DETROIT (3/28/22) – The Detroit Mercy softball team continues their road swing with a non-conference doubleheader at in-state foe Michigan State on Tue., Mar. 20 at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Both games with be broadcast live from Secchia Stadium on BIG+ for paid subscriptions.
 
Notes:
Scouting the competition:
Michigan State is 16-13 overall with an 0-3 mark in Big Ten play. The Spartans are led by sophomore third baseman Alexis Barroso who is batting.392 on the year with 29 hits, 19 RBI, a home run, triple, three doubles, five runs and 37 total bases.
 
A Long Time Coming:
The Titans look to compete in their first full season since winning the Horizon League Championship during the 2019 season. Due to Covid-19, Detroit Mercy played in 21 games in 2020 and only four in 2021.
 
Finally….Titans Return Home Sweet Home After 1048-Day Hiatus:
Prior to the home opening #HLSB series against Robert Morris, it had been 1048 days (2 years, 10 months, 13 days) since the last time Detroit Mercy played a home game at Buysse Ballpark. The previous home game was May 4, 2019 (Star Wars Day) when the Titans defeated IUPUI 4-0 heading into the Horizon League Championships.
 
Last Time Out: Titans Drop Doubleheader at IUPUI:
Graduate student Leena Mortensen went 1-for-2 with a two-run double and a walk, Taylor Gauthier hit 2-for-4 with a run while junior Renee Trotman went 1-for-3 with an RBI single as Detroit Mercy dropped a #HLSB doubleheader at IUPUI 8-0 and 11-2 on Sunday afternoon at the IUPUI Softball Complex. McKenna Tanguay and junior Kara Wolfbauer drew two walks each as the Titans drew seven total walks in the nightcap but could not capitalize on bringing the base runners home. Taryn Peru and Jordyn Chapman recorded the only hits for the Titans in game one.
 
Last Time vs MSU at Cardinal Invite: Detroit Mercy 1 vs MSU 13 (3/6)
Junior Renee Trotman hit her first home of the season going 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored while graduate student Leena Mortensen hit a combined 2-for-6 and as Detroit Mercy completed play at the Cardinal Invite with a 13-1 set back against Michigan State and 8-0 loss at host Elon on Sunday at the Elon Softball Park. Senior Taylor Gauthier also hit her first double of the season going 1-for-2 with a walk against the Phoenix. Junior Kara Wolfbauer recorded her first hit of the season while senior Taryn Peru also recorded a hit against Elon.
 
Game 1 vs Michigan State
• Both teams had only one hit each through two innings
• Spartans broke through with a RBI triple and sac fly to take early lead
• MSU added another run off sac fly in the fourth inning
• Mortensen had Detroit Mercy's first hit in the bottom of the second inning
• MSU broke the game open with four runs in the sixth and six runs in the seventh to take a commanding 13-0 lead
• Renee Trotman hits first home of the season to get the Titans on the board in the bottom of the seventh
 
Spitzer Goes the Distance in First Career Start:
Freshman Chloe Spitzer had a solid outing in her first career start going the distance tossing 10.0 innings while allowing only one earned run with eight scattered hits and three walks.
 
Hit Leaders:
Taylor Gautheir leads the team in hits (12) followed by Renee Trotman (11), Taryn Peru (10), McKenna Tanguay (9), Leena Mortensen (9), Jordan Hazel (7), Jaiden Lara (6) and Jordyn Chapman (5).

Bring Em Home:
Mortensen leads the team in RBI (5) followed by Trotman (4), Lara (4) and Allison Smith (4) followed by Peru (3) and Chapman (3).
 
Ladies Dig the Long Ball:
Trotman and Lara lead the team in home runs (2). Trotman belted her first home run of the season against in-state foe Michigan State (3/6) and second against RMU (3/18). Lara also posted her first career long ball as a pinch hitter at YSU (3/10) and her second against RMU (3/17). Jordyn Chapman and Taryn Peru also each hit their first career home run against RMU (3/17-18).
 
Double Trouble:
Gauthier (2), Mortensen (2) and Gauthier (2) leads the team in doubles while three other players have one each.
 
Titans Drop Series at Youngstown State to Open #HLWBB Play:
McKenna Tanguay led the Titans hitting .400 (4-for-10) with a run at YSU. Renee Trotman and Jordan Hazel each hit .333 (3-for-9).
Allison Smith swung a hot bat going 2-for-5 overall with four RBI off a three-run double and RBI single with walk and run scored in the series opening doubleheader and hit .286 overall (2-for-7). Leena Mortensen and Taryn Peru also each had a double. In the circle, Liz Murphy had a solid outing in the series finale going the distance tossing 6.0 innings with three strikeouts allowing only two runs off two hits in the bottom of the second inning and only three scattered hits the rest of the game.
 
Rain, Rain, Go Away:
The second game of the doubleheader at Gardner-Webb was canceled in the second inning due to rainy weather conditions with the Detroit Mercy trailing 5-0. Due to continued rainy weather conditions in the Greensboro, North Carolina area, the Titans' doubleheader at North Carolina A&T (3/9) was also canceled.
 
Season Rewind:
Detroit Mercy 1 at IUPUI 9 (5 inn.) (3/25)
Senior Taryn Peru recorded both of Detroit Mercy's hits going 2-for-2 with a run scored while senior Liz Paver posted a RBI sacrifice fly as the Titans fell 9-1 in series opening action at IUPUI at the IUPUI Softball Complex.
 
