Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - With two out in the bottom of the eighth inning and facing a full count, freshman and Kalamazoo native Lexi Jager ripped her second collegiate home run over the right field wall to give the Broncos a 5-3 walk-off victory over Northern Illinois on Sunday afternoon at Fran Ebert Field.
Western Michigan (11-8, 3-1 MAC) entered the bottom of the eighth inning in a three-all tie with the Huskies (5-17, 0-4 MAC). Becky Bartosz hit a first-pitch ground ball to third base to record WMU's first out. Mandi Sayres followed by popping to first base on a 2-1 pitch. Jager, who hit .545 (6-for-11) in for games this week, came to the plate next for the Broncos. She worked the count full before blasting Kate Greenough's offering over the right field wall to end the game in dramatic fashion.
It was Jager's second-career home run but first at Fran Ebert Field. Her first collegiate dinger came in a victory against Virginia on Feb. 17 at the Kajikawa Classic. It marked the fourth home run hit by Western Michigan this weekend as well as the 16th for the team this season. The Broncos hit 16 home runs during the entire 2007 season and need two more to have the third most in a season in program history.
The Brown & Gold struck first again on Sunday, scoring a run in the first and second innings each. Sayres led off the game with a base hit when she beat out a ball hit to second base. Kyla Sullivan sacrificed her to second with a bunt and Sayres advanced to third on a ground out by Jager. Amanda Gelder, who hit one of the Broncos' four home runs this weekend on Saturday, doubled into the right center gap to score Sayres.
Brittney Reist stepped to the plate to lead off the second and poked the first pitch she saw from NIU's starter Joreigh Landers, over the left field wall to give WMU a 2-0 lead. It was Reist's third blast of the year.
Northern Illinois answered in the top of the fourth with a long ball of its own when Michelle Nendza hit a first-pitch out of the park to tie the score. Emily Gooding had been hit by a pitch with two outs before Nendza cleared the bases with her eighth home run of the season.
NIU took a 3-2 lead int he top of the sixth when Krista McPherson led off with a triple down the right field line and scored when the next batter, Jenna Roberts reached on a fielder's choice. Second baseman Amanda McBride, who went 1-for-3 at the plate, decided to throw home but was unable to tag out the runner.
Western Michigan tied the score in its offensive half of the sixth when Sayres scored on a wild pitch from Greenough after leading off with a double to left center field. The Broncos could have had a commanding lead but stranded 11 base runners, including at least one in each of the first six innings and two in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
Sullivan, who worked her ninth complete game en route to her seventh win sat the Huskies down in order in the seventh and allowed just one base runner in the eighth before Jager closed the door. She registered 10 strike outs on the day and fanned the side in the third inning.
Three Broncos hit over .400 for the week, including Gelder (.444, 4-for-9), McBride (.400, 4-for-10) and Jager. Sayres went 2-for-4 on Sunday with three runs scored and has crossed the plate seven times in the last four games for WMU. Western Michigan had 12 extra-base hits this past week with six doubles, five home runs and a triple.
WMU will take a short respite from Mid-American Conference play when the team travels to Michigan State on April 9 at 4 p.m. The Broncos will return home for a doubleheader against Kent State on April 11, beginning at 1 p.m., and a two-game set against Buffalo on April 12-13.
