AKRON, Ohio - The 2012 Western Michigan softball season came to an end at the hands of No. 2 Miami, 3-1, in the consolation final of the 2012 Mid-American Conference Tournament on Saturday morning.
In a game that matched arguable the best two pitchers in the MAC this season, any advantage or momentum gained would be larger than in any other and Miami grabbed that momentum in the second inning.
The Red Hawks plated a run in the home half of the frame when Allie Larrabee doubled down the left field line, scoring Daniela Torres. Miami added a second run on a double as well in the third inning, this one off the bat of Jordan McElroy to score Kirstie Fehrenbach from first base.
Western Michigan collected its first hit of the game in the second when Diana Patterson singled to right field after Gracie Barstad led off the inning with a walk. With runners on first and second, Elisha Handshoe flew out to left field and Jennifer Tschetter struck out to end the inning.
WMU's next hit came in the fourth when Tara Buchanan led off with a single up the middle but pinch runner Jenny Rohn was stranded on first. Handshoe hit her second double of the tournament to lead off the fifth but was stranded.
Miami tacked on a third run in the fifth when Shanyn McIntyre lifted a ball to center field for a sacrifice fly but Whitney and the WMU defense held the Red Hawks to that one run despite loading the bases.
Tschetter made the defensive play of the tournament when Kayla Ledbetter led off the home half of the sixth with a shot to straight away center field. Tschetter stretched over and through the retaining wall for the out.
The Broncos' last chance came in the top of the seventh. Courtney Rousseau reached on a fielding error to lead off the inning. She advanced to second on Patterson's ground out and eventually scored on Handshoe's base hit up the middle. It would be the closest WMU would get as the next two batters flew out and struck out to end the game.
Whitney ended her WMU career with 742 strikeouts, 62 wins and 720.2 innings pitched. She had 247 strikeouts this season, including a MAC Tournament best 46 on 570 pitches thrown this week.
