KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan softball suffered its first conference defeat this afternoon at the hands of the Toledo Rockets, falling by a final tally of 5-4. The result moves WMU to 8-15 on the season, and 0-1 in Mid-American Conference play.

The story of the day for the Broncos was senior pitcher Reily Galloway, who recorded a career-high 18 strikeouts in the circle in addition to sending a solo bomb over the right field wall in the bottom of the first. Her 18 strikeouts are the second most in program history, trailing Bonni Kinne's record total from 1982 by just a single K.

Senior infielder Jordyn Swinehart added to the Western Michigan efforts in the bottom half of inning number two, lacing a single up the middle to bring sophomore catcher Taylor Garey around, moving the score to 2-0 in favor of the Broncos going into the third.

Toledo would respond with a few tallies of their own, scoring three runs in the top of the fourth inning and another in the fifth, taking a 4-2 lead halfway through the frame. The Broncos refused to quit, however, and responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of five. A Rocket fielding error brought freshman outfielder Taylor Wolfe home to bring her team within one. Junior infielder Alyssa Kramer shot a single out to left field later that inning, allowing freshman infielder Lauren Porter to cross the dish and even things up at 4 runs apiece heading into the sixth.

After scoreless sixth and seventh innings, the ballgame needed extra time to determine a winner. Toledo loaded the bases in the top of the eighth, but came away with a single run as good pitching and defense limited the damage for WMU's cause. Unfortunately, the bottom half of the inning did not yield any runs for Western Michigan, ending the afternoon after 2 hours and 19 minutes of game action.

Reily Galloway had a very impressive afternoon, going 2-4 behind the dish with a solo home run and an RBI to go along with her emphatic performance on the mound, earning just two of UT's five runs in the series opener. Freshman outfielder Darcy Barkauskas was also 2-4 on her afternoon, singling in the second and fourth innings, while junior outfielder Natalie Shuey, in addition to Jordyn Swinehart and Alyssa Kramer, all contributed a hit each during their time at the plate.

The Broncos are back in action tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader against the same Toledo team to finish out the weekend series. First pitch on Sunday, March 20 is set for 12 p.m. with game number two to follow after the conclusion of the first contest. We can't wait to see you all at Ebert Field for some Sunday softball!

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