Detroit Mercy 2 at vs RMU 4 (10 inn.) (3/18)
Junior Renee Trotman and senior Taryn Peru each hit a home run to extend the game on two different occasions but it was not enough as Robert Morris outlasted Detroit Mercy 4-2 in 10 innings to take the Horizon League series. Senior Taylor Gauthier hit 3-for-5 with a double while junior Jordan Hazel went 1-for-4.
 
Detroit Mercy 2 vs RMU 10 Game 1 - Detroit Mercy 8 vs RMU 14 Game 2 (3/17)
Chapman connected on her first career home run with a three-run shot while hitting 2-for-7 overall while freshman Lara also hit a two-run shot for her second homer of the season as Detroit Mercy scored a season-high eight runs but dropped a 10-2 and 14-8 decisions in home opening doubleheader #HLSB action to Robert Morris.
 
Detroit Mercy 1 at YSU 2 (3/11)
Freshman Jaiden Lara belted her first career home run in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter while seniors McKenna Tanguay and Taylor Gauthier each hit 1-for-3 as Detroit Mercy came up short, 2-1, in a pitcher's duel at Youngstown State in the series finale at the YSU Softball Field.
 
Detroit Mercy 6 at YSU 8 Game 1 - Detroit Mercy 1 at YSU 3 Game 2 (3/10)
Junior Allison Smith swung a hot bat going 2-for-5 overall with four RBI off a three-run double and RBI single with walk and run scored while junior Jordan Hazel went 3-for-5 with a RBI as Detroit Mercy pushed Youngstown State to the limit before falling 8-6 and 3-1 in a #HLSB opening twinbill on Thursday at the YSU softball Field. Senior McKenna Tanguay also hit 3-for-7 overall with a run and walk while Senior Taryn Perun hit 1-for-2 with a double, two walks and a run scored overall.
 
Detroit Mercy 1 at Gardner-Webb 4 (3/8)
Sophomore Maddy Heilner, senior Taylor Gauthier and graduate student Leena Mortensen each recorded a hit while junior Olivia Warrington tossed 2.1 innings allowing no hits, no runs with three strikeouts in relief as Detroit Mercy came up short 4-1 at Gardner-Webb on Tuesday. The second game of doubleheader was canceled in the second inning due to rainy weather conditions.
 
Elon Softball Cardinal Invite 3/5 – 3/6
Detroit Mercy completed play at the Elon Cardinal Invite in with an 0-4 record. Taryn Peru, Leena Mortensen and Renee Trotman each recorded three hits. Jaiden Lara and Piper Roth each posted two hits with Roth and Taylor Gauthier notching their first doubles of the season.
 
PC Invitational 2/19 – 2/20
The Titans opened the 2022 season with a 0-4 mark at the PC Invitational in Clinton, SC. McKenna Tanguay led the way for the Titans going 2-for-8 with the team's only double while Renee Trotman also went for 2-for-8. Mortensen, Roth, Peru and Jaiden each recorded two hits with Mortensen and Roth each recording an RBI. In the circle Olivia Warrington and Liz Murphy recorded 10 and eight strikeouts respectively.
 
Team Breakdown:
- The Titans return five impact seniors who were a part of the 2019 championship team in graduate students Liz Murphy and Leena Mortensen along with seniors, McKenna Tanguay, Taylor Gauthier and Liz Paver.
 
- Murphy is the ace pitcher on the staff, First Team All-Horizon League selection and was named the Most Outstanding Player in 2019 Horizon League Championships after helping the Titans win the title with back-to-back shutouts against first-place UIC in the semifinals and championship game. In her career, she has appeared in 123 games with 81 starts and has posted 32 wins, a 3.57 ERA with 42 complete games and nine saves in her career along with a no-hitter. She is second in school history with 344 strikeouts, sixth in wins and complete games, fourth in innings pitched (527.2) and first in saves (nine). She also is a two-time Horizon League All-Academic Team selection (2020, 2021).
 
- Mortensen (first base) ranked third on the team in hitting (.317) with 20 hits and .397 slugging percentage in league play
with10 and a home run in the HL Quarterfinals versus arch-rival Oakland in 2019.
 
- In 2019, Tanguay (utility) played in 55 games 51 stars hitting .275 with,19 RBI and 42 hits including three hits at the NCAA Regionals 3-for-4 game versus SIU. In 2020, she played in all 23 games with 22 starts hitting .233 while leading the the team with 60 at-bats while ranking second in doubles (5) and stolen bases (2), tied for second in runs scored (4), third in hits (14) and tied for third in walks (5).
 
- Gauthier (utility) played in 35 games making 20 starts with two doubles and an RBI going 8-for-10 on stolen base attempts
 before her season ended due to injury in 2019.
 
- Paver (outfield) started in 27 games in 46 played with 13 hits and four RBI in 2019 and was second on the squad with six walks, tied for second on with four runs scored, third with four doubles and knocked in two runs in 2020.
 
- The Titans have three new comers in freshmen Jaiden Lara and Chloe Spitzer and redshirt freshman Alexis Murphy.
 
- Head Coach Marc Gillis returns for his fourth season at the helm for the Titans
 
2022 Preseason Poll:
- Detroit Mercy was picked to finish eighth in the 2022 Horizon League Softball Preseason Poll announced by the league office and voted on by the league's seven 10 coaches. The Titans received 29 overall points.