Game Stats
AKRON, Ohio - Western Michigan softball will have one more hurdle to clear in order
to play in its first Mid-American Conference Tournament title game in
three years after falling to Akron, 1-0, on Friday night in only the
second meeting between the two teams in tournament play. The Broncos
and Zips will face off at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Firestone Stadium
for the right to play Miami for the championship.
In a scoreless game that had not seen a runner reach second base through five and a half innings, (7) Akron, playing in its third game of the day, moved the game's first runner past first base and made it count. Center fielder Lisa McLean, who took away two hits from the Broncos during Friday night, doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth. She advanced to third on a ground out and crossed the plate for the game's lone run on a ball that did not leave the infield.
Western Michigan and Akron had met only once in MAC Tournament history, the opening game of the 1997 event won, 6-2, by the Broncos. Either team would have welcomed that production on a rainy Friday night in Akron as McLean beat out an errant throw to home plate from Mandi Sayres.
Offensively, the Broncos managed two base hits on the night, a shot up the middle off the bat of Gracie Barstad in the second and another by Meredith Whitney in the top of the fourth. Lexi Jager had the best shot of the night, taking McLean to the wall in center field before it was hauled in.
Western Michigan was sat down in order, stopping a streak of 13-straight offensive innings with at least one base runner during this year's MAC Tournament. Niether team was able to scratch a run across through the first three innings but Akron led in the hit column with a bunt single in the first and a base hit to left field from Crystal Hernandez. Barstad collected the Broncos' first hit of the game with a rip back up the middle in the second inning.
Despite having more base runners through three frames, the Zips were never able to advance a runner to second thanks to WMU's defense. On each occasion the Zips attempted to bunt the runner over but once the ball was caught by Sarah Thomas on a pop out, the second came on a 6-4 force out and the third on a come back to Whitney in the circle to Sayres at shortstop.
Sayres and Thomas also came up big in the first inning when the two hooked up to catch Lisa McLean stealing. Amanda McBride, hitting .500 for the MAC Tournament entering Friday night, made a diving stab towards first base to smother a ground ball and came up throwing for the third out of the second inning.
Whitney tried to help her own cause with a single to center fielsd in the top of the fourth but with two out, Brittney Reist's dying shot to center was pulled out of the air by McLean to end the inning for the Broncos.
WMU's defense kept Akron from advancing a runner to second again in the bottom of the fifth inning. After forcing the Zips into a ground out and fly out to lead off the inning, Hernandez collected her second hit of the game. Sayres and McBride combined for the 6-4 force out to end the threat and leave the scoreless through five full innings.
With two outs, Sayres stood at the plate facing a full count when the game went into a 10-minute rain delay. Once play resumed, the next pitch was a ball, placing the senior on first. Jager, on a 2-2 pitch from Andrea Arney, put a charge into it but McLean came up with the catch at the left center field wall to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
What is left for WMU is another game against Akron at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. A win puts the Broncos in their first title game since 2006. It will also mean Western Michigan needs two wins over (4) Miami in order to claim its first tournament title since 2003. The RedHawks enter Saturday with an unblemished 3-0 record.
