Sunday’s Scoreboard
Western Michigan 2, Green Bay 3
Ball State 9, Alabama A&M 1
Akron 8, Butler 7
Northern Illinois 10, Delaware State 2
Bowling Green 0, Western Kentucky 2
Central Michigan 3, Purdue 9
Ohio 3, Lipscomb 2
Kent State 1, UT Arlington 0
Buffalo 5, USC Upstate 6
Stories Courtesy Of MAC Sports Information
Western Michigan 2, Green Bay 3
Box Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The Western Michigan softball team dropped a 3-2 decision to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sunday in the Broncos' final game at the Belmont Bruin Challenge in Nashville. WMU went 1-4 at the tournament, picking up a win against host team Belmont on Saturday.
Western Michigan had four hits from as many Broncos, including a two-run home run from Cari Padula and a double by Mackenzie Swinehart in the bottom of the fifth.
Green Bay took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and led until Padula's shot to center field in the bottom of the second brought home two runs, with Samantha Coffel scoring after reaching earlier on a walk. The Phoenix went back on top in the fifth with a trip around the bases for Rebecca Radke, who reached with a single. After a single from Kalyssa Koehn, Radke came home on a throw to second to catch Kohehn stealing. Green Bay ended the inning with a home run of its own for the 3-2 final.
Junior pitcher Sydney Stefanick took the loss, throwing five innings. Freshman Autumn Godwin made an appearance for the final two frames.
Western Michigan has a week off before it travels to Longwood, Fla. for the Spring Games. The Broncos will play five games over three days starting Friday, Feb. 28 against the University at Albany.
Ball State 9, Alabama A&M 1
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - - After a scoreless first inning, Ball State softball's bats came to life in the second as senior first baseman Janae Hogg and junior catcher Delanie Johnson each blasted two-run home runs to propel the team to a 9-1 (5) victory over Alabama A&M Sunday morning at Jacksonville's Pruitt Softball Complex.
With the win, the Cardinals finished the Jacksonville/UNF Classic with a 3-2 record and improved to 5-5 on the year.
With senior pitcher Alyssa Rothwell striking out four batters over the first two innings, and finishing her 3.0 innings of work allowing just two hits and no earned runs, it was the offense's turn to take over in the bottom of the second.
Akron 8, Butler 7
Box Score
MADEIRA BEACH, Fla.– The Akron softball team took down Big East opponent Butler, 8-7, behind the strength of two senior's Madison Carter (Newnan, Ga.,) and Macky Mitchiner (Riverside, Calif.) recording six combined RBI to close out day three of Madeira Beach Tournament on Sunday morning. "I am so proud of this team for fighting every game. This weekend we took great steps in the right direction with contributions from everyone," said head coach Meaggan Pettipiece.
The Zips now stands 4-6 through 10 games and won back-to-back contests for the first time this season. On the weekend, Akron garnered 44 runs on 59 hits as the Zips offense continues to be a very bright spot game in and game out.
On the day, UA registered 11 hits in the ball game by seven Zips. Carter led Akron with a game-high three hits. In the past two games, Carter has tallied seven hits which marks the most in back-to-back games in her career. Mitchiner matched Carter in the scorebook with three hits including a three-RBI home run. Rounding out the Zips with a multi-hit performance was freshman Bailey Drapola (Brookfield, Ohio) knocking out two.
Inside the circle, senior Adrian Smith (St. Clairsville, Ohio) picked up her third win of the campaign after entering the contest in the fifth. Smith struck out three, allowed two runs on two hits.
After falling behind 5-0 early after two innings of play, the Zips began chipping away at the deficit. Carter posted two of her three RBI on one swing of the bat in the fourth inning with a single into left field scoring senior Jessie Holzman (Medina, Ohio) and sophomore Morgan Cadmus (Tecumseh, Mich.).
A big sixth inning for the Zips courtesy of the long ball off the bats of Mitchiner (three RBI) and Kayla Wulf (two RBI) allowed Akron to tie the game on the first home run, and take a 7-5 lead on the second jack of the inning.
In the ensuing inning, Butler tied the game back up at seven.
In the final inning of play, Carter drove in the eventual winning run two-out RBI single scoring redshirt junior Sydney Jascoe (Commerce, Mich.) from second base. Smith put down the Bulldogs 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.
Northern Illinois 10, Delaware State 2
Box Score
CONWAY, S.C. – The Northern Illinois University softball team concluded play at the Residence Inn 2020 Battle of the Beach by defeating Delaware State,10-2, in six innings on Sunday.
The Huskies' (5-5) victory over the Hornets capped a great weekend in South Carolina for NIU which took four out of five games at the tournament.
NIU jumped off to an early start in the contest by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Kara Apato started things off by drawing a lead-off walk, and then came around to score on an RBI triple down the right field line by Anne Allen. Allen then came around to score on a wild pitch. The third and final run of the inning came when Katie Keller hit a solo home run to right center field.
Keller was solid once again, as she notched four hits, scored three runs, and added an RBI to her total on the day.
