Box Score
Overall Stats
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan had trailed since the third inning but junior Amanda Heckaman's two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh gave the Broncos their first lead and the win over Ball State on Saturday at Fran Ebert Field. Heckaman joined three teammates with two hits on the day, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
WMU (18-10, 6-1 MAC) depended on its power offense for most of the Broncos' runs against the Cardinals (9-15, 3-4 MAC). Three of their four runs scored came on the long ball and both home runs came at critical points in the game.
Even though Heckamand ended the drama of the seventh, it all began with the bat of senior Katie Niemi. Niemi led off the seventh with a solo shot, her second of the season, to right center field. She finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and the one RBI. Niemi's home run tied the score at two and set the stage for what came next. Daniel Daughtry ripped a base hit back to the circle, knocking the ball off Abby Zollman's (2-3) shin. Kristi Strange followed with a text book sacrifice bunt, advancing Daughtry to second with just one out.
Nicki Hellem replaced Zollman in the circle. Her first offering to Heckaman was a strike, as was the second. The difference between the two pitches was their final destination. The first ended up in the catcher's mit. The second sailed over the left field wall, giving WMU its sixth Mid-American Conference victory.
Ball State jumped out to a quick two-run lead when Amanda Pick, the Cardinals' pitcher, hit her first home run of the season off Krysten Shumaker (10-3) with a runner on. After the inning, Shumaker calmed herself and had another solid outing, registering her 11th complete game of the year. She did not give up another hit and only allowed one more Cardinal to reach base the rest of the game.
WMU answered in the bottom half of the third. Niemi doubled to center field and advanced to third on a throwing error. Two batters later, she scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kristi Strange. Strange doubled down the right field line in her first at bat of the day, giving her 15 for the season and the WMU single-season record all to herself.
The Broncos may not have needed their late inning heroics had they capitalized on earlier success. Western Michigan's bats were popping. The team registered 10 hits, only the Brown & Gold's second double-digit hitting performance of the year. Tricia VanDerSlik and Becky Bartosz each recorded a pair of hits as each went 2-for-3 at the plate. Unfortunately, the Broncos could not get runs across the plate until the later innings, stranding eight base runners throughout the game.
Western Michigan and Ball State compete against one another again on Sunday. First pitch at Fran Ebert Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
