Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Northern Illinois
Chippewas Split, Take Series From Northern Illinois
4/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Game 1 Box Score • Game 2 Box Score • Photo Gallery 
Lindsay Gerber, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan softball team split a Mid-American Conference doubleheader with Northern Illinois on Saturday at Margo Jonker Stadium.
The Chippewas won the five-inning opener, 9-1; then dropped the nightcap, 2-1. CMU, which beat the Huskies on Friday and won the series, is 30-13, 13-5 MAC and is tied with Ball State for first place in the MAC West and for the best overall record in the league.
CMU will play host to Michigan State (24-17) in a nonconference matchup on Wednesday (4 p.m.), then will entertain Ball State in a big three-game MAC set next weekend.
"We have to be taking care of our own business," CMU coach Margo Jonker said. "Beating Northern (Illinois) two out of three is a good series, but losing that last game was really disappointing."
Between games, the 1987 CMU softball team was honored on the 30th anniversary of its fifth-place finish in the Women's College World Series.
"It's great having them back, they're a great group of people," said Jonker, who coached the `87 team. "They were great competitors and obviously they were a great team back then, so it's really fun."
Winning pitcher Hanna Warren (10-5) went the distance for the Chippewas in game one. She allowed four hits, struck out one and walked two.
Sydney Heath had two hits including a three-run homer and drove in four runs to lead the Chippewas at the plate, while Maison Kalina also had two hits, one of which was a triple. Taylor Lewallen added a pair of hits.
Kalina had an RBI triple and Heath a run-scoring single to stake the Chippewas to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
CMU added four runs in the third, during which the Huskies committed two errors. Evelyn Lorimer's RBI tripled highlighted the inning, while Rachel Vieira, Kayla Noch and Lewallan each drove in a run in the frame.
Heath's three-run shot in the fourth extended the lead to 9-0. The Chippewas finished with 10 hits.
Losing pitcher Tar Thacker (5-9) allowed four runs on five hits over two innings.
Rachael Knapp (17-8) went the distance in taking the loss for CMU in game two. She allowed two hits.
Noch had a first-inning RBI single for the Chippewas.
The Huskie scored both of their runs in the third, using an infield single, an error, a sacrifice bunt and a double steal.
"It's a tale of two games," Jonker said. "The first game we hit really well and played good defense. In the second game we made defensive mistakes and didn't hit well. If I could figure out why, we would have fixed it by now. But we need to figure it out so we can fix it."
