Friday, February 26
Knoxville, Tenn.
10 a.m.
Central Michigan University
1-0
7
vs
4
Northern Kentucky
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Central Michigan
1
1
0
2
0
0
3
7
9
0
Northern Kentucky
0
2
1
0
1
0
0
4
6
1
Photo by: Mackenna Kelly
Chippewas Overcome Rain, Northern Kentucky To Win Opener
2/26/2021 9:56:00 PM | Softball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A long, long day, a satisfying ending, and a good start.
Central Michigan broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the top of the seventh inning and freshman pitcher Grace Lehto slammed the door in the bottom half of the inning as the Chippewa softball team opened the 2021 season with a 7-4 victory over Northern Kentucky on Friday at the Tennessee Invitational.
The game started at 10 a.m. and ended after 7 p.m., thanks to a lengthy rain delay in the second inning at Tennessee's Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
"The grounds crew was amazing and did everything they could to make the game happen," second-year CMU coach McCall Salmon said.
The Chippewas are scheduled to play two games on Saturday. The first at 12:30 p.m. against the host Volunteers, and the second against Illinois State at 5:30 p.m.
Lehto, in her first appearance as a Chippewa, struck out eight, walked four and allowed six hits for the victory.
The Chippewas collected nine hits, including a leadoff home run by senior Shaidan Knapp.
"Knapp setting the tone early, I mean you can't ask for a better story," Salmon said. "It was like, 'Here we go; we are back.'"
Knapp walked to lead off the seventh and took third when a ball off the bat of Abbey Tolmie went for an error. Knapp scored the go-ahead run on Shannon Stein's sacrifice fly. Two walks loaded the bases and then Emily Bracamonte delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single to right field to up CMU's lead to 7-4.
Lehto set down the Norse in order in the bottom of the inning.
"I loved our energy," Salmon said. "Our bench was awesome and consistently loud. You could tell that the team was just ready to get out and compete against another team. Bringing championship effort, controlling the controllables, and keeping it simple."
Knapp finished with two hits and two RBI, Bracamonte drove in three runs, and Samantha Mills doubled for the Chippewas, who backed Lehto with error-free defense.
Central Michigan broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the top of the seventh inning and freshman pitcher Grace Lehto slammed the door in the bottom half of the inning as the Chippewa softball team opened the 2021 season with a 7-4 victory over Northern Kentucky on Friday at the Tennessee Invitational.
The game started at 10 a.m. and ended after 7 p.m., thanks to a lengthy rain delay in the second inning at Tennessee's Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
"The grounds crew was amazing and did everything they could to make the game happen," second-year CMU coach McCall Salmon said.
The Chippewas are scheduled to play two games on Saturday. The first at 12:30 p.m. against the host Volunteers, and the second against Illinois State at 5:30 p.m.
Lehto, in her first appearance as a Chippewa, struck out eight, walked four and allowed six hits for the victory.
The Chippewas collected nine hits, including a leadoff home run by senior Shaidan Knapp.
"Knapp setting the tone early, I mean you can't ask for a better story," Salmon said. "It was like, 'Here we go; we are back.'"
Knapp walked to lead off the seventh and took third when a ball off the bat of Abbey Tolmie went for an error. Knapp scored the go-ahead run on Shannon Stein's sacrifice fly. Two walks loaded the bases and then Emily Bracamonte delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single to right field to up CMU's lead to 7-4.
Lehto set down the Norse in order in the bottom of the inning.
"I loved our energy," Salmon said. "Our bench was awesome and consistently loud. You could tell that the team was just ready to get out and compete against another team. Bringing championship effort, controlling the controllables, and keeping it simple."
Knapp finished with two hits and two RBI, Bracamonte drove in three runs, and Samantha Mills doubled for the Chippewas, who backed Lehto with error-free defense.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lehto, Grace (1-0)
L: HICKS, Lauryn (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Mills, Samantha 1
HR: Knapp, Shaidan 1
RBI: Knapp, Shaidan 2 ; Stein, Shannon 1 ; Bracamonte, Emily 3 ; Niehaus, Abigail 1
SF: Stein, Shannon 1 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knapp, Shaidan 2 ; Tolmie, Abbey 1 ; Dean, Tala 1 ; Gardner, Morgan 1 ; Mills, Samantha 1 ; Alexander, Kelsey 1
SB: Knapp, Shaidan 1 ; Anderson, Stephanie 1
Batting:
2B: LAWSON, Ava 1 ; WHITMER, Hailey 1
HR: LAWSON, Ava 1
RBI: LAWSON, Ava 2 ; MULDER, Madi 1
SH: O'HAIR, Jenna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: O'HAIR, Jenna 1 ; LAWSON, Ava 1 ; LeMONIER, Ella 1 ; WHITMER, Hailey 1
SB: McKEOUGH, Kendyl 1
HBP: O'HAIR, Jenna 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/OF
/ SoftballP/IF
/ SoftballOF/UTL
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