Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan softball honored its five seniors (Becky Bartosz, Amanda Gelder, Molly Mroczek, Nina Ojala and Kyla Sullivan) prior to the Broncos regular season finale on Sunday afternoon at Fran Ebert Field. WMU fell to the Red Hawks, 6-0, with Bartosz breaking up Miami's bid for a no-hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Western Michigan (19-16, 10-8 MAC) and Miami (23-25, 13-9 MAC) battled to a scoreless tie through 3.2 innings before the Red Hawks put the first crooked number on the board. Left fielder Alicia Hogl smashed her second home run of the season to straight away centerfield with two outs in the top of the fourth.
The Broncos had thought they had taken care of Miami's home run threat one batter later when Breanna Robinson sent a shot toward the center field wall. Samantha Vargocko tracked the ball all the way to the wall, hauling it in for the inning's second out. Hogl put Miami on the board on the first pitch she saw from Meghan Thomas, who relieved Kyla Sullivan after working the first inning.
Miami broke the game open in the fifth inning on a three-run double by Robinson, giving the Red Hawks a 4-0 lead. Miami would tack on two more runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings. Sarah Billstrom led off the seventh inning with another Red Hawk home run.
Lexi Jager was WMU's first base runner of the game. With the count 2-2, Jager was hit by a pitch and advanced to second base on a Vargocko ground out. With the perfect game opportunity gone, Miami's starting pitcher, Shalise Lugo, took her bid for a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh frame.
Sarah Thomas fouled out to the catcher to lead off the inning, which brough Bartosz to the plate. Facing a full count, the senior ripped a base hit back up the box. The last time WMU was no hit was on April 20, 2007 at Kent State. The last time it occurred at home was on March 26, 2006 against Notre Dame.
Western Michigan will go into the 2008 Mid-American Conference as the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 seed Miami at 11 a.m., on Wednesday, May 7. Kent State is the tournament's top seed, followed by Central Michigan and Bowling Green, respectively.
Full details about the tournament can be found at www.mac-sports.com and www.wmubroncos.com. Both sites will have Live Stats for each and every pitch of WMU's run toward a MAC Tournament title.
