Central Michigan University Athletics
Friday, April 23
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
8-19, 6-11
13
vs
10
Buffalo
10-26, 8-13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Buffalo
1
0
3
3
2
1
0
10
9
3
Central Michigan
0
5
1
4
3
0
X
13
15
0
CMU softball players surround teammate Caitlyn Britton after Britton's game-winning homer on Friday at Margo Jonker Stadium.
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Britton Walks It Off As Softball Sweeps
4/23/2021 9:16:00 PM | Softball
Chippewas run win streak to 5 games
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – As a sophomore, Caitlyn Britton will have plenty of opportunities to shine throughout her softball career at Central Michigan.
Hard to top what she did on Friday.
Britton hit a walk-off solo homer in the nightcap to give the Chippewas a 9-8 victory and a sweep of a Mid-American Conference doubleheader with Buffalo at Margo Jonker Stadium.
Britton earned the save in CMU's 13-10 victory in the opener and then started and pitched five strong innings in the nightcap. At the plate, she finished the day with four hits including a double.
"Caitlyn Britton overall today gave us an opportunity to win," CMU coach McCall Salmon said. "She came in to pitch that first game and closed it out; and offensively she was consistent in both games. I'm just really proud of her for the grind and the grit she showed the whole day today in all aspects of the game."
The wins ran CMU's win streak to five games as it improved to 9-19, 7-11 MAC. Buffalo is 10-27, 8-14. The teams are scheduled to play on Saturday (1 p.m.) and conclude the series on Sunday (noon).
Britton's dramatic homer came with two out and it was the Chippewas' seventh round-tripper of the doubleheader. The Chippewas led 8-4 in the top of the seventh inning when Buffalo scored four runs to tie it.
Extra innings? Nope. Britton turned on a 2-0 pitch in the inner half of the plate and sent it into the pine trees beyond the center field fence.
"It was a ball on the inside part of the plate," Salmon said. "Our assistant coach said that as soon as she saw the catcher set up inside, she was like, 'Here we go.' Straight away center. She crushed it into the trees. It was a no-doubter."
Kelsey Alexander, Shannon Stein and Morgan Gardner homered in the opener for the Chippewas. Shaidan Knapp, Tala Dean and Skylar Coberley homered in the nightcap.
The Chippewas had 12 homers on the season before Friday's doubleheader and collected 22 hits, 13 of them for extra bases, in the twinbill. Fifteen of those hits – their second-highest total of the season – came in the opener.
"For us to hit seven home runs today shows the progression of our offense," Salmon said. "We were outhit in game two, but four of our seven hits were home runs. I think that shows how coachable we are at the plate right now.
"The wind was blowing out a little bit so that helped. We don't try to hit home runs; we just talk about hitting a line drive up the middle. If you swing at strikes and you're on time, good things are going to happen. I think buying in to that process and not trying to do too much at the plate, those are the things that we are staying consistent with and it's allowing us to stay consistent with our production."
The Chippewas also showed some moxie in answering any time the Bulls made a move in both games. Buffalo scored three runs in the fourth inning of the opener to seize a 7-6 lead; CMU answered in the bottom of the fourth to re-take the lead, 10-6, and fell behind again.
"Can't be prouder of them," Salmon said of her players. "We've talked about it all season: Where there's an out there's an opportunity and going off of last weekend (three wins vs. Northern Illinois) we showed that a lot too. If a team put up three, four, five on us, it was, how are we going to respond?
"Knowing how well our offense has been producing, I think that any time that we have the control in our hands we feel comfortable and confident, and I think that's showed over these last five games.
"When you play calm and confident, good things happen. You stay loose and I think that's what we were doing all day today."
Freshman Grace Lehto (7-8) started and earned the win, her fourth consecutive, in the opener. She allowed nine runs on nine hits, walked three and struck out four over five innings. Britton did not allow a hit, struck out two, and walked two in picking up her first save.
Britton allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits over five innings in the nightcap. Faith Howe (1-2) went the final two frames, allowing four runs on six hits for the win.
"Our pitchers are just grinding it out," Salmon said. "They're not trying to be perfect, they're keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win."
Hard to top what she did on Friday.
Britton hit a walk-off solo homer in the nightcap to give the Chippewas a 9-8 victory and a sweep of a Mid-American Conference doubleheader with Buffalo at Margo Jonker Stadium.
Britton earned the save in CMU's 13-10 victory in the opener and then started and pitched five strong innings in the nightcap. At the plate, she finished the day with four hits including a double.
