Central Michigan University Athletics
Bulls Take Two From Chippewas
5/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BUFFALO, N.Y. Central Michigan closed the regular season with a pair of road losses at Buffalo on Saturday. Game scores were 3-1 and 7-6.
The teams ended up playing a doubleheader on Sunday after weather moved Saturday’s single game to a twinbill on Sunday.
The Bulls (10-32, 5-13 Mid-American) used a two-run homer to break a tie game in the opener and then a costly two-run error in bottom of the seventh gave the home team a come-from-behind win in the nightcap.
CMU (25-18, 14-7 Mid-American) now enters the MAC Tournament on Wednesday having lost four straight. The Chippewas are the No. 2 seed as West Division champions and they will play No. 7 Ball State at 5 p.m. Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio is the site of this year’s tournament.
Complete tournament information is available at mac-sports.com.
Buffalo 3, Central Michigan 1
Buffalo junior Dana Carter broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Bulls won the opener, 3-1.
Central was outhit for the sixth time in MAC play and the Chippewas, the MAC’s top hitting team, lost all six games.
Buffalo took a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an unearned run. Lindsey Hampton had a one-out double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sac fly by Mary Russell.
The Chippewas tied the score with a first and third double steal in the third frame as Ellen Venker took home after getting on with a leadoff single, stealing second and going to third on a ground out.
The game remained tied until the fifth when Carter broke the tie with a two-run blast to center off starter Ali Pettit.
Pettit went the distance and she took the loss, evening her overall record at 10-10. The junior allowed six hits and two earned runs while fanning three.
Jackie Burke (5-12) picked up the win for Buffalo as she allowed five hits and the one run while recording seven strikeouts.
Tracy Kaatz was 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases.
Buffalo 7, Central Michigan 6
The Bulls scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to earn the sweep.
CMU broke a tie game with a pair of runs in the seventh but Buffalo answered with three runs on two hits and a game-ending error.
With the bases loaded and one out, Dana Carter hit a grounder to short where Brittini Merchant fielded it and threw to home but an error by CMU’s catcher allowed both the runner at third and the runner at second to score as the ball went back to the backstop.
Ali Pettit (10-11) was the tough-luck loser as she came on in the seventh and was tagged with the game-winning run.
Central pounded out 15 hits in the game but had two errors in the field while Buffalo had 12 hits and a pair of errors.
CMU jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a single run in the first and a two-run third. Amy Hudson had an RBI in the first and then she hit a solo homer in the third. Merchant also added an RBI single that scored Christina Novak who walked, stole second and then scored on Merchant’s hit up the middle.
Buffalo used three hits and an error to score four times in the fourth and tie it up. The teams traded single runs in the sixth with Suzie Giroux notching the RBI for CMU.
The Chippewas looked to have control in the seventh when Kim Cozat and Ellen Venker delivered RBI singles. But, Buffalo answered with three runs in the final frame on just two hits.
Christa Delamater started and went the first five and a third innings allowing four runs on nine hits. Kim Campbell went two thirds of an inning and gave up two runs before Pettit came in the game with two on base and nobody out in the seventh.
Venker finished with three hits in the game and Tracy Kaatz, Giroux, Merchant and Adrienne Groff each had two hits apiece.
Katie Ivancich (4-12) earned the relief win after going the final four frames for the Bulls.
NOTES:
Amy Hudson’s homer was her second of the season. She now has 12 in her career which ranks her alone in seventh place in school history. The homer also was her 90th career RBI which moved her into a tie for seventh on that career chart.
Tracy Kaatz added three steals on the day to give her 36 on the season, second-most in school history.
Christina Novak also swiped three bases to make her 20-for-20 on the year.
CMU has stolen 88 bases on the year. Only three Chippewa teams have stolen more 126 in 1991, 107 in 1982 and 89 in 1990.
The Chippewas’ .289 team batting average would currently rank as the second-best in school history behind the 1979 squad’s .309 mark.
The teams ended up playing a doubleheader on Sunday after weather moved Saturday’s single game to a twinbill on Sunday.
The Bulls (10-32, 5-13 Mid-American) used a two-run homer to break a tie game in the opener and then a costly two-run error in bottom of the seventh gave the home team a come-from-behind win in the nightcap.
CMU (25-18, 14-7 Mid-American) now enters the MAC Tournament on Wednesday having lost four straight. The Chippewas are the No. 2 seed as West Division champions and they will play No. 7 Ball State at 5 p.m. Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio is the site of this year’s tournament.
Complete tournament information is available at mac-sports.com.
Buffalo 3, Central Michigan 1
Buffalo junior Dana Carter broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Bulls won the opener, 3-1.
Central was outhit for the sixth time in MAC play and the Chippewas, the MAC’s top hitting team, lost all six games.
Buffalo took a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to an unearned run. Lindsey Hampton had a one-out double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sac fly by Mary Russell.
The Chippewas tied the score with a first and third double steal in the third frame as Ellen Venker took home after getting on with a leadoff single, stealing second and going to third on a ground out.
The game remained tied until the fifth when Carter broke the tie with a two-run blast to center off starter Ali Pettit.
Pettit went the distance and she took the loss, evening her overall record at 10-10. The junior allowed six hits and two earned runs while fanning three.
Jackie Burke (5-12) picked up the win for Buffalo as she allowed five hits and the one run while recording seven strikeouts.
Tracy Kaatz was 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases.
Buffalo 7, Central Michigan 6
The Bulls scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to earn the sweep.
CMU broke a tie game with a pair of runs in the seventh but Buffalo answered with three runs on two hits and a game-ending error.
With the bases loaded and one out, Dana Carter hit a grounder to short where Brittini Merchant fielded it and threw to home but an error by CMU’s catcher allowed both the runner at third and the runner at second to score as the ball went back to the backstop.
Ali Pettit (10-11) was the tough-luck loser as she came on in the seventh and was tagged with the game-winning run.
Central pounded out 15 hits in the game but had two errors in the field while Buffalo had 12 hits and a pair of errors.
CMU jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a single run in the first and a two-run third. Amy Hudson had an RBI in the first and then she hit a solo homer in the third. Merchant also added an RBI single that scored Christina Novak who walked, stole second and then scored on Merchant’s hit up the middle.
Buffalo used three hits and an error to score four times in the fourth and tie it up. The teams traded single runs in the sixth with Suzie Giroux notching the RBI for CMU.
The Chippewas looked to have control in the seventh when Kim Cozat and Ellen Venker delivered RBI singles. But, Buffalo answered with three runs in the final frame on just two hits.
Christa Delamater started and went the first five and a third innings allowing four runs on nine hits. Kim Campbell went two thirds of an inning and gave up two runs before Pettit came in the game with two on base and nobody out in the seventh.
Venker finished with three hits in the game and Tracy Kaatz, Giroux, Merchant and Adrienne Groff each had two hits apiece.
Katie Ivancich (4-12) earned the relief win after going the final four frames for the Bulls.
NOTES:
Amy Hudson’s homer was her second of the season. She now has 12 in her career which ranks her alone in seventh place in school history. The homer also was her 90th career RBI which moved her into a tie for seventh on that career chart.
Tracy Kaatz added three steals on the day to give her 36 on the season, second-most in school history.
Christina Novak also swiped three bases to make her 20-for-20 on the year.
CMU has stolen 88 bases on the year. Only three Chippewa teams have stolen more 126 in 1991, 107 in 1982 and 89 in 1990.
The Chippewas’ .289 team batting average would currently rank as the second-best in school history behind the 1979 squad’s .309 mark.
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