CLEARWATER, Fla. – Dominant pitching and an offensive showcase led the Western Michigan softball team to a pair of Saturday wins at the Clearwater Spring Break Invitational. The Broncos blanked Providence 4-0 in their first game before cruising past Florida A&M 13-1 in five innings in the second contest. With the wins, WMU improved to 5-15 on the season.

Pitching ruled the day as the Broncos tossed their first shutout of the season in the opener with junior Reily Galloway earning her first win of the season, throwing all seven innings and allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out 10. Game two had junior Sydney Stefanick and sophomore Emily Koperdak combining to surrender just one unearned run over the five frames, yielding four hits and fanning eight.

Offensively, Western Michigan was led by seniors Kaylen Glenfield and Cari Padula, who combined for seven hits, five runs scored and nine driven in on the day. Padula broke out against Florida A&M with a three-for-three performance, six RBI and a grand slam. The six runs batted in are tied for the sixth most in a game in program history and the grand slam was WMU's first since Stefanick's against Binghamton on March 2, 2019.

In the opener, WMU scored three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-0 lead. A single by junior Jordyn Swinehart started the frame, and she advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Stefanick singled to third to put runners on first and second with one out. Glenfield followed with a double to left that drove in the pair. Freshman Alyssa Kramer then brought in Glenfield with a double to left. Consecutive fly outs ended the frame.

Providence (4-9) did not have a base runner until the fourth, when a double and fielding error put the first two runners on base. Galloway got out of trouble with a pair of strikeouts and groundout.

The Broncos added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth for the 4-0 final. Glenfield started it with a single to center. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, moved to third on a groundout and came home on a wild pitch.

The Friars got a single to lead off the sixth, but did no damage. In the seventh, Providence worked a one-out walk, but Galloway's ninth and 10th strikeouts of the contest sealed the victory.

Against Florida A&M, the Broncos started strong and did not look back as they led 5-0 after the first and 9-0 after the second.

The first inning was highlighted by Padula's grand slam. Senior Mackenzie Swinehart had delivered the first run of the game earlier in the frame with a single to center.

In the second, WMU added four more runs with Padula back at it with another two-run single. Junior Samantha Coffel and Glenfield added RBI singles in the frame for the nine-run cushion.

Florida A&M recorded a double in the first and a single in the second, but could not get either runner to third base.

Western Michigan tacked on three more runs in the top of the third for a 12-0 advantage. Kramer reached on a fielder's choice with senior Emma Nuyen scoring on the play before Mackenzie Swinehart delivered two more with a single to right field.

A sacrifice fly by senior Samantha Pico tallied the final run in the top of the fourth with freshman Morgan Amarante scoring on the play.
 
The Rattlers (2-16) scored their run in the bottom of the fifth on a wild pitch. With the bases loaded and one out in the frame, WMU got the last two outs with a fielder's choice out at the plate and fly out to third.

Western Michigan closes out its Florida trip Sunday with a 9 a.m. contest against Penn State.

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