KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan softball team (26-22, 12-9 MAC) rounds out the regular season this weekend with a home series against Eastern Michigan. The first game of the series is scheduled to begin on Friday, May 4 at 3 p.m. On Saturday, May 5 the series will wrap up with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 5 is Senior Day and Alumni Day for the Broncos.
 
FOLLOW US: @WMUSoftball
 
TOP 25 VICTORY
The Broncos defeated No. 14 Michigan on the road Tuesday, May 1, by a score of 8-2. U-M entered the game with the top ERA in the nation and had previously out-scored opponents 92-5 in Ann Arbor. The loss to WMU was the Wolverines' first home defeat of the season. Junior Skyler Sobeski and sophomore Kaylen Glenfield led WMU combining for six hits and three RBIs. Glenfield and redshirt senior Marlee Wilson both went yard in the seventh inning to finish off the Wolverines. Junior Jordan Kurth pitched a complete game only allowing five hits and one earned run. This is the second top-25 win for the Brown & Gold this season with the first coming against No. 19 BYU (2-1) in the 2018 season opener in Arizona at the Kajikawa Classic.
 
MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Freshman outfielder Samantha Coffel was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week. Coffel hit .500 with a home run, a triple and three RBIs in the last weekend's conference series at Northern Illinois. On the year, Coffel is batting .373 and .446 in MAC play, both of which are team highs and rank in the top 10 in the conference. Western Michigan is third in the MAC West with a 12-9 record on the year.
 
BRINK OF HISTORY
WMU has several players who are on the verge of breaking school records with a three-game series and the conference tournament left to play. Samantha Coffel's batting average of .373 is the third highest in a single season. Coffel also ranks third in single season RBIs (38), two shy of moving into second place, and is sixth in doubles (13). Sophomore outfielder Mackenzie Swinehart is seventh in hits with 62 but can quickly move up the ladder. Her mother, Wendy (Berryman) ranks third all-time in WMU history with 67 hits in 1994.

Currently with 10 home runs on the season and 20 career, with her next home run senior Aspen Williams will tie the single-season record and move into second place for career home runs. As a team the Broncos have already hit the most home runs in school history with 41, breaking the previous record of 38 achieved in 2015 and 2017.

The team's current batting average of .289 is third highest for a single season. WMU also is third in runs scored (229) and doubles (68) in a single season.
 
TOPS IN THE MAC
Junior Jordan Kurth has seven conference wins this season which ranks fifth best in the MAC. Kurth is also ranked in the top 10 for ERA (2.61), opposing batting average (.212), innings pitched (64.1) and strikeouts (49) for conference games. Coffel has recorded the most hits (33) and total bases (58) during MAC play so far. Coffel is among the top five in batting average (.446), RBIs (22) and doubles (8).  
 
SENIORS
WMU will be honoring the following seniors during the doubleheader on Saturday, outfielder Geordin Craun, outfielder Aspen Williams, pitcher Holly VanTilburg, pitcher Anissa Sanchez and first baseman Marlee Wilson.
 
SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN
The Eagles are 10-37 on the year and have a 5-15 record in the MAC. Eastern Michigan is hitting .225 as a team and has an ERA of 4.83. Amanda Akles leads the Eagles in almost every offensive category. Akles has a .367 batting average with 13 doubles, nine home runs and 31 RBIs. Trisha Trujillo and Nicolle Miranda both have a team high four victories in the circle. Trujillo has the best ERA on the team with a 4.56 average. This weekend will be the final softball games in school history, as Eastern Michigan University has dropped the sport after this season.
 
MAC TOURNAMENT
WMU has qualified for this season's Mid-American Conference tournament. Eight of the 12 teams receive bids and the tournament is a double elimination format with games starting on Wednesday, May 9 and finishing with the championship game on Saturday, May 12. Games will be held at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. All tournament games will be live streamed through the Mid-American Conference website.