Mid-American Conference

AKRON, Ohio -- No. 5 seed Western Michigan fought back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits and held on for a 5-4 victory over No. 3 Miami Friday, eliminating the RedHawks from the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament.

After trailing 3-2, Western Michigan rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth, sparked by a two-run double by junior second baseman Melissa Palmer.

The Broncos took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Freshman reliever Anissa Sanchez quickly recorded two outs in the innings with a pair of infield pop flys and then things got dicey.

A hit batter, and two singles on the left side of the infield brought in a run for Miami and put the winning run on second base. Sanchez walked the next RedHawk she faced to load the bases and then was lifted for junior Allyson Kus. Kus threw a first pitch ball and then got Bree Lipscomb to fly out to center field to clinch the Bronco victory.

Kus began the day in the circle for the third straight game. She handed the ball off the Sanchez in the bottom of the fifth and the game tied 2-2. Sanchez would go on to record the win, improving her record to 6-5 on the year. Kus got the save on the re-entry, her third of the year.

Palmer was a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate, with a triple, a single and the two-run double.

Sophomore third baseman Kelsea Cichocki was big at the plate as well, blasting a two-run home run that knotted the game at 2-2 the top of the fourth. She also drove in the third run during the rally in the sixth, which proved to be the winning run, with a sac fly to center field.

Western Michigan (23-25) advances in the one-loss bracket and will face the winner of today's #1 Kent State vs. #7 Akron game tonight at 6 PM. Winner of that game advances to Championship Saturday.

Story courtesy of WMU Sports Information