Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
No. 8 Western Michigan
Chippewas Upset In MAC Tournament Opener
5/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Lindsay Gerber, CMUChippewas.com
AKRON, Ohio - Three days ago, Central Michigan was celebrating a softball championship, its first in the Mid-American Conference regular season in more than a decade.
Today, the Chippewas are on the brink of elimination.
Western Michigan's Abby Stoner hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning Wednesday as the eighth-seeded Broncos upset the top-seeded Chippewas, 3-1, in the opening game of the MAC Tournament at Firestone Stadium.
The Chippewas (36-14) will play No. 5 Ball State (30-27) on Thursday (10:30 a.m.) in an elimination game. CMU swept the three-game regular-season series with the Cardinals.
Western Michigan will play fourth-seeded Kent State on Thursday (1 p.m.).
CMU took a 1-0 lead on Maison Kalina's one-out RBI single in the first inning. The Broncos tied it in the fifth on Erin Barg's bases-loaded single.
Stoner's homer in the sixth came off Rachael Knapp (21-9), who on Tuesday became just the second pitcher in CMU history to earn MAC Pitcher of the Year honors.
Knapp struck out nine, walked two and surrendered four hits in tossing her career-record-tying 82nd career complete game. She shares the top spot in program history with Tina Kinney, who played at CMU from 1997-2000.
The Chippewas got singles from Morgan Gardner and Kaila Fulker in the bottom of the seventh inning, and pinch runners Andrea Perlberg and Shanel Waters worked their way to third base and second base, respectively.
Pinch hitter Sydney Heath hit a ground ball to shortstop Brooke Wyman who flipped to third baseman Cichoki who tagged out a sliding Waters at third base to end the game.
Winning pitcher Anissa Sanchez (9-7) allowed five hits and struck out two.
