Chippewas Top Kent State, Remain Alive in MAC Tournament
5/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
AKRON, Ohio – Trista Cox smacked a two-run single and freshman Rachael Knapp pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday as the Central Michigan softball team topped Kent State, 3-1, in an elimination game in the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Firestone Stadium.
The sixth-seeded Chippewas (34-21) will play either seventh-seeded Northern Illinois or top-seeded Ball State at 7:30 p.m. today, Friday. The winner advances to a semifinal game on Saturday morning. The loser is out of the tournament.
Kent State, which was seeded No. 4, finished 25-20.
Knapp (15-5) allowed six hits, struck out three and walked two.
"Knapp did a really nice job I thought and (catcher) Cory (DeLamielleure) called a great game from behind the plate, so I was really happy with that,” said coach Margo Jonker, who is seeking her 11th MAC Tournament championship in charge of the CMU program. “It was a total team effort as it always is when we win a ball game.”
The Chippewas, trailing 1-0, scored all three of their runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for good.
Lauren Bowman and Brittney Horan both reached on one-out errors, then Bowman scored on a CarolAnn Sexauer double to tie the game 1-1. Cox followed with a two-run single.
Kent State got a runner to third with two out in the fifth and loaded the bases in the seventh, but Knapp worked out of both jams, inducing inning-ending flyouts in both cases.
Emma Johnson started for the Golden Flashes and took the loss. All three of CMU’s runs were unearned. Johnson allowed four hits, struck out four and walked one over 4 1/3 innings. Reliever Ronnie Ladines allowed one hit and struck out two over 2 2/3 innings.
Cox finished with two hits for the Chippewas.
CMU split doubleheaders with both Ball State and Northern Illinois during the regular season. They lost to the Cardinals, 8-2, then came back with an 8-5 victory. Against Northern Illinois, they dropped the opener, 4-1, then took the nightcap, 5-0.
Ball State and Northern Illinois were to play their elimination game Friday afternoon.
Also Friday, the two remaining unbeaten teams in the tournament, No. 2 seed Buffalo and fifth-seeded Ohio, will meet at 5 p.m.
