Central Michigan University
Ball State
Chippewas Take Game 1 From Ball State
4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Lindsay Gerber, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - In a battle of the best of Mid-American Conference softball, Central Michigan struck the opening blow, taking a 6-1 win over Ball State in the opener of a three-game series on Friday at Margo Jonker Stadium.
The win lifted CMU to 32-13, 14-5 MAC, and left it alone atop the MAC standings. Ball State is 29-22, 13-6. The teams play a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.). A CMU sweep would give the Chippewas a share of the MAC regular-season title, its first since 2004.
"I thought we played really well," CMU coach Margo Jonker said. "We played good defense, hit well and had good pitching. You always have to have two of the three parts to win the game and today we had all three.
"We just need to keep it going, this is just one game. We have more to do. We just have to keep playing Chippewa softball and that's what we keep talking about. One play at a time, one pitch at a time. We can't look beyond because Ball State is a team that's known to come back and score a lot of runs late in the game. They have a lot of walk-offs, so we have to make sure we do not allow that to happen."
Winning pitcher Rachael Knapp (19-8) went the distance, striking out three and allowing three hits. The Chippewas played error-free defense behind her.
Central Michigan took the 3-0 lead in the third inning on a Rachel Vieira RBI single and Erika Underwood's two-run double.
"(Those runs) were key to set the tone," said Jonker. "After that, different people hit the ball. We got people on, then got them in. The energy was also outstanding with our team."
The Chippewas added three runs in the fifth inning on a Danielle Marlink two-run double. Courney Streich, pinch-running for Marlink, later scored on an error.
Losing pitcher Carolyn Wilmes (13-11) pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and walking three. She also struck out three and committed three errors.
Kalina, Rachel Vieira and Underwood all had two hits for CMU.