Bowling Green 0, Western Kentucky 2
Box Score
A pair of Western Kentucky pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout as the Hilltoppers downed the Bowling Green softball team, 2-0, Sunday morning (Feb. 16). The game was the Falcons' fifth and final contest at the Chattanooga Challenge.
With the win, WKU is now 8-2 on the year, and the Hilltoppers have won seven consecutive games. The Falcons drop to 2-3 on the young season.
In four previous games at the Chattanooga Challenge, WKU had outscored opponents, 41-7, racking up an average of 10.25 runs per game. But, on Sunday, Falcon freshman Payton Gottshall allowed just one earned run in a complete-game effort.
The Hilltoppers had seven hits, and Gottshall walked five batters while striking out five.
Central Michigan 3, Purdue 9
Box Score
CLERMONT, Fla. – The Central Michigan softball team fell to Purdue, 9-3, on Sunday in its fifth and final game of its season-opening weekend in Florida.
The Chippewas return to action next weekend, when they are scheduled to compete in the Georgia Classic in Athens, Ga. The Chippewas are scheduled to play five games in the tournament, opening on Friday, Feb 21, against Austin Peay.
Ohio 3, Lipscomb 2
Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Thanks to a clutch homerun by junior Katie Yun in the top of the 15th inning, the Ohio softball team (2-8) wrapped up play at the 2020 Chattanooga Challenge on Sunday (Feb. 16), outlasting Lipscomb (5-3), 3-2, in 15 innings.
After a scoreless first inning, the Bobcats recorded the first hit of the game in the top of the second inning when junior Ava Heidorn (Marysville, Ohio) tripled down the right field line.
However, the Bobcats were unable to score, sending the game to the bottom of the frame with the game still scoreless.
After starting pitcher freshman Holly Brehm (Mullens, W. Va.) and the Bobcats' defense strung together five scoreless innings, the Bobcats finally struck in the top of the sixth inning.
With two outs, senior Alexa Holland (Rochester, Ind.) singled to left and then moved to second when junior Allie Englant (Long Beach, Calif.) reached on an error. Moments later, freshman Alexis Dawe (Valley Springs, Calif.) singled to center, scoring Holland and giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.
Kent State 1, UT Arlington 0
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas – Redshirt sophomore ace Andrea Scali allowed just one hit as Kent State beat host UT Arlington, 1-0, in the finale game of the Maverick Classic on Sunday afternoon at Allan Saxe Field. The Golden Flashes improved to 7-2 after shutting out its second opponent in a row.
The Mavericks averaged more than 10 runs in recording three run-rule victories on the first two days of the weekend, but Scali (3-2) was able to cool off the hosts hot bats and finished with seven strikeouts.
Sophomore Sabrina Kerschner got the offense started with a single to lead off the bottom of the first inning. After advancing on a sacrifice bunt, however, Kerschner would remain stranded at second base.
Kent State took advantage of a leadoff baserunner in the second, which began with senior Maria Cegledy being hit by a pitch for the third time this season. Junior Carlee Selle singled to move Cegledy to second. A fielder's choice followed to place runners on the corners with two outs. Sophomore Megan Turner was selected for a pinch-hitting assignment, and delivered with a hit to left field to make it 1-0.
The Flashes added a hit in each of the next four innings and totaled seven in the game. Selle reached safely in all three trips to the plate on two singles and a walk.
Kent State will remain on the road for a 6 p.m. ET game Tuesday at #17/#19 Texas Tech. The Flashes will then have a weekend off before returning to competition at the Woo Pig Classic in Arkansas from February 28-March 1.
Buffalo 5, USC Upstate 6
Box Score
SPARTANBURG, SC – USC Upstate scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat the University at Buffalo softball team (2-7, 0-0 MAC) 6-5 in walk off fashion at Cyrill Stadium on Sunday.
The Spartans got on the board in the first on an RBI single to take an early 1-0 lead.
Buffalo would even the game in the top of the third as Kassidy Aiken drew a leadoff walk and later, Anna Aguon smacked a double down the left field line, scoring Aiken to tie the game at one, but the Spartans would retake the lead in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run to go up 2-1.
Alicia Peters flashed some leather later in the game, making a great play on a hard hit ball to third to end the fifth inning. The web gem would pay off as the Bulls would break through in the top of the sixth as Aguon led off with a single and a couple batters later Brianna Castro doubled to right field to score Castro and put UB up 3-2. The offensive barrage would continue with the next batter as Jenna Richmond smashed a two-run home run to center field to give the Bulls a 5-2 lead.
Upstate threatened with runners on first and second in the bottom of the sixth but Madelyn Hickingbottom got a big strikeout to escape the jam and end the inning but the Spartans would score four runs on three hits, capped by a walk off three run home run, to secure the come-from-behind victory.
Hickingbottom dropped to 2-2 on the year as the freshman gave up six runs on eight hits while striking out three in 6.1 innings of work. Aguon led the Bulls at the plate, going 2-fo-4 with an RBI while Castro and Richmond recorded a pair of RBI's each.
Buffalo returns to action February 28-March 1 as they travel to Madeira Beach, Florida to take part in the Powerline Softball Tournament.
