KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan softball team clinched its first postseason berth since 2019 after a 3-0 win over Toledo on Alumnae Day at Ebert Field Saturday afternoon. Senior pitcher Rissa Bajusz limited the Rockets to three hits in the circle, while graduate student Megan Welsh, senior Haley Boxwell, and sophomore Riley Chumbley collected RBI's to lead the Brown and Gold to their three-run victory. In the win, junior Riley Dittmar led all players with two hits and two runs scored.

During the bottom of the second inning, Bajusz jump-started the WMU offense with a leadoff triple. Later with one out, Welsh singled via a bunt and scored Bajusz for the Bronco's first run of the day. After Welsh reached base, the Brown and Gold saw two straight outs to conclude the inning.

After a one-two-three inning from Bajusz in the circle, the Brown and Gold rode their wave of offensive momentum and scored a run in the bottom of the third inning. Despite WMU seeing two consecutive outs to open the third, Dittmar and Boxwell led the Broncos with back-to-back doubles, which increased the WMU lead to 2-0.

After both teams combined for 12 consecutive outs before reaching base, Toledo managed to record a single and a walk in the top of the sixth. Before the Rockets could do any damage, Bajusz forced a pop-up to end the inning. In the bottom half of the sixth, WMU added an insurance run to take a commanding 3-0 lead over Toledo. To lead off the inning, Dittmar singled and advanced to third after a flyout from Boxwell. With two outs remaining in the sixth, sophomore Riley Chumbley made a plate appearance as a pinch hitter and singled to right field, which scored Dittmar. 

To close out the game, Bajusz retired all three batters that she faced in the top of the seventh to secure the series-winning victory. 

Historical Notes 

By collecting three strikeouts today, Bajusz tied WMU softball alumnae Bonni Kinnie for the sixth most strikeouts in a single season with 195. Bajusz now has 493 career K's and is seven strikeouts away from becoming the third Bronco to ever reach 500 career strikeouts. Additionally, with her 15 wins on the season, the senior needs only two more victories to claim the fourth most wins in a single season by a Bronco pitcher. 

After Kelly's 1-3 and Dittmar's 2-3 performances at the plate, the duo closed in on becoming the first pair of teammates since Mackenzie Swinehart (66 hits) and Kaylen Glenfield (50 hits) in the 2021 season to record at least 50 hits in a single campaign. As of Saturday, Kelly has 47 hits, while Dittmar has 45 hits through 44 games played this season.  

The Broncos now with 25 wins, have tied the program's ninth most wins in a single season. The Brown and Gold last eclipsed 25 wins during the 2018 season, where they tallied a total of 29 victories.   

With the Brown and Gold's win, the softball team is back in the Mid-American Conference Championship for the first time since 2019. 

Up Next

The WMU softball team will conclude the regular season with a "Bark in the Park" doubleheader versus Bowling Green at Ebert Field on Tuesday, April 30, starting at 1:00 PM.