KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan softball earned its first series sweep of the year, taking care of Akron, 9-0, in five innings in the first game and holding off the Zips, 6-4, in game two. Meredith Whitney moved past Angie Rosich (1994-97) into second place on the career strikeouts list and now has 414 career K's.
The Bronco bats were active on Friday afternoon as WMU out hit the Zips, 23-6, including a season high 14 hits in the second game of the doubleheader. Western got things rolling early in the opener, scoring six runs in the home half of the second inning starting but the onslaught began with Lexi Jager's 21st career home run on the first pitch she saw with one out in the first.
Jager's blast was one of two home runs for the Broncos on Friday as Whitney helped her own cause in the bottom of the first, leading off with a home run down the left field line on a 1-1 offering from Akron starter Andrea Arney. The home run was the first of the year for Whitney and now ties her with Samantha Vargocko for fifth on the career list with nine.
WMU used three hits and a pair of Akron errors to score its six runs in the second inning of game one. Courtney Rousseau, who went 3-for-7 at the plate with her first triple of the year, collected an infield base hit to lead things off. She later scored when Jennifer Tschetter reached on a fielding error at third base. Whitney drove in a run with a single up the middle, scoring pinch runner Christina Pigozzi. Jager racked up her second and third RBIs of the game on a base hit to right field and Gracie Barstad reached on a fielding error later in the inning to plate Whitney and Jager.
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Barstad collected a base hit to right field and was followed by Rousseau's triple. Diana Patterson knocked a base hit up the middle to score Rousseau.
Whitney was dominant in the circle, allowing just two hits and walking just one batter, while striking out seven. She did not allow a base hit after the second inning. She took to the circle in game two as well and her third punch out of the game, getting swinging strikeout on a 1-2 pitch to Alissa Birkhimer, was the one that moved her past Rosich on the all-time list.
The Broncos scored a pair of runs in the first inning of game two, plated one in each of the second and third innings, and added what turned out to be the two deciding runs in the fourth inning. Patterson collected her second RBI of the day, scoring pinch runner Courtney Burnett, adding to Whitney's home run in the first. Tara Buchanan became the 36th Bronco to record two doubles in a game and collected her first in the second inning to score Jager, who finished 5-for-7 with four runs scored and three RBIs on Friday.
Michelle Bendewald plated WMU's fourth run of the game with a single to center and Jager led off the fourth with a double down the left field line. She later scored on Barstad's single to the same location. Barstad capped the scoring for the Broncos, crossing home plate from second base when Rousseau singled and advanced to second on an error in center field.
Akron scored all four of its runs on home runs as Olivia Hegedus hit her 10th of the year in the second and Heather Bauer tapped her third of the season over the left field wall to bring the Zips within two runs in the sixth. Whitney sat Akron down in order in the seventh to preserve the win and the series sweep.
Western Michigan will take on Ohio this weekend with games scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Ohio defeated Northern Illinois, 7-2, on Friday as the two teams were only able to play one game due to weather conditions.
