MARTIN, Tenn. - The Western Michigan softball team opened the first day of the Skyhawk Classic, falling to hosts UT-Martin 4-3 but rebounding later in the day for an 11-3 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in five innings. 

WMU 3, UTM 4
All the scoring in the battle against UTM came in the second inning. The Skyhawk's Krysten Martin hit a three-run home run to put the Broncos down 3-0 and Alli Robinson followed it up with a solo home run to make it 4-0. 

WMU had the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning, when Riley Chumbley hit a single up the idle to score Chelsea Weatherford, who came on as a pinch runner for Jadeyn Merrill. Micaela Booth singled to right field to drive in Caitlin Tighe to cut the lead to 4-2. Chumbley then scored on a passed ball to bring the Broncos within one. 

From there, both pitching staffs locked things down. Casey Fazzini came in to relieve Jensen Gremillion in he second and pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout softball. UTM's Elly Eckrich took the mound in the second inning and went four innings, striking out four batters before Rylee Tittle struck out four more to earn the two-inning save. 

WMU 11, PFW 3
The bats came alive in the second game of the day. Taylor Wolfe hit a 2-RBI single to score Chumbley and Booth to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. The Mastodons responded with two runs in the bottom of the second, but Western Michigan used the next three innings to post an insurmountable lead. 

Booth hit a solo home run, the second of her career, in the top of the third to give the lead back to the Broncos. Wolfe then walked with the bases loaded to score Tighe later in the inning to make it 4-2. PFW's Aglaia Rudd hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third to cut it to 4-3.

In the top of the fourth Jordan Smith singled up the middle to score Riley Dittmar and then Booth hit her second bomb of the game, this time a two-run shot, to make it 7-3. Wolfe hit a 2-run double to left field later in the inning to score Megan Malartsik and Haleigh Smith to end the inning with a 9-3 lead. 

Booth singled to right in the top of the fifth to drive in her fourth run of the game, scoring Dittmar to make it 10-3. Grace Walker then doubled to right center to score Chelsea Weatherford for the game's final run. 

Kailey O'Connor started the game and earned the win after pitching two innings. Merrill came on in relief and didn't allow a hit in three innings of work, while striking out three. 

UP NEXT
The Broncos take on Purdue Fort Wayne again on Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET and then battle Murray State at 6:30 p.m. Live scoring for both games is available at www.wmustats.com.