MONROE, La. – The Western Michigan softball team earned a pair of victories on Saturday at day two of the Best on the Bayou Tournament. The Broncos started the day with a 3-2 come-from-beyond extra-inning victory over Houston Christian and followed it up with a 4-3 win over tournament host ULM.
FINAL SCORE (G1): Western Michigan 3, Houston Christian 2 (F/8)
LOCATION: ULM Softball Complex (Monroe, La.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (2-1) | Houston Christian (2-1)
W: Autumn Godwin (1-0)
| L: Lyndie Swanson (0-1)
FINAL SCORE (G2): Western Michigan 4, ULM 3
LOCATION: ULM Softball Complex (Monroe, La.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (3-1) | ULM (2-1)
W: Autumn Godwin (2-0)
| L: Kinsey Kackley (0-1)
In the circle,
Rissa Bajusz fired a total of eight and two-thirds innings over the two games and piled up nine strikeouts while limiting HCU and ULM to three runs and six hits against her. The junior's day included a season-high seven strikeouts in game one against Houston Christian.
Autumn Godwin earned the win in relief in both games for the Broncos. The senior fired five and one-third innings, yielding a combined one run on five hits and collecting three strikeouts.
Courtney Farrish and
Addison Hudson led the Western Michigan offense with three hits apiece for the day. Farrish drove in a team-high three runs and also homered for the second consecutive day.
In Saturday's opener, the Broncos and Huskies were scoreless until Houston Christian broke the deadlock with a run in the top of the sixth and another in the seventh.
With two on and one out in the bottom of the seventh, freshman
Haleigh Smith delivered the first hit and RBI of her collegiate career with a run-scoring single to get WMU within one. Hudson followed up with an RBI single of her own to even the score at 2-2 and send the game into extra innings.
After Godwin worked around a one-out single in the top of the eighth, Farrish led off the bottom of the frame with a double for the Broncos.
Natalie Shuey came in to pinch run, and advanced to third on a
Haley Boxwell single.
Cassidy Brendtke then doubled to left field, which allowed Shuey to race home and give WMU its first walk-off win of the campaign.
Western Michigan used the long ball to jump on top early in the night cap against ULM. After the first two Broncos reached base, Farrish came to the plate and blasted a three-run homer to left, her second in as many days, to put WMU up 3-0 in the first. Bajusz followed up with a solo shot in the second to increase the advantage to 4-0.
The Broncos held ULM's offense at bay until the Warhawks picked up a three-run homer of their own in the fourth inning to shrink the gap to 4-3.
The Warhawks loaded the bases in the fifth, but a Godwin strikeout got the Broncos out of the jam. Godwin followed that up with scoreless sixth and seventh innings to seal the victory for WMU.
Western Michigan concludes the Best of the Bayou Tournament on Sunday, Feb. 12, facing Lindenwood for the second time on the weekend. First pitch is set for 10 am E
