KALAMAZOO, Mich. - After not sweeping a season series prior to this weekend, Western Michigan softball made it two in a row on Sunday, taking two from visiting Ohio, 6-3 and 8-3. Diana Patterson was 4-for-7 on the day at the plate with her first collegiate home run and a complete game victory in the circle.
In game one, the Broncos staked the Bobcats to a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. WMU scored twice in the fourth, three more times in the fifth and once more in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead into the seventh before securing the win.
Meredith Whitney struck out eight batters en route to her third win over the past two days. Whitney also hit her second home run of the season, and in as many days, to tie former Bronco catcher Becky Bartosz for fourth on the WMU career list with 10.
Whitney went 3-1 this past week with her only loss coming at No. 2 Michigan. She struck out 23 batters in 25.0 innings of work and held the opposition to a .247 batting average. She walked only eight batters in four complete games, including one shutout victory.
Offensively Gracie Barstad and Patterson each recorded multi-hit games as Barstad was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and Patterson went 2-for-3 with the home run, driving in a pair of runs as a part of the three-run fifth.
The Broncos scored their first run when Courtney Rousseau scored on a wild pitch after Patterson's double sent her to third base. Allie Carlson recorded an RBI with a single to left center, plating Christina Pigozzi who was pinch running for Patterson.
WMU's fifth inning started with a Lexi Jager walk. She was sacrificed to second and Barstad put her at third base with a double down the left field line. Rousseau platd Jager on a sacrifice bunt. Patterson's two-run shot over the left field wall capped the scoring in the fifth.
Jager was 3-for-7 with two runs scored and two RBIs against Ohio during a week where she hit .529, scoring six runs and recording five RBIs. She also hit for extra bases three times, a double, a triple and her program record 21st career home, en route to slugging .882.
WMU added a sixth and final run in the sixth on a Jager single up the middle to score pinch runner Courtney Burnett. Ohio brought a pair of runs home in the top of the seventh and had a runner on base when Whitney ended it by striking out Emily Wethington on a 1-2 count.
Ohio opened scoring again in game two with a run in the top of the first on Paige Kemezis' home run, but a Rousseau single through the right side and an error gave WMU a 2-1 lead after one. Rousseau ended the day 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and two RBIs.
Jordan Paden hit the Bobcats' second home run of the game in the second inning to put Ohio back on top, 3-2, but it was the last time a Bobcat would cross home plate. Patterson settled in, allowing just four more hits the rest of the way.
Jager tied the game with a triple to score Whitney in the bottom of the fourth and then WMU broke the game open in the fifth with five runs. With three runners aboard, Kayla Houston came off the bench for her only at bat of the weekend and dripped a double to the center field wall, clearing the bases. Whitney's home run brought the final two runs of the game to the plate, scoring pinch runner Bri Russell.
Western Michigan plays a non-conference doubleheader against IPFW on Wednesday, April 20, beginning at 2 p.m. The Broncos return to Mid-American Conference play next weekend with a twinbill against Toledo on Friday (April 22) and a two-game series against Bowling Green on Saturday and Sunday (April 23-24).
