TEMPE, Ariz.- Western Michigan knotted the score at three with two runs in the top of the seventh but Ole Miss came up with the winning run in the bottom half of the inning, edging WMU 4-3 Sunday in Arizona. The game concluded the Broncos' play at the Kajikawa Classic.
Junior
Melissa Palmer and senior
Jenny Rohn accounted for all five of Western Michigan's hits. Palmer batted 3-for-4 with an RBI double while Rohn went 2-for-4 and had a pair of RBI doubles.
Ole Miss got on the board in the second inning, using a pair of solo shots to straight-away center from Madi Osias and Natalie Martinez to take a 2-0 lead.
WMU cut the deficit in half in the fifth when Rohn doubled to right center to drive in
Sabrina Gamboa who had reached base on a leadoff walk.
The Rebels shot back with a run in the bottom of the sixth to pull ahead, 3-1. Elantra Cox led off with a single for Ole Miss, stole second and tagged up on a fly ball to advance to third. She scored on a single by Miranda Strother.
The Broncos wouldn't go down without a fight, generating two runs to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Junior
Caity Pixley stepped in to pinch hit and drew a leadoff walk. With one out, Rohn hit her second double of the day, sending a ball to right center that scored Pixley. Palmer followed in the next at bat with a double down the left field line, allowing Rohn to come across. The Rebels made a pitching change and put an end to the Bronco rally with a foul out and a strikeout.
Ole Miss put its leadoff runner on in the seventh when Courtney Syrett singled to right and a Bronco fielding error in the outfield allowed her to move all the way over to third. Sophomore Bronco pitcher Erin Binkowksi got the next batter to line out to left, holding pinch runner Melina Preciado at third. Binkowksi issued a walk and then the Broncos recorded a second out when third baseman
Kelsea Cichocki gunned Preciado down at home on a fielder's choice. With two outs and the bases loaded, Strother delivered the game-winning hit for Ole Miss with a single back up the middle,
Binkowski struck out four in a complete game effort and dropped to 1-2 with the loss. Ole Miss had 10 hits in the game.
Western Michigan (1-5) takes almost a two-week break before heading to the Eastern Kentucky Invitational, Feb. 21-22. The Broncos plays EKU twice over the weekend and also have contest against Louisville and Kent State.
