KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan softball picked up a strong victory on home soil this afternoon, handling the visiting Bowling Green Falcons by a final score of 5-1. The win moves the Broncos to 14-19 on the season, and an even 4-4 against Mid-American Conference opponents. The victory also featured a head-to-head matchup between the top two pitchers in the MAC, both of whom have taken home Pitcher of the Week honors already this season.
The Falcons (18-10, 6-4 MAC) got on the scoreboard first in the ballgame, hanging a one on the top half of innings number two via a solo home run. Bowling Green would attempt to add some insurance, but a 2-2 strikeout from senior pitcher
Reily Galloway got WMU out of the inning, limiting the damage to just a run.
The Bronco bats came alive in the bottom of the third, as Galloway helped herself out, lining an RBI double just past the BGSU shortstop to bring freshman infielder
Lauren Porter home to even the score at one run apiece. WMU would not be finished in the inning, as junior infielder
Alyssa Kramer was next to step into the box with runners on second and third.
In the first pitch of the at-bat, Kramer teed off and sent a three-run moon shot over the right field fence, bringing Galloway and senior infielder
Jordyn Swinehart across the dish to bump the Bronco lead up to 4-1. WMU went for 4 runs on three hits in the inning, and recorded all four off of reigning MAC Pitcher of the Week, Bowling Green's Payton Gottshall.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Western Michigan would add another run following a pitching change for BGSU. Freshman outfielder
Darcy Barkauskas entered play in the top half of the inning, and made her presence felt in the batter's box immediately, working the count full before sending a base hit into right field.
With runners on the corners, sophomore catcher
Taylor Garey dug in and laced an RBI single into the gap in left center field, bringing junior outfielder
Natalie Shuey home to make the WMU advantage 5-1 with three out separating the team from victory. Galloway would thwart any Falcon comeback attempts from the circle in the top half of seven to pick up her ninth win of the season.
Alyssa Kramer provided the biggest hitting surge for her squad this afternoon, going 1-3 with home run number six on the season, as well as a trio of RBI's.
Reily Galloway,
Jordyn Swinehart,
Taylor Garey, and
Natalie Shuey each also went 1-3 on the afternoon, with Galloway and Garey each adding a run batted to their credit in as well.
The Broncos' four runs are the most any MAC team has put up when facing off against Gottshall, and stands as the most she has given up in a single game in nearly a month. In the circle for WMU, Galloway had another double-digit strikeout performance, fanning 10 Falcons while giving up just four hits and three walks in seven innings.
The third game of the series will be played at a date to be determined, so Western Michigan will now shift its attention to its bout with the Miami RedHawks, who host WMU this weekend in Oxford, Ohio. The two teams will meet for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 9 with game one beginning at 1 p.m. WMU and MU will close the series out the following day with another 1 p.m. first pitch, and live scoring will be available for each of the three games.
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