Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Western Michigan softball opened the 2008 Mid-American Conference season with a win, taking down Central Michigan, 3-1, in the first game of Friday's doubleheader in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Junior Mandi Sayres had the hot bat for the Broncos in game one, going 3-for-4 and scored a run in the opener. She finished with a .429 batting average over the two games.
WMU (7-8, 1-1 MAC) plated a pair of runs in the first game before the Chippewas (9-11, 1-1 MAC) managed to get one across the plate. Becky Bartosz drove in the Broncos' first on a one-out single to left center, scoring Chelsea Westenburg. Westenburg pinch ran for Amanda Gelder, who ripped her third double of the season down the left field line.
Samantha Vargocko scored the Broncos' second run in the top of the sixth inning, unearned, when Michelle Bendewald reached on an error by CMU's third baseman. Western Michigan had an opportunity for more, stranding three base runners when Sarah Thomas grounded out to second base.
The Broncos scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh after CMU had scored in the bottom of the sixth to cut WMU's lead in half. Sayres led off the frame with her third hit of the game. Kyla Sullivan followed with a base hit and then three walks brought Sayres across the plate.
Sullivan earned her fourth win of the season, striking out four Chippewas along the way and walking just one batter. Western Michigan out hit its opponent, 9-7 in the first game.
Lexi Jager also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 in her first MAC action. Brittney Reist joined in with a hit of her own, a base hit to right field in the top of the third.
WMU opened the second game with an unearned run in the top of the first but the Brown & Gold managed just one hit the rest of the way, a Meghan Thomas single to center field in the top of the second inning on a 1-1 pitch. Thomas took the loss in the circle for the second time this season as CMU's Kari Seddon worked a complete-game gem. She allowed no earned runs and just that one hit but allowed five Broncos to earn a free pass to first base.
The two-game set at Eastern Michigan scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Ypsilanti, Mich., was cancelled on Friday due to unplayable field conditions. A wave of snow hit the area on Thursday, dropping close to four inches and causing the Eagles to cancel a doubleheader against Northern Illinois and the two games against the Broncos.
Western Michigan will come back home for five games this coming week, beginning with a showdown with No. 6 Michigan at 4 p.m., on April 1.
