BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- The Western Michigan University softball team will look to return to its winning ways this weekend at the HIlltopper Classic hosted by Western Kentucky.

LAST TIME OUT 
Western Michigan opened its weekend tournament with a victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks before dropping the final four games of the weekend. The Broncos went 1-4 in five games at the Mardi Gras Classic presented by Mobile Marriott last weekend. WMU opened the tournament with a 7-4 win against Jacksonville State.

The Brown and Gold then dropped two close games to hosts South Alabama and UAB before closing out the weekend with a run rule loss to the Jaguars and a seventh inning decision to the Gamecocks. Infielder Megan Malartsik and Bella Duncan led the offense with five hits each while Duncan had seven RBIs. In the circle, freshman Hannah Potts earned the lone win of the weekend, going 1-0 with an ERA of 3.94 and two strikeouts.

COMING UP THIS WEEKEND
Western Michigan continues non-conference play with a five-game tournament hosted by WKU. At the Hilltopper Classic the Broncos will play two games against the Detroit Mercy Titans and the hosts WKU. WMU's Friday night game versus the Hilltoppers will be broadcast on ESPN+ for fans following along with the Brown and Gold. Western Michigan will also play a single game against the Butler Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

But Saturday won't be the last time that the Broncos face off against the Bulldogs. In two weeks, WMU will see Butler again as part of the Cathi Maynard Invitational hosted by Austin Peay. The rematch will be the first game of March for the Brown and Gold after having the last week of February away from the diamond. 

LEADING THE BATS
Junior outfielder Megan Malartisk continues to be the plate leader for Western Michigan after 10 games of the season. At the Mardi Gras Classic, Malartisk appeared in all five games for the Broncos with an average of .417 in 12 at-bats. Her best game of the weekend came on Sunday in a close loss to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Malartisk went two-for-two in at-bats, along with earning two walks for a perfect on-base percentage and a .455 average for the game, while scoring a run in the 5th inning.

Malartisk also had a strong weekend in the field with seven putouts and a single error across five games for a fielding percentage of 0.857. The junior leads WMU's starters at the plate with a season batting average of .444 and leads the team in stolen bases at a perfect three-for-three with two coming over the weekend.

GO LONG!
The Brown and Gold continued to pile on the home runs last week at the Mardi Gras Classic presented by Mobile Marriott. Western Michigan launched 6 bombs over the fence at Jaguar Field, with two players adding multiple home runs.

Freshman Bella Duncan continued to lead the Broncos in homers with her second and third of the season. Both of Duncan's home runs came in a high-scoring 16-12 loss to Jacksonville State on Sunday. While senior designated player Jayden Merrill had a bomb filled day against the hosts South Alabama on Friday night. Merrill had two two-run homers to take the lead twice over the Jaguars in what turned out to be a close 5-4 defeat.

SCOUTING THE TITANS
Detroit Mercy is 1-4 overall through the first two weekends featuring a 2-1 win over Drake.  The Titans are currently hitting .230 led by Allison Fluker who's hitting .455 through five games. She's slashing .455/.571/.727 with five hits including a double and a triple. 

In the circle for the Titans is Erin Flynn who has a 4.85 ERA with 13 hits in 13 innings pitched. She's also amassed 10 strikeouts and allowed nine walks. 

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
Western Kentucky hosts its tournament at a 6-3 overall record after two weekends of play. The Hilltoppers have had back-to-back CUSA Pitcher of the Week awards for the first time since 2015. Senior Maddy earned the nod this week after recording two wins at the Mercer University Softball Invitational over Army and Mercer. 

The Corydon, Iowa native posted a 1.97 ERA in 10.2 innings of work, giving up only six hits and three unearned runs. Along the way, she also collected a total of 10 strikeouts on the weekend and only allowed two walks. Redshirt senior Jenna Blanton leads the WKU offense after a team-best .643 batting average last weekend. Overall she is at .448 at the plate, good for seventh best in all of CUSA. 

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Butler has posted a 4-4 record through the first two weeks of their 2026 season. They recently swept Tennessee State with one extra-inning win and one run-rule win in a three-game series in Nashville. 

Leading the offense for the Bulldogs is Makena Alexander with a .609 batting average with 14 hits, 14 RBI and three home runs. She was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week after batting .857 over three games, going 6-for-7 with a triple and a home run and producing six RBIs while also drawing six walks against the Tigers Alyx Johnson is leading the bullpen with a 3.89 ERA, allowing 12 hits in nine innings of work with a .300 opponent batting average.