Central Michigan University Athletics
Softball Completes Weekend Sweep Of Ball State
4/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 21, 2001
MOUNT PLEASANT--Game, set and match.
Central Michigan completed a weekend sweep of Ball State with a pair of victories on Saturday afternoon at the CMU Softball Complex.
The Chippewas took the opening game by a 9-1 count and completed the doubleheader sweep with a 6-1 win in the nightcap.
Paired with Friday's 6-2 victory, CMU improves its Mid-American Conference record to 15-3 while the Cardinals fall to 10-6.
Central's bats were out in full force in the 9-1 win in the opening game. The Chippewas pounded out 14 hits while Wendy Stephens tossed a two-hitter to lead CMU to the victory.
CMU opened the scoring with a run in the first inning.
Hope Robertshaw had an RBI double that scored Becky Manson who had reached base with a single and stole second to get in scoring position.
The Cardinals tied it up at 1-1 with a score in the second inning.
Central took the lead for good with a run in the bottom of the second.
Lindsay Horvath had an RBI single that scored Jen Skuta to give the Chipewas a 2-1 advantage.
CMU then exploded for four runs in the third inning to break the game wide open.
The Chippewas used the bunt almost to perfection in building a 6-1 advantage.
Manson opened the inning with a bunt single and scored on a squeeze bunt by Hope Robertshaw. Brander followed Robertshaw's squeeze bunt with one of her own to score Robertshaw who had advanced to third on a two-base error. Jen Skuta had a sacrifice fly to score Brander and Karly McCormack rounded out the scoring with a single to center.
Central added two more runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 8-1 when Horvath singled to right to drive in a pair of runs.
CMU then scored a run in the sixth to end the game on the eight-run rule.
Pinch hitter Devon Burzynski doubled and was replaced on second by Amy Morrison. Morrison put the Chippewas ahead by eight when she scored on an RBI single by Brander.
Stephens gave up just two hits in improving her record to 4-4 on the year.
Manson went 3-for-4 to lead the offensive attack. She also had three stolen bases in the game.
Horvath hit 2-for-2 with three RBI while Robertshaw and Brander each had two RBI.
A four-run fifth inning lifted the Chippewas to a 6-1 win in the final game against the Cardinals.
The squeeze bunt again played a prominent role for the Chippewas. Manson had a squeeze bunt single to score pinch runner Melissa Luplow for the first run of the fifth-inning rally.
Robertshaw and Brander each had RBI singles while Robertshaw scored the final run of the inning when she stole home on a double steal.
The Chippewas got the first run of the game on a Robertshaw sacrifice fly that scored Manson in the first inning.
Ball State tied it up with a run in the fourth inning. Ruth Hjelmeland got a triple off of Amber Puchalski and scored on an RBI single by Carrie Lively.
The Chippewas broke the 1-1 deadlock with a score in the fourth inning.
Robertshaw crushed a double to centerfield and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Jen Skuta to give CMU a 2-1 advantage.
Puchalski put the Cardinals down in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to help CMU to the victory. She gave up five hits and one run while striking out eight to improve her record to 17-7.
Robertshaw and McCormack had two hits each to lead CMU.
CMU (26-17) returns to action next Friday at Northern Illinois in the first game of a three-game series.
