pitched the next 3.2 innings and was tagged with two earned runs on three hits with three walks to zero strikeouts.  Sarah Brown struck out the lone batter she faced.

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Six different Warriors had singles with Buchanan and Williams each going 1-for-2.

LEADING THE OPPOSITION

Both Brown's (Cassandra and Sarah) and King each had a single for Tiffin.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will  play Ashland at 4 p.m. today in a winner's bracket semifinal contest.