Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Softball Welcomes Eagles for 2
4/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan softball team will play its third home series of the season this weekend when it entertains Eastern Michigan in a two-game Mid-American Conference set.
The Chippewas (13-16 overall, 3-3 MAC) and Eagles (9-22, 1-4) will square off at Margo Jonker Stadium at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
CMU has won five of its last six games, and last weekend took three of four MAC games at Ohio and Akron. Eastern has lost three straight games and 10 of its last 12.
After Sunday's game, the Chippewas will more than a third of the way through their league schedule. As it stands now, CMU is tied for seventh place overall in the league and the top eight teams earn a bid to the MAC Tournament.
There is some added intrigue when the Chippewas and Eagles square off. EMU coach Melissa Gentile is a former assistant at CMU under longtime Chippewa mentor Margo Jonker, and Eagles assistant Kim Burke is a Mount Pleasant native and a former Chippewa standout player and worked as a graduate assistant at CMU.
"I'd say they know us well, better than we know them," Jonker said. "I'm excited to play them, but I'm excited to play any team that takes the field against us as our opponents."
The Chippewas started last weekend by flexing their bats, combining for 22 runs on 23 hits in sweeping Ohio. They then had a pair of one-run battles Akron, winning 1-0 and losing, 4-3.
CMU junior Katelyn Rentschler had tremendous weekend at the plate, hitting .538 (7-for-13) with four home runs and 10 RBI. She had a school-record three round-trippers and drove six runs -- tying the school record -- in a 14-3 victory over Ohio.
She emerged from the weekend having raised her average .329 and leads the Chippewas in homers (6) and RBI (21).
"I wasn't trying to hit home runs, just trying to get a good part of the ball on a good part of the bat," Rentschler said.
Sophomore pitcher Rachael Knapp continued her string of outstanding appearances, going 4-1 last week with a 1.17 earned run average. She tossed three complete-game victories and allowed just five earned runs on 11 hits, struck out 43, and walked 14 over 30 innings.
Knapp, who ranks third in the conference with a 2.14 earned run average, was named the MAC West pitcher of the week.
While certainly pleased with Knapp -- who has won eight of her last 10 decisions -- Jonker said she is hoping for continued consistency from the entire staff, including freshmen Hanna Warren and Taylor Weaver.
"We need our whole staff to do well," Jonker said. "We can't rely on one person.
"I think we have a great pitching staff. I'm very excited about our pitching staff this year and in the future because I think they're very good. It's just a matter of getting them game experience. For the freshmen, it's about making the adjustment to Division I because it's quite a jump from high school ball to Division I.
"The way the bats are now, and the balls, and the strike zone -- we've done everything in the rules to improve hitting in the game, so that makes it that much more challenging for the pitchers because they're going to get hit more than they're used to getting hit, and you have to be mentally tough to manage that."
The Chippewas' team ERA, 3.43, ranks third in the MAC. CMU has committed 39 errors, which puts the Chippewas sixth among conference teams.
CMU's team batting average, .270, ranks ninth in the league. It's on defense where Jonker said she sees the key to continued success.
"I really believe that to be successful in the long run the defense has to be solid," she said. "If the defense is solid, you can get away with not being as good offensively. And vice versa, but I really believe it starts with the defense and that should be consistent. Offense tends to come and go a little bit more.
"We just need to keep focusing in on defense, one game at a time."
