EAST LANSING, Mich. – Western Michigan softball fell shy on the road this evening, coming up short by a final score of 6-4 at the hands of the Michigan State Spartans. The result drops the Broncos to 14-23 on the season, and keeps them at 4-7 in conference play.
The Spartans (21-20) got on the board first, adding a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings. Michigan State would add two more on in the bottom of the sixth to stretch its lead to 6-0 heading into the game's potential final frame.
Western Michigan would not go down without a fight, however, as the Broncos tacked on a 4 in the top half of seven. Junior infielder
Alyssa Kramer singled to center field on a 1-0 count before sophomore infielder
Cassidy Brendtke worked the count to 3-1 and roped a double into the gap in right-center, putting runners on second and third with one away.
The next at bat, freshman designated player
Jordan Kavanagh dug in down 1-2 and sent a single to right field, bringing Kramer across for WMU's first run of the day and pushing Brendtke over to third. After freshman
Taylor Wolfe pinch hit for Kavanagh, junior infielder
Courtney Farrish shot another base knock to the Spartan right fielder, allowing Brendtke to touch the plate and continue to cut into the MSU lead, now trailing 6-2.
On the very next pitch, junior outfielder
Natalie Shuey laced a two-bagger of her own to left-center, bringing in Farrish and Wolfe to move the Broncos within two, down 6-4 with one out. Unfortunately, following a Michigan State pitching change, WMU was unable to add anything else to the comeback effort.
Jordan Kavanagh fueled the Broncos in the box in the ballgame, going 2-3 with a pair of singles.
Alyssa Kramer,
Cassidy Brendtke,
Courtney Farrish, and
Natalie Shuey each went 1-3 on the day themselves, while senior
Maggie Kehoe added a pinch-hit knock to the WMU cause. Shuey finished with a pair of runs batted in, while Brendtke and Kavanagh added an RBI apiece as well.
Next up for head coach
Kathy Leitke and company is a weekend series with the visiting Akron Zips in Kalamazoo. The two teams will face off for a doubleheader on Friday, April 15 with game one slated for 1 p.m., and return to Ebert Field the following day for a 1 p.m. weekend finale. Admission to all WMU home softball games is free to spectators, and live scoring will be available for each contest. Come on out this weekend to support your Broncos!
#LetsRide
