KENT, Ohio – The Western Michigan softball team closed out its regular season with a series victory over the Kent State Golden Flashes.
The Broncos took two of their three final regular season games over the weekend at Devine Diamond in Kent. WMU's offense had one of its best series of Mid-American Conference play, batting .402 through three games while setting three new program records. The Brown and Gold were led on offense by junior shortstop
Caitlin Tighe who averaged .600 at the plate with five multibase hits, six RBIs, and a 1.200 slugging percentage. Three other Western Michigan players batted over .500 in the final weekend of the regular season for a 12-4 win, an 11-1 win, and a close 9-8 loss in extras for a regular season record of 26-23.
Game 1
It was Kent State who scored first on Saturday afternoon as starting pitcher
Hannah Potts issued four walks in the first inning. The Flashes only brought the one run to home plate as it was followed by a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning. Kent State's lead didn't last long though as the Broncos responded with four runs on three hits in the top of the second inning.
After an out to beginning the inning, WMU loaded the bases early in the top of the second. The Brown and Gold took a 2-1 lead on a single to center field from infielder
Bella Duncan. Western Michigan extended its lead on the next at bat as Tighe had a double to bring two more runs across home plate. The Broncos kept their 4-1 lead into the bottom frame.
But the Flashes were able to make it a two-r9un game in the second as they scored on a wild pitch. WMU wasn't able to answer in the third as Kent State continued to close the gap with a walked in run for a 4-3 game. The Brown and Gold returned to a two-run advantage in the bottom of the fourth as Tighe added her second double of the game, scoring Duncan for a 5-3 score.
The Flashes had their only multibase hit of the game in the fourth on a solo home run to get the game back within a run for the third time. Kent State got to more runners on in the fourth, but a lineout to Tighe ended the inning, keeping Western Michigan in front by a run. A leadoff triple in the fifth for infielder
Jordan Smith led to a sixth run for the Broncos after designated player
Analeez Niles doubled to left center.
Neither team reached base in the sixth inning with identical three up and three down frames. WMU then blew the game open in the top of the seventh, batting through its order while scoring six more runs on six hits. With a 12-4 advantage, the Brown and Gold gave up only one hit to the home team in the bottom of the seventh. Western Michigan's defense kept the Flashes from scoring in the final half inning, taking the 12-4 victory in the first game of the doubleheader.
Game 2
The Broncos took the lead in the first inning of the second game on Saturday and didn't look back through seven innings. All nine of WMU's batters went to the batter's box in the first inning, with eight reaching base. The Brown and Gold strung three straight hits together from Duncan, Tighe, and Smith, scoring on the third hit.
Western Michigan's next batter was walked, loading the bases for the Broncos. With the bases loaded, WMU scored another run on a Niles single to right field. The Brown and Gold added one more run in the first inning on the second walk of the frame for a 3-0 lead. Kent State kept from being shutout in the bottom of the first with a lead off solo home run. But that was the only run for the Flashes for the rest of the game as the team only connected on four hits.
While Western Michigan scored at least a run in four of the seven innings and had nine hits from six different batters. The Broncos scored six runs in the first three innings as in the top of the second after a leadoff walk, Tighe hit a two-run bomb to left for her seventh home run of the season. While in the third back-to-back walks to start the inning led to an unearned run with a ground out and an error.
After the third inning, it was silent offensively for the next three as Kent State had three hits off of starting pitcher
Ava Geyer. WMU had three hits until the top of the seventh as well but then had another late offensive explosion. The Brown and Gold sent 12 batters to the box in the seventh, reaching base nine times with a single hit and six walks. Western Michigan scored five more runs in the inning, breaking the program record for most runs scored in a season during the process.
With the 11-1 victory the Broncos set themselves up for a potential sweep of the series on Sunday afternoon. Outfielder
Emily Lampela had a team-high four walks in the second game, the most for a WMU batter since at least 2014. While the Brown and Gold overall had 14 walks over the seven innings on Saturday afternoon.
Game 3
Western Michigan's offense picked up where it left off Saturday afternoon on Sunday. The Broncos took a three-run lead in the first as Tighe and
Jordan Smith hit back-to-back home runs. WMU's third run of the first inning was on a double from Niles to score Lampela for an early advantage. The Brown and Gold kept the Flashes quiet offensively for the first two innings while extending their lead.
Two singles in the top of the second gave Western Michigan a four-run advantage. Then in the top of the third, the Broncos added their third home run of the game from outfielder
Rylee O'Brien. After two quick outs in the frame, Niles had her second hit of the day to right. O'Brien then wasted no time in launching the ball over the right field fence on the second pitch she faced for her second homer of the season.
WMU had a six-run advantage when Kent State broke the shutout in the bottom of the third. The Flashes scored two runs on three hits with no outs. But after the two runs scored for Kent State, the Brown and Gold's defense got three straight outs to end the third. Both sides were quiet in the fourth with only Western Michigan adding two hits in the top half of the inning.
The fifth began with a double for Lampela followed by another base for the Broncos on a hit by pitch. O'Brien then had her second hit of the afternoon with a double to left, tying the program record for most doubles in a season at 76 for the team. But WMU wasn't able to bring a run home in the inning as the Flashes got two outs at home and another at second base.
The Brown and Gold responded on defense, taking Kent State down in order. Western Michigan led off with a walk in the sixth, but three straight outs after quickly put the Broncos back in the field. The Flashes scored a third run in the bottom of the sixth with a triple and a single to bring WMU's lead to only three, setting up an important seventh inning.
It was a quick offensive inning for the Brown and Gold in the seventh, going down in order. But in the bottom frame, Kent State's offense broke through against reliever
Kaylee Salyer. Two singles and two walks from the Flashes made it a one run game with a runner in scoring position. Starter
Hannah Potts returned to the circle but gave up the tying run against the first batter she faced. Western Michigan's defense got the third and final out of the seventh after the run scored, putting the game into extras.
Neither team scored in the eighth inning despite both sides getting runners on base. That changed in the ninth as the Broncos had three hits, two of which scored runs to retake the lead. The first run scored on O'Brien's third hit of the game, a double to center that broke the WMU program record for doubles in a season by one team. The Brown and Gold's second run of the ninth came in the next at bat as Head put a single in between three players in the outfield, giving O'Brien time to score.
Western Michigan headed into the bottom of the ninth with the two-run lead, looking to again close out the game. But home field advantage was on Kent State's side as they put two runners on in four at bats. The Flashes then walked off the game with a three-run homer over the center field fence, handing the Broncos a 9-8 loss to end the regular season.
Up Next
WMU returns to the postseason after not making the MAC Tournament in 2025. The Brown and Gold enter the tournament at Firestone Arena as the sixth seed after ending the season with an identical conference record as Central Michigan at 15-11. Western Michigan begins its quest to the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday, May 6 against Miami at 2:30 p.m. EST.
