KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan softball team saw its seven-game win streak snapped after dropping Sunday's matinee against Central Michigan 5-2. Senior Addison Hudson tied a game-high two hits in the loss.

The Broncos would strike first after picking up back-to-back hits against the Chippewas to take an early 1-0 lead at Ebert Field Sunday afternoon. After back-to-back hits from Riley Dittmar and Hudson, Payton Kelly laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the two base runners for Haley Boxwell. The senior from Scottsdale, Arizona, flew out to center field and drove in Dittmar to score the game's first run of the contest. 

Over the next inning and a half, CMU would take a 3-1 lead over WMU after scoring two runs in the top of the second inning and adding a run in the top of the third. The softball team would score their second run of the afternoon during the bottom half of the third and cut the Chippewa deficit to one run. After a walk from Dittmar and a sacrifice bunt from Hudson, Kelly singled to right field and scored Dittmar. During the play, Kelly would advance to second base with only one out. Following Kelly's hit, Boxwell collected her first hit of the afternoon and advanced her teammate to third base. Despite having runners on first and third base, the Broncos saw two consecutive outs to conclude the third inning. 

Later in the top of the fourth inning, CMU took a 5-2 advantage after scoring two runs in the frame. After going one-two-three in the bottom of the fourth, the Broncos saw baserunners in the bottom of the fifth after Hudson singled and Kelly reached on a throwing error to put two on and one out. Despite the Bronco threat, the Brown and Gold saw consecutive outs to end the inning. 

Over the final two innings of play, sophomore Riley Chumbley collected the lone hit for the Broncos in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Brown and Gold would wrap up Sunday play with a one-two-three inning. 

Historical Notes 

After losing to CMU, the Broncos concluded their longest winning streak (seven straight wins) since March 4, 2018 - March 11, 2018, where the Brown and Gold rattled off eight consecutive wins. 

After posting three strikeouts today, Bajusz sits at 439 strikeouts and is now seven K's from passing Riley Galloway (2018-22) for the third most strikeouts created all-time for the softball team.

Up Next

The Brown and Gold will travel to South Bend, Indiana, to play Notre Dame on Tuesday, April 9, at 4:30 PM.