KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Mackenzie Swinehart and
Logan Carter both homered for the Broncos, but it wasn't enough as the Western Michigan softball team dropped the first of four games to Ball State on Friday afternoon, 8-5. The teams return to action with a doubleheader on Saturday.
Carter was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and RBI single, while
Mackenzie Swinehart finished 1-for-3 with a solo home run.
Kaylen Glenfield also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Sydney Stefanick went the distance, but Ball State managed to score eight runs off the senior thanks to 12 hits scattered over the seven innings.Â
Kayla Lissy was 3-for-4 to pace the Cardinals at the plate. She tripled and scored twice. Stacy Payton was 2-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Kennedy Wynn finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI. Tieghan Morio got the win, allowing four hits and two earned runs over four innings of work. Alyssa Rothwell picked-up a save, allowing four hits and three earned runs over the final three innings while recording five strikeouts.
Each team scored a single run in the first. Ball State got an RBI single from Haley Dominique while Carter singled home Glenfield for WMU. Ball State then took the lead for good in the second on an RBI double by Wynn. The Cardinals extended the lead to 4-1 in the third thanks to an RBI double from Janae Hogg, who then scored on a single by Delanie Johnson.
Both teams had one-run innings again in the fourth. Faith Hensley scored Lissy on an RBI ground out in the top half before Ehlers did the same to score Taylor Kehoe in the bottom half of the inning, cutting the Ball State lead to 5-2. The Cardinals kept producing in the fifth, with Wynn delivering an RBI double to score Hogg amd make it 6-2.
Western Michigan cut it to one run in the fifth thanks to a solo home run from Swinehart to start the inning and a two-run homer from Carter later in the frame. That would be the last of the scoring for the Broncos and Ball State got two insurance runs in the sixth on a two-run homer from Payton to provide the final margin of 8-5.
The teams return to action on Saturday, May 8, for a 1 p.m. ET doubleheader. Both games can be heard live on WMUBroncos.com.
| Senior Day 1.0
Prior to the game, head coach
Kathy Leitke and the program honored three seniors from last year's team who did not have a chance to celebrate a senior day in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emma Nuyen returned to Ebert Field while
Cari Padula and
Samantha Pico were honored remotely.
