Central Michigan University Athletics
Offense Explodes in Softball Sweep at Toledo
4/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TOLEDO, Ohio The Chippewa bats were busy on Friday afternoon as Central Michigan tallied a whopping 34 hits in a doubleheader sweep at Mid-American Conference rival Toledo.
CMU took game one, 8-6, before notching 19 hits in a 16-11 victory in the nightcap.
“Unbelievable is the word that comes to mind,” coach Margo Jonker said. “We saw more offense today than you might see in a month. The wind was blowing out and the field had short fences, both in distance and height. The balls were flying all over the place and it was hard for the outfielders. There were a lot of balls misplayed at the fence because of the conditions.
“I was happy with the way we persevered and kept playing with heart. We really battled.”
The Chippewas (15-12, 7-1 Mid-American) have now won seven straight MAC games after dropping the conference opener to Western Michigan. Toledo fell to 9-18 overall and 1-7 in the league.
CMU had a team batting average of .479 for the day as Christina Novak (.714, 5-for-7, 4 RBI), Kari Seddon (.667, 6-for-9, 5 RBI) and Amy Hudson (.625, 5-for-8, 6 RBI) led the hit parade.
CMU now remains in northwest Ohio on Saturday and Sunday as the Chippewas travel to nearby Bowling Green for single games each day. BGSU swept Eastern Michigan on Friday, 3-0 and 9-4.
Saturday’s showdown between the Chippewas and Falcons is set for 2 p.m., with first pitch on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Central Michigan 8, Toledo 6
Kim Cozat erased a one-run deficit in the top of the sixth with a two-run homer as CMU came from behind to defeat the Rockets in the opener.
Kari Seddon (6-6) improved to 4-0 in MAC play with a complete-game win. She allowed six hits and three earned runs while fanning seven.
She also helped her own cause at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance, including four RBI. The sophomore had a pair of doubles and a homer.
CMU had three straight RBI doubles in the first inning to jump out to an early lead as Seddon, Christina Novak and Amy Hudson got the Chippewas off to a strong start.
However, Toledo posted four runs in a crazy bottom of the first. The initial run scored on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, the second on a bases-loaded walk, the third on a throwing error by the catcher and the fourth on a passed ball.
Toledo added another run in the second to take a 5-3 lead but CMU got one of the runs back in the third with a Seddon leadoff homer.
Central took control in the sixth thanks to a leadoff double by Katie Greenman and the one-out homer by Cozat. Seddon picked up another RBI in the inning with a double which was her third extra-base hit of the game.
The Rockets trimmed the lead back down to one with a single tally in the sixth but CMU got an insurance run thanks to three hits and an RBI single by Cozat in the seventh.
CMU had 15 hits compared to Toledo’s six and the Chippewas also had a pair of fielding errors.
Toledo starter Hannah Rockhold took the loss after going five and a third innings and allowing 10 hits and six runs, all earned. Whitney Young tossed the final one and two-thirds giving up five hits and two runs.
In addition to Seddon’s four-hit performance, Tracy Kaatz, Novak, Hudson and Cozat all tallied two hits each while Kaatz added a pair of stolen bases.
Central Michigan 16, Toledo 11
The two teams combined for 33 hits as the Chippewas outslugged the Rockets to win the nightcap, 16-11.
Central had a school-record 19 hits while the Rockets tallied 14 in a game that featured seven different pitchers.
The Chippewas scored twice in both the first and second innings and three times in the third to jump out to a 7-0 lead. UT tallied solo runs in the bottom of the third and fourth stanzas before CMU put a five-spot on the board in the fifth.
Toledo avoided the eight-run rule by notching four runs in the bottom of the fifth and then the Rockets made it interesting with a five-run sixth to get back within one, 12-11.
But, Amy Hudson’s three-run homer capped off a four-run inning for CMU in the seventh as Kari Seddon picked up the save.
Suzie Giroux led the offense in the nightcap with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. She notched four RBI and four runs scored. Christina Novak, Hudson, and Brittini Merchant all notched three hits each in the game. Giroux had a two-run homer in the second and Novak a two-run shot in the fifth. Hudson tallied five RBI in the game as all three of her hits drove in runs.
Ali Pettit (5-6) notched the win after going the first four innings and giving up nine hits and sixth runs. She fanned two but walked four.
Christa Delamater threw one and a third innings of relief while giving up four runs before Seddon came on to close the final one and two-thirds.
The Chippewas roughed up four Rocket pitchers with starter Trisha Rons getting the loss after she gave up seven runs in the first two innings.
NOTES:
A free audio stream of the BGSU series will be available at wfalradio.com, BGSU's student radio station.
Tracy Kaatz added three stolen bases on the day to raise her season tally to 25-for-25. The 25 stolen bases tie for sixth on CMU’s single-season chart with Pam Stanley’s 1992 mark. Kaatz had 26 last year in her first season with the Chippewas.
CMU had three homers in the nightcap. It marks the second time this season CMU has slugged three roundtrippers in a game. The previous game was the loss to Valparaiso.
Kari Seddon is 4-0 in MAC games with a 0.94 ERA and she is hitting .520 with seven RBI in league action.
In the last five games, Amy Hudson is batting .688 (11-for-16) with three doubles, a homer and 11 RBI. She has also walked three times.
Friday’s homer was Amy Hudson’s first of the season. She now has 11 in her career which ties Tina Kinney (1997-2000) for seventh on CMU’s career chart.
Amy Hudson’s six RBI on the day give her 80 for her career, good for a tie for 10th on CMU’s career chart with Christin Sobeck (2002-05).
Amy Hudson now has 177 career hits and she needs four more to move into a tie for 10th on CMU’s career chart with Tina Kinney (181; 1997-2000).
The 16 runs in the nightcap were the most by a CMU team since the Chippewas defeated St. Bonaventure, 20-2, in 1996.
