TOLEDO, Ohio -- The Western Michigan softball team opened Mid-American Conference play on the road at Toledo, taking two of the three games on Friday and Saturday.
GAME 1
WMU opened the series on Friday afternoon with a 3-2 win over Toledo. The Broncos (8-18, 2-1 MAC) jumped out to a very early 2-0 lead with two runs in the top of the first inning. Freshman
Micaela Booth doubled to right-center field to score
Riley Dittmar.
Jordan Smith then drove in Booth with an RBI single to left field. Freshman
Parker Ostach scored pinch-runner
Chelsea Weatherford with a sacrifice bunt in the top of the fourth to push the lead to 3-0.
Casey Fazzini started the game for WMU and pitched 5.0 innings, giving up two runs and striking out one. Toledo's two runs came in the bottom of the fifth, with
Kaylee Salyer coming in to pitch in relief. Salyer gave up just one hit, while striking out one to complete the two-inning save.
GAME 2
Toledo was the one to get on the board first in the second game of Friday's double-header, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a RBI double by Madison McKay. The Broncos responded with four runs in the top of the third to take a 4-1 lead.
Jadeyn Merrill's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded scored
Caitlin Tighe to tie it up at 1-1.
Tristen Head then hit a sacrifice fly to score Dittmar and give the Broncos a 2-1 lead. Booth scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1, before
Rylee O'Brien doubled to left-center field to score
Jordan Smith.
WMU tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth. Merrill singled to center field to score Dittmar and then Head doubled to left field to drive in Booth and Merrill to make it 7-1. Toledo added runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings to cut the lead to 7-3.
Jensen Gremillion pitched 4.0 innings, giving up three runs and striking out two. Salyer was inserted in the fifth inning in relief. Head pushed WMU's lead to 8-3 after hitting a RBI double to score pinch-runner
Haleigh Smith in the top of the sixth. The Rockets put the pressure on when McKay singled with the bases loaded to score three and advanced to second on an error, cutting the lead to 8-6. Salyer then got the final out with a pop-up to second base by Eliza Maloney.
GAME 3
Saturday's game was originally scheduled for 11 a.m. but then moved to 12:30 p.m. due to weather.
Dittmar opened the game with a home run to right-center to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Rockets responded with a two-run home run by Samantha Bolding to take the lead. Later in the bottom of the first, McKay reached on an error, resulting in a run scored by Maris Barbato.
Jordan Smith homered in the top of the second to cut the Rockets' lead to 3-2, but UT added run in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Audrey Miller to push ahead 4-2.
Jordan Smith homered again in the top of the fourth, this time a two-run shot to center field to tie it up at 4-4. Wu then took a 6-4 lead on a pinch-hit two-run home run by
Analeez Niles. Miller responded for Toledo with a grand slam to retake the lead, 8-6, in the bottom of the fourth. WMU cut into the lead in the top of the fifth with a RBI single by O'Brien, but Toledo added four runs in each the bottom of the fifth and sixth on a combined five home runs to down the Broncos 17-6.
Western Michigan takes a brief break from MAC play to head to South Bend, Ind., on Wednesday to take on Notre Dame at 5 p.m.