"Caitlyn Britton overall today gave us an opportunity to win," CMU coach McCall Salmon said. "She came in to pitch that first game and closed it out; and offensively she was consistent in both games. I'm just really proud of her for the grind and the grit she showed the whole day today in all aspects of the game."
The wins ran CMU's win streak to five games as it improved to 9-19, 7-11 MAC. Buffalo is 10-27, 8-14. The teams are scheduled to play on Saturday (1 p.m.) and conclude the series on Sunday (noon).
Britton's dramatic homer came with two out and it was the Chippewas' seventh round-tripper of the doubleheader. The Chippewas led 8-4 in the top of the seventh inning when Buffalo scored four runs to tie it.
Extra innings? Nope. Britton turned on a 2-0 pitch in the inner half of the plate and sent it into the pine trees beyond the center field fence.
"It was a ball on the inside part of the plate," Salmon said. "Our assistant coach said that as soon as she saw the catcher set up inside, she was like, 'Here we go.' Straight away center. She crushed it into the trees. It was a no-doubter."
Kelsey Alexander, Shannon Stein and Morgan Gardner homered in the opener for the Chippewas. Shaidan Knapp, Tala Dean and Skylar Coberley homered in the nightcap.
The Chippewas had 12 homers on the season before Friday's doubleheader and collected 22 hits, 13 of them for extra bases, in the twinbill. Fifteen of those hits – their second-highest total of the season – came in the opener.
"For us to hit seven home runs today shows the progression of our offense," Salmon said. "We were outhit in game two, but four of our seven hits were home runs. I think that shows how coachable we are at the plate right now.
"The wind was blowing out a little bit so that helped. We don't try to hit home runs; we just talk about hitting a line drive up the middle. If you swing at strikes and you're on time, good things are going to happen. I think buying in to that process and not trying to do too much at the plate, those are the things that we are staying consistent with and it's allowing us to stay consistent with our production."
The Chippewas also showed some moxie in answering any time the Bulls made a move in both games. Buffalo scored three runs in the fourth inning of the opener to seize a 7-6 lead; CMU answered in the bottom of the fourth to re-take the lead, 10-6, and fell behind again.
"Can't be prouder of them," Salmon said of her players. "We've talked about it all season: Where there's an out there's an opportunity and going off of last weekend (three wins vs. Northern Illinois) we showed that a lot too. If a team put up three, four, five on us, it was, how are we going to respond?
"Knowing how well our offense has been producing, I think that any time that we have the control in our hands we feel comfortable and confident, and I think that's showed over these last five games.
"When you play calm and confident, good things happen. You stay loose and I think that's what we were doing all day today."
Freshman Grace Lehto (7-8) started and earned the win, her fourth consecutive, in the opener. She allowed nine runs on nine hits, walked three and struck out four over five innings. Britton did not allow a hit, struck out two, and walked two in picking up her first save.
Britton allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits over five innings in the nightcap. Faith Howe (1-2) went the final two frames, allowing four runs on six hits for the win.
"Our pitchers are just grinding it out," Salmon said. "They're not trying to be perfect, they're keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lehto, Grace (7-8)
L: Tarantino (1-3)
S: Britton, Caitlyn (1)
Batting:
2B: Fernimen 1
HR: Aguon 1 ; Peters 1 ; Matheney 1 ; Castro 1
RBI: Aguon 1 ; Peters 3 ; Steffan 1 ; Matheney 3 ; Castro 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Aguon 4 ; Peters 1 ; Steffan 1 ; Matheney 1 ; Richmond 1 ; Castro 2
SB: Aguon 1
HBP: Richmond 1
Batting:
2B: Tolmie, Abbey 2 ; Britton, Caitlyn 1 ; Alexander, Kelsey 1
HR: Gardner, Morgan 1 ; Stein, Shannon 1 ; Alexander, Kelsey 1
RBI: Gardner, Morgan 3 ; Tolmie, Abbey 1 ; Stein, Shannon 2 ; Dean, Tala 1 ; Alexander, Kelsey 3 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knapp, Shaidan 2 ; Gardner, Morgan 1 ; Tolmie, Abbey 2 ; Stein, Shannon 1 ; Britton, Caitlyn 1 ; Knapp, Tailynn 1 ; Dean, Tala 1 ; Alexander, Kelsey 3 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1
CS: Coberley, Skylar 1
HBP: Knapp, Shaidan 1 ; Coberley, Skylar 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ Softball
P/UTL
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballP/IF
/ SoftballWin Recap vs Detroit Mercy
Thursday, May 01
Softball vs Detroit Mercy
Wednesday, April 30
Softball vs Ohio
Sunday, April 27
Softball vs Ohio DH
Saturday, April 26