Broncos Battle Huskies - The Mid-American Conference West Division leading Broncos will take the field against another divisional opponent this weekend when the Huskies come to town this weekend. Unlike most conference weekends, Western Michigan will only play single games on Saturday (April 14) and Sunday (April 15), omitting the normal Friday double header. Northern Illinois (14-16, 3-5 MAC) is currently four games back of the Broncos in the standings.
LIVE, from Kalamazoo - Statistics from all home Western Michigan softball games are available LIVE during the contests on www.wmubroncos.com. The service, called Live Stats, shows a pitch-by-pitch account of the game, box scores for both teams and a running play-play of the game. To watch the game's stats on the Internet, go to the WMU softball home page and click 'Live Stats' next to 'Statistics' in the menu bar along the top. Once the game has started there will be a camera icon that you can click and it will launch the game viewer. In order to properly view the game, you must have Flash installed on your computer.
Winning the West - Nothing has been won by any means but eight games into the conference docket, WMU (19-10, 7-1 MAC) is one game clear of Eastern Michigan (18-19, 6-2 MAC), a team that split with the Brown & Gold to open the MAC season. Western Michigan is one game clear of all conference rivals as Bowling Green (23-15, 6-2 MAC) and Akron (15-15, 6-2 MAC) lead the East Division with two league losses apiece. After this weekend, Western Michigan has two games against a divisional opponent. The Broncos close the regular season with Toledo on May 6-7 ast Fran Ebert Field.
On the National Stage - Junior Kristi Strange (LF, Canby, Ore.) leads the nation in doubles per game. Her 15 two-baggers are good for a 0.52 average, the best in all of Division I softball. The Canby High School graduate recently broke the Western Michigan single-season record for doubles with her 15th against Ball State on April 8.
Join the List - Sophomore hurler Krysten Shumaker (RHP, Auburn, Ind.) also found her name among the nation's elite. The DeKalb High School graduate ranks 30th in the country, and leads the MAC, with a 1.16 ERA. Earlier in the season Shumaker went six appearances without allowing an earned run, including four where she did not allow any runs at all.
Lead the Way - Shumaker also leads the conference in opposing batting average (.148), 40 points better than Liz Vrabel in second place (.188). She also ranks second in the MAC in wins (10), is tied for third in saves (three), and fifth in runs allowed (24) and earned runs allowed (17).
Roaring 20's - Western Michigan softball's next win will give the team 20 in a season for the fifth straight season under head coach Kathy Leitke. During her tenure, the Broncos have eclipsed the 30-win plateau twice (2003, 2004). The record for most-consecutive 20-win seasons is Fran Ebert. The namesake for the Broncos' field accomplished the feat eight of the 10 seasons she was at the helm.
Yard - Fran Ebert Field could not contain the Bronco bats this past week as five members of the WMU softball team went yard in conference action. Connie Kolokithas started things off with her first career home run, a three-run shot to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead over Miami in the third inning. Katie Niemi was the next to act. She put her first career home run over the right center field wall in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at two against Ball State on April 8. She set the stage for Amanda Heckaman, who blasted her third home run later in the inning to give the Broncos the walk-off victory, 4-2. Tricia VanDerSlik continued the offensive onslaught with a three-run home run, her first of the season, in the third inning of WMU's 9-8 comeback win over the Cardinals on April 9. Kristi Strange was the final team member to leave the confines, stroking her second home run of the year to straight away center in the sixth inning of the same game.
Scouting the Huskies - Northern Illinois is currently in third place in the MAC West and took three of four from Ball State and Miami this past weekend, sweeping the Redhawks. The Huskies split a twin bill against Valparaiso and took on Loyola-Chicago on April 12, a team WMU defeated, 1-0 and 7-0 in five innings, on March 21. NIU holds a slight edge in the all-time series, 21-20. The two teams split a double header on April 17, 2005. The Brown & Gold opened with a 2-0 win and Northern Illinois answered with a 1-0 victory in the night cap. Tricia VanDerSlik was in the circle for the Broncos to earn her then-seventh win of the season, holding the Huskies to just three hits while fanning eight.
