KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Western Michigan shortstop
Alyssa Kramer hit for the cycle, but the Broncos dropped both games of a doubleheader to Ball State on Saturday afternoon at Ebert Field. The Cardinals took the first game, 9-0, before winning a wild 17-11 contest in the night cap. The teams will conclude the four-game series on Sunday.
| Game One
The Cardinals plated five runs in the first and never looked back in the first game.
Kaylen Glenfield,
Logan Carter and
Sydney Stefanick had hits for WMU. Haley Dominique was 3-for-3 with three RBI, while Trinity Eckerty was 2-for-3 with RBI to pace Ball State. Darcie Huber went the distance to pick-up the victory, limiting WMU to three hits in five innings with six strikeouts.
Reily Galloway took the loss for WMU, while
Rissa Bajusz was solid in relief, limiting the Cardinals to two earned runs in 1.2 innings of work.
Dominique's two-run double opened the scoring before she scored on a sacrifice fly by Janae Hogg. Eckerty plated two more runs on a single and error to make it 5-0 after the first. Dominique added a solo homer in the third before Haley Wynn connected for a solo homer in the fourth to make it 7-0. Eckerty provided the finals runs in a two-run double in the fifth, giving Ball State enough to secure the 9-0 victory in five innings.
| Game Two
Kramer hit for the cycle in a wild game two that saw the teams combine for 28 runs and 30 hits in a contest that took over three hours to play. Kramer went 4-for-5 with an RBI.
Logan Carter homered twice, hitting a grand slam and a three-run bomb to drive in seven runs. Bajusz also homered for the Broncos while throwing five innings of relief work. Faith Hensley paced Ball State at the plate with a 4-for-5 performance and five RBI. Gabby Magnifico drove in three while Kayla Lissay, Dominique and Kendall Fields all had two RBI each. Tieghan Morio got the win allowing five earned runs in four innings, while Alyssa Rothwell earned a three-inning save.
Ball State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first thanks to consecutive doubles from Hensley and Patyon. Swinehart responded with a solo homer in the bottom half to make it 3-1.
The Cardinals erupted for four runs in the second and three in the third to make it 10-1. The second saw Hensley with an RBI double before Dominique and Amaia Daniel had RBI hits. The third inning saw RBI singles from Lissy, Hensley and Brooke Ligacki.Â
Western Michigan scored a run on a double play groundout by Ehlers in the third to make it 10-2, but climbed back in the game in the fourth when Carter hit a grand slam to right-center, making it 10-6. The visitors responded with two runs in the fifth on an RBI triple by Lissy and RBI single from Hensley. BSU pushed the lead to 14-6 on a two-run homer from Fields.
The Broncos again did enough to keep the game alive, as Kramer and Bajsuz delivered solo shots in the sixth to cut the Ball State lead to 14-8. The teams then traded thee-run homers in the seventh, with Magnifico homering for Ball State and Carter hitting her second of the game for the Broncos, to provide the final margin of 17-11.
| On Deck
The series is slated to conclude on Sunday, May 9, with a Noon ET first pitch. Prior to the game, WMU will honor four members of its senior class playing in their final weekend series at Ebert Field. The group includes
Mackenzie Swinehart,
Sydney Stefanick,
Logan Carter and
Kaylen Glenfield.
Â
