KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Broncos are ready to dust off Fran Ebert Field to start another season and WMU will welcome the Fightin' Irish of Notre Dame for a doubleheader on March 18, beginning at 3:30 p.m. This will be the first of two twinbills for the Broncos as they prepare for the opening of conference play next weekend.
RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY ? Western Michigan softball had its entire Buzz Classic schedule wiped out due to rain and poor weather in Atlanta on March 7-9. Despite the inability to compete in the tournament, the Broncos were able to schedule a doubleheader with Troy on March 9. Otherwise it would have been 16 days between games when Notre Dame comes to town on March 18.
LIVE AT FIVE ? The Bronco bats are alive in the middle of games so far this season. Western Michigan is outscoring the opposition, 13-1, in the fifth inning through 12 games in 2008. In fact, when looking at scoring from the fifth inning on, WMU is outscoring its opponents in every frame extra the ninth innings (extra innings) where both teams have gone scoreless. ON
TOP OF THE WORLD ? Junior outfielder Samantha Vargocko is quickly becoming the Broncos' offensive leader early in the 2008 season. Vargocko leads WMU in seven offensive categories, including batting average (.400), total bases (18), slugging percentage (.600), hits (12), walks (4), on-base percentage (.471) and RBIs (7). She shares the team RBI lead with senior Amanda Gelder.
FINDING HER WAY ? Freshman Lexi Jager is quickly adapting to Division I college softball. Through 11 starts this season, the rookie is hitting .400 (8-for-20), has scored two runs, hit her first-collegiate home run and has three RBIs. Defensively, she has 15 putouts and four assists on 21 chances.
CLOSE TO THE MARK ? Head coach Kathy Leitke is closing in a major career milestone. Leitke is nine wins from 500 for her career. A weekend sweep of CMU and EMU would also give her 100 Mid-American Conference wins during her tenure at Western Michigan.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION ? Western Michigan is having success this season when home runs are a part of the Bronco offense. WMU holds a 4-0 record when hitting at least one home run this season. The Brown & Gold are also a perfect 3-0 when scoring first in a game. If the game goes into extra innings? No problem ? WMU is 2-0 in overtime.
ON DECK ? The Broncos will host Oakland in a doubleheader on March 25. WMU holds a 16-5 edge in the all-time series for OU. The twinbill will be Western Michigan's last non-conference tune up before heading on the road for its first MAC weekend against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan (March 28-30).
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE ? Bronco fans have two ways to follow the action if they can't make it to the field on game days. The first is FREE Live Stats available on www.wmubroncos.com. Simply go to the softball home page and click Live Stats in the menu bar across the top. A camera icon will appear once the game has started. If you want to see the game, every home game is available On Demand once the game has been concluded. The games are usually available on the site no later than 24 hours after the conclusion but you must be a Bronco Insider subscriber to view these videos.
