Central Michigan University
Pittsburgh
Chippewas Down Pitt to Win Tournament Title
2/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MACON, Ga. - Katelyn Rentschler and Allison Curtis each homered and Rachael Knapp fired a four-hitter Sunday as the Central Michigan softball team defeated Pittsburgh, 4-3, in the championship game of the Mercer Invitational.
CMU (3-2) lost its first two tournament games, on Friday, then rebounded to win three straight and capture the title. They avenged a 2-0 loss to the Panthers in their tournament opener.
"I'm very happy with the team's performance this weekend," CMU coach Margo Jonker said. "On Friday our offense was not there. It took a day for the offense to click in. Both Saturday and Sunday I thought we played pretty good defense.
"Overall the goal was to get better in the tournament and I believe we did that. We beat Pitt in the final game and Pitt's a good team. They were in the NCAA Tournament last year. First weekend out, to win a tournament shows where this team is."
Curtis gave the Chippewas a 3-0 lead with a three-run homer in the second inning and Rentschler hit a solo shot in the sixth that upped CMU's lead to 4-1.
It was the first career homer for Curtis, a freshman. It was Rentschler's second homer of the season.
The Chippewas hit seven home runs in the tournament, and are hitting .299 through five games while opponents are hitting .199 against them.
"What I really liked about the offense is if you go one-through-nine, there wasn't an easy out in the lineup," Jonker said. "Everyone was a threat. You always hope for that, but you don't often get that."
Pinch hitter Giorgiana Zeremenko hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to draw the Panthers to 4-3. Knapp struck out Shelby Pickett, the Panthers' leadoff hitter and a Second Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection last season, to end the game.
"Through the scouting reports and from watching tournament games we found out what (Pickett's) weakness was and Rachael was able to hit the spot," Jonker said.
It was the first loss of the season for the Panthers (4-1), who last season played in the ACC Tournament championship game.
Knapp (2-1) struck out eight and walked just one for her second-straight victory. The Chippewas committed just one error behind her.
Rentschler and Sydney Heath had two hits apiece off losing pitcher Kayla Harris, who struck out five. CMU collected seven hits on the day.
The Chippewas go to Palm Springs, California, for the three-day Mary Nutter Tournament beginning on Friday. CMU is scheduled to play Texas A&M, Cal Poly, Arizona, Washington and Arkansas in the event.
