Sunday, March 7
Leesburg, Fla.
10 a.m.
Central Michigan University
2-6
5
vs
6
South Dakota
4-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
South Dakota
0
0
0
0
4
0
2
6
11
1
Central Michigan
1
4
0
0
0
0
0
5
6
1
Photo by: Gina Munson
Softball Completes 'Spring Games' Trip, Looks To MAC Opener
3/7/2021 4:53:00 PM | Softball
LEESBURG, Fla. – On the surface, it was a 1-5 trip for a softball team that is happy to get on the dirt and play under sunny skies.
A deeper dive reveals a club that is this close as it looks to the Mid-American Conference-opening weekend.
Central Michigan wrapped up its trip to Florida on Sunday with a 2-1 loss to Middle Tennessee and a 6-5 loss to South Dakota. The Chippewas won one of six games during their foray into The Spring Games at Sleepy Hollow Complex.
Four of the Chippewas' losses were by one run; the other was by two.
"Every game we lost, we were a hit away from winning," second-year CMU coach McCall Salmon said. "The last two days we've been challenged a lot, just from an overall mental approach. (Saturday) night we played at 7 and at 9:30 and we didn't leave the complex until 12:30 (Sunday) morning and we had to turn around and be back at the field at 8:30 this morning and then play two games.
"I think all of those things intertwined are part of the process in general. We're a bounce here, we're a call there, we're a hit here – it's so close. There's a lot of things, intangibles; we're going to start putting things together. We grew and our players were handed a really difficult card to play and they gave us everything they had.
"We're headed in the right direction. It's March 7; I don't want us playing our best softball on March 7. I want us getting better and I think we are."
The Chippewas built a 5-0 lead through two innings on Sunday morning against South Dakota. The Coyotes scored four runs in the fifth and two in the seventh to surge to the victory.
Shannon Stein had a two-run single and Kelsey Alexander and Abigail Niehaus each doubled to lead CMU at the plate.
CMU starter Cloe Mallory allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out six. Kaitlyn Bean worked the sixth inning and Grace Lehto came on for the seventh. Bean Struck out three, while Lehto surrendered two runs on three hits in taking the loss.
Lehto went the distance in taking the loss against Middle Tennessee. She allowed two runs on four hits.
Michaleigh Vallimont tripled and Shaidan Knapp singled and doubled to lead CMU's four-hit attack. Freshman Katie Tobias picked up an RBI.
Lehto, a freshman, continued the strong start to her collegiate career and has pitched well in each of her outings this season. Staff veterans Bean and Mallory, along with junior transfer Faith Howe, also pitched well on the whole, Salmon said
"Katelynn Bean and Cloe Mallory definitely threw some good innings for us this weekend," she said. "For them and for Faith Howe as well it's about building up the stamina to throw seven innings. We're building up to that point. We're headed in the right direction. Saw some good things and we're excited for what our staff is going to do in the MAC."
The Chippewas are scheduled to open MAC play with a four-game series at Bowling Green beginning on Friday, March 19.
A deeper dive reveals a club that is this close as it looks to the Mid-American Conference-opening weekend.
Central Michigan wrapped up its trip to Florida on Sunday with a 2-1 loss to Middle Tennessee and a 6-5 loss to South Dakota. The Chippewas won one of six games during their foray into The Spring Games at Sleepy Hollow Complex.
Four of the Chippewas' losses were by one run; the other was by two.
"Every game we lost, we were a hit away from winning," second-year CMU coach McCall Salmon said. "The last two days we've been challenged a lot, just from an overall mental approach. (Saturday) night we played at 7 and at 9:30 and we didn't leave the complex until 12:30 (Sunday) morning and we had to turn around and be back at the field at 8:30 this morning and then play two games.
"I think all of those things intertwined are part of the process in general. We're a bounce here, we're a call there, we're a hit here – it's so close. There's a lot of things, intangibles; we're going to start putting things together. We grew and our players were handed a really difficult card to play and they gave us everything they had.
"We're headed in the right direction. It's March 7; I don't want us playing our best softball on March 7. I want us getting better and I think we are."
The Chippewas built a 5-0 lead through two innings on Sunday morning against South Dakota. The Coyotes scored four runs in the fifth and two in the seventh to surge to the victory.
Shannon Stein had a two-run single and Kelsey Alexander and Abigail Niehaus each doubled to lead CMU at the plate.
CMU starter Cloe Mallory allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out six. Kaitlyn Bean worked the sixth inning and Grace Lehto came on for the seventh. Bean Struck out three, while Lehto surrendered two runs on three hits in taking the loss.
Lehto went the distance in taking the loss against Middle Tennessee. She allowed two runs on four hits.
Michaleigh Vallimont tripled and Shaidan Knapp singled and doubled to lead CMU's four-hit attack. Freshman Katie Tobias picked up an RBI.
Lehto, a freshman, continued the strong start to her collegiate career and has pitched well in each of her outings this season. Staff veterans Bean and Mallory, along with junior transfer Faith Howe, also pitched well on the whole, Salmon said
"Katelynn Bean and Cloe Mallory definitely threw some good innings for us this weekend," she said. "For them and for Faith Howe as well it's about building up the stamina to throw seven innings. We're building up to that point. We're headed in the right direction. Saw some good things and we're excited for what our staff is going to do in the MAC."
The Chippewas are scheduled to open MAC play with a four-game series at Bowling Green beginning on Friday, March 19.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Maher (1-0)
L: Lehto, Grace (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Wobken 1
RBI: Eamiguel 1 ; Wobken 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Fowler 2 ; Eamiguel 2 ; Gaja 1 ; Holbert 1
SB: Fowler 2 ; Eamiguel 1
CS: Wobken 1
Batting:
2B: Alexander, Kelsey 1 ; Niehaus, Abigail 1
RBI: Stein, Shannon 2 ; Vallimont, Michaleigh 1 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knapp, Shaidan 2 ; Alexander, Kelsey 1 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1 ; Niehaus, Abigail 1
SB: Knapp, Shaidan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballP/IF
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballOF
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