KALAMAZOO, Mich.– The Western Michigan softball team hits the road this weekend as the Broncos head to Buffalo to face the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East foe Bulls in a three-game series. The team will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, scheduled to start at 1 p.m., followed by the series finale at noon on Sunday.

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The Broncos enter the weekend at 13-19 overall and 1-7 in the MAC while Buffalo stands at 7-29 overall and 2-6 in conference play.

The Broncos came into the week hitting .289 which was good for third in the MAC earlier this week. Senior third baseman Kelsea Cichocki leads the conference in batting average (.489), hits (46) and doubles (11). She ranks second in RBIs (34) and has six home runs. Four other Broncos are batting over .300, including freshman outfielder Mackenzie Swinehart who maintains a .350 average. Redshirt junior Marlee Wilson leads all Broncos during conference play hitting .435 in their first eight games.

Five pitchers have seen action from the mound for the Broncos with sophomore Jordan Kurth and junior Anissa Sanchez getting a majority of the starts. Sanchez has a 4-4 record and an ERA at 2.76 over 66 innings pitched. Kurth holds a 2.60 ERA and has struck out 58 batters over 94.1 innings pitched. The lefty has also pitched eight complete games with two shutouts this season.

Buffalo is batting .241 as a team and has a 4.76 ERA. A pair of freshman Bulls have made strong offensive appearances as Jessica Goldyn leads all players with 11 RBIs and is hitting .275 while Janelle Martinez has 100 appearances at the plate batting .270 with 10 RBIs. Three players share the pitching duties for the Bulls as Sophomore Ally Power leads the team starting 14 games with a 3.81 ERA and has struck out 66 batters this season.

Last year, the Broncos completed the three-game sweep over Buffalo with a 4-1 victory in the series finale.  Erin Binkowski hit a two-run home run while Cichocki batted 2-for-2 and Brooke Wyman hit a double off the left center fence in the final victory.
 
Following the series with Buffalo, the Broncos will travel to MAC rival Central Michigan in a one-game series finale on Wednesday, April 12 at 3 p.m. before hosting Northern Illinois over the weekend. The doubleheader on April 15 against NIU will also be WMU's annual StriKeOut Cancer event beginning at 1 p.m.