MUNCIE, Ind. – The Western Michigan softball team squared off with one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference, but the Broncos were unable to steal a win on the road as the Broncos were swept in both ends of a doubleheader at Ball State on Friday. The Cardinals claimed a 7-1 win to open the day and a 5-4 decision in the nightcap to drop the Broncos to 14-19 overall on the season, 6-4 against MAC opponents.
Melissa Palmer went 5-for-6 combined over two games with a home run, a double and two runs batted in, while Taylor Sanicki added a 4-of-6 day at the plate. Jenny Rohn had a strong showing in the nightcap, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
The Cardinal offense posed problems for the Broncos on the afternoon, as Ball State jumped out to early leads in both games. The best chance for a Bronco comeback came in the second game when WMU battled back to tie the Cardinals at 4-4 with two big innings. Trailing 3-0 in the top of the third, Ivy Schaaf reached on an infield single to lead off the inning, and Sanicki reached on a single of her own to put runners on first and second with no outs. Rohn advanced Sanicki to third on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners and Palmer did the rest, stroking a line drive to right field to plate Sanicki. Sabrina Gamboa tacked on another run two batters later, hitting a long fly ball to center field that allowed Rohn to score on the sacrifice fly.
The offensive attack continued in the top of the fourth inning, with most of the damage coming after the Cardinals recorded the first two outs of the inning. Sanicki worked Carolyn Wilmes into a walk on a full count to put runners on first and second with two away, and Rohn came up in the next at-bat to score both Sanicki and Brenna Davis with a double to left-center to tie the game at 4-4. The Cardinals tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Sammi Cowger to re-take the lead and held on the rest of the way, shutting the Broncos out in the final three innings to claim the 5-4 win.
Ball State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the early game, with the sole Bronco run coming off the bat of Palmer. Palmer poked the first pitch of the at-bat over the left field fence to cut the Cardinal lead to 2-1, but Ball State scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the game just out of reach for WMU.
The Broncos will be back in action on Saturday, April 18 when they face off against the Miami RedHawks in a doubleheader.
