KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan softball team completed its two-game sweep over Bowling Green Tuesday afternoon with an 11-0 game one (five-inning) win and a 2-0 game two close-out victory at Ebert Field. In game one, the Brown and Gold were led by the junior duo of Payton Kelly and Riley Dittmar along with freshman Caitlin Tighe, who combined for six hits. Defensively, senior pitcher Rissa Bajusz commanded the first game by holding BGSU to five hits after posting nine strikeouts.  In game two, the Broncos completed the sweep after a 2-0 victory behind three hits from senior Haley Boxwell and a combined shutout performance from Kailey O'Connor and Bajusz.

Game One 

After a one-two-three top of the first from Bajusz, the Bronco offense started off hot by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the inning to begin play Tuesday. 

To open up the bottom of the first, Kelly set the tone offensively through her aggressive base running and managed to reach third base following a lead-off single. After reaching first base, Kelly stole second base and found herself at third after a Bowling Green wild pitch. After a walk from Addison Hudson, Riley Dittmar singled to left field and scored Kelly to give the Broncos an early 1-0 lead. Eventually, Hudson stole third base, while Dittmar stole second with Boxwell at the plate. To increase the WMU lead, Boxwell flew out and scored Hudson. Dittmar, remaining aggressive on base, reached home after advancing to third on a wild pitch and stealing home for WMU's third run of the day.

After Bajusz limited BGSU to one hit in the top of the second, WMU scored again in the bottom half of the inning off a home run from Tighe. Tighe's home run in the second was the first of her career and she helped the Brown and Gold to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second. 

With another efficient one-two-three inning from WMU's ace, Bajusz, the Brown and Gold scored their fifth and sixth runs in the bottom of the third behind hits from Hudson and Dittmar. After back-to-back singles from the duo, Boxwell advanced Hudson behind a flyout and Dittmar stole second. Later in the inning Taylor Garey grounded out but managed to score the two base runners on the play to extend the Bronco lead to six. 

Later in the bottom of the fourth, WMU closed in on five inning mercy behind five runs to take a commanding 11-0 lead. To begin the inning, the Brown and Gold saw consecutive outs before Tighe singled to centerfield and followed up by stealing second base. Continuing to spark the WMU offense, Kelly hit a bunt single and advanced to second.  For the Brown and Gold's seventh and eighth runs of the day, Analeez Niles reached base on an error, and during the play, both Kelly and Tighe scored. Continuing to capitalize on BGSU miscues, Hudson stole third as a pinch runner and scored after Dittmar reached base off a BGSU error. To cap off the five-run inning, Garey doubled and scored pinch runner Emily Yacarpraro and Dittmar to claim an 11-0 lead.

To close out the five-inning mercy, Bajusz forced the Falcons into three consecutive outs to take the game-one victory. 

Game Two

In their final game of the regular season, WMU defeated BGSU 2-0 behind three hits from Boxwell and hits from five other Broncos including Cassidy Brendtke and Riley Chumbley. 

After another efficient inning from Bajusz in the top of the first, the Broncos managed to threaten by recording a total of three hits and two walks in the bottom half of the inning but were unable to pick up their first run of game two. Later in the bottom of the second, Brendtke saw a hit and doubled to right field, however, WMU was unable to score the senior. 

Later in the bottom of the third inning, WMU scored the two lone runs of the game from a single off of Chumbley, which scored Yacarpraro and Dittmar on the play. 

Defensively, the duo of O'Connor and Bajusz cruised throughout the entirety of game two. In O'Connor's 5 2/3 innings of work, the pitcher allowed only five hits and forced BGSU into 12 ground outs. As for Bajusz, she would conclude the game with three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings Tuesday. 

Historical Notes 

In the two wins, Bajusz surpassed 500 career strikeouts and became the third player in program history to achieve such a feat. 

Offensively, Kelly became the first Bronco to achieve 50 hits in a single season since Mackenzie Swinehart (66 hits) and Kaylen Glenfield (50 hits) in the 2021. 

With the two victories, head coach Marlee Wilson and her staff of Morgan Fleetwood, Bill Shipman, and Erika Whittington, have led the WMU softball program to 27 wins and have completed the regular season seven games above the .500 mark. With the win, the Broncos have won at least 27 games for just the sixth time since 1998. 

Up Next

The Brown and Gold will compete in the Mid-American Conference Championship from May 8-11, 2024.