Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
No. 3 NIU
Chippewas Ousted From MAC Tournament
5/12/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
AKRON, Ohio - It's an axiom as old as the dirt on which the game is played: Walks and errors will come back to haunt a team.
Northern Illinois took advantage of three walks and a Central Michigan error on Friday in eliminating the Chippewas from the Mid-American Conference softball tournament, 3-0, at Firestone Stadium.
The Chippewas, the regular-season MAC champions and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, finished 37-15, their best season in more than a decade. Their regular-season title was the program's first since 2004.
The third-seeded Huskies (32-20) broke through with a run in the third inning and added two in the fourth.
Jenny Van Geertry reached on a one-out error in the third and later scored, and Abby Howlett walked to lead off the fourth and pinch runner Kalalaelisa Toomalatai later scored. Both teams finished with five hits.
"Obviously today we made an error and they took advantage, and we gave up a walk and they took advantage of it," CMU coach Margo Jonker said. "Good for them for executing when we had a miscue. Our bats weren't with us today. We didn't hit very well."
Pinch hitter Laura Vaccaro led off the fifth inning for CMU with a single and moved to second on a bunt, but was stranded there, and the Chippewas failed to get a runner on base the rest of the way.
Rachael Knapp (22-10) started and took the loss. She allowed three runs on three hits, walked three, and struck out two over four innings. Junior Hanna Warren surrendered two hits while going the final three innings for the Chippewas.
"Hanna came in relief and did a nice job," Jonker said.
It was Knapp's final game in a Chippewa uniform, and she leaves CMU as one of the very best in program history. She ranks first in career appearances (138), complete games (83), and innings pitched (752 2/3); is second in career strikeouts (823); tied for second in career saves (6); is third in career wins (69); and is fifth with 25 career shutouts.
She was named the MAC Pitcher of the Year, the first Chippewa to accomplish that feat since Amber Puchalski in 2004.
Knapp set program records this season for appearances (37), innings pitched (226), and complete games (27), and finished the season with 256 strikeouts, the second-highest single-season total for a CMU pitcher in program history.
She also finished tied for third on CMU's single-season list for victories in a season, tied for second with four saves, and tied for fifth with 11 shutouts.
"Rachael Knapp has had an amazing career at Central Michigan and we had an amazing year," said Jonker, who is in her 38th season in charge of the program. "This has been one of the best years of my career. Other than the fact that I'm disappointed that we lost today, I couldn't be prouder of these kids."
Keegan Hays (9-3) started for NIU and picked up the win. Tara Thacker went the final two frames for her sixth save.
