Central Michigan University Athletics
Tourney Time Means Fresh Start For Softball
5/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MAC Tournament Bracket Tournament Info
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - At the end of the day -- or, more to the point, the end of the season -- what you accomplished, or did not accomplish, in February and March matters little.
It's about the now.
And the now for the Central Michigan softball team is the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Firestone Stadium in Akron.
The Chippewas (24-25-1) are seeded eighth and will take on top-seeded Kent State (35-20) in their opener on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The double-elimination tournament concludes on Saturday.
A year ago, the scenario was the same - CMU was seeded eighth, the Golden Flashes first - and the Chippewas knocked off Kent State, 1-0, in the tourney opener. Kent State swept CMU in a three-game series in late March, outscoring the Chippewas 20-3.
Both of those results, longtime CMU coach Margo Jonker said, are like last winter's snow: Gone and forgotten.
"Going in, I think it's anybody's tournament," said Jonker, who is in her 37th season as CMU's coach. "It's whomever wants it the most, who's on a hot streak, and whose pitcher gets hot.
"Those are the things that are going to determine the winner, not so much the seeds because I think we're all pretty even. The regular season is over. Now it only matters where we're at in the tournament."
The Chippewas are among the hottest teams in the league on the eve of the tourney, having won nine of their last 12 conference games.
"We're playing with some pride, we're executing the small-ball game, and we're getting big hits when we need them," Jonker said. "The beginning of the year we were struggling with runners in scoring position, and we're doing a much better job of that now.
"Overall we're just playing a lot better, playing Chippewa softball."
Fueling some of Jonker's optimism is the continually improving performance of No. 1 pitcher Rachael Knapp, a junior right-hander who is 14-12 with a 2.85 earned run average.
Knapp is 7-1 in her last eight decisions and has posted 2.06 ERA in her last nine starts. She ranks fourth in the league 180 strikeouts.
"Knapp looks much better now than she did earlier in the conference (schedule), so that's encouraging," Jonker said.
The Chippewas head into the tournament missing a major piece of the puzzle in shortstop CarolAnn Sexauer.
Sexauer, CMU's No. 3 hitter, was injured in an April 29 game against Eastern Michigan. She was hitting .336 with six home runs and 32 RBI, and had posted a team-best .586 slugging percentage.
Freshman Kayla Noch has stepped in at shortstop, starting the last four games there and hitting .272 in that span.
