Softball Sweeps, Finishes Florida Swing 5-2

Tuesday, March 8

Madeira Beach, Fla.

12 p.m.

Central Michigan University

8-6

LIU

6-13

LIU

Central Michigan

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

3/8/2022 6:14:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – Michaleigh Vallimont had five hits including her second home run of the season on Tuesday as the Central Michigan softball team closed the Spring Games with a doubleheader sweep of Long Island.

Vallimont hit a two-run homer in the first inning, sparking the Chippewas to a 5-1 victory in the opener. She had three of the Chippewas' 12 hits in the nightcap, a 6-1 victory.

The Chippewas (9-6) ran their win streak to four consecutive games as they finished 5-2 in Florida. They are scheduled to play this weekend in the Bluegrass Challenge at Louisville. CMU opens the Challenge with two games on Thursday, the first against Valparaiso (2:30 p.m.) and the second against host Louisville (5 p.m.).

They are scheduled to play Indiana and Louisville on Friday.

"Very happy," said third-year CMU coach McCall Salmon. "This is the best trip we've had. This team, they battle and every single time out they have an opportunity to win games and they're proving that. Really proud of their ability to compete and that's showing with the success that they're having in the win column."

CMU hit .302 with nine home runs on its Florida trip. The Chippewas are hitting .282 with 17 home runs on the season. They rank second in the Mid-American Conference in both categories.

Through 15 games in 2021, the Chippewas had seven homers and were hitting .222.

"I think it's just going back to the basics and our preparation up to this point," Salmon said. "It's really about making sure that every time we step in the box that we have a routine, and the approach is consistent. Sticking to that routine and sticking to that approach has really started paying off and they're buying into that.

"Also, I think it's about our hitters making adjustments from at-bat to at-bat and hitter to hitter. That's really helping us offensively as well."

CMU's Samantha Mills added two hits, including an RBI single during a three-run fifth inning, in the opener. Lucy Cronin and Abbey Tolmie also drove in runs during the inning.

Grace Lehto (4-3) struck out three in tossing a three-hitter for the win. CMU played error-free defense behind her.

"She threw very well, and our defense had her back," Salmon said of Lehto, who lowered her earned run average to 2.44, fourth best among MAC hurlers. "They really made the plays behind her. They made the easy plays look easy. Complete team win when it came to that aspect of things."

Kelsey Alexander and Shannon Stein each homered to lead CMU in the nightcap.

Stein hit a two-run homer in the third inning to put the Chippewas in front for good. Alexander led off the sixth with a homer and then added a two-run single in the seventh.

Stein's homer was her seventh – she had six in 47 games a year ago – and she shares the conference lead. Alexander's homer was her third in her last five games.

Skylar Coberley and Emily Bracamonte added two hits each for the Chippewas.

Freshman Maddy Wallace (2-0) won her second consecutive start. She allowed one run on four hits over four innings. Faith Howe went the final three frames, recording her first career save.

LIU collected 12 hits on the day, all singles.

"Maddy Wallace threw first-pitch strikes and got ahead in the count and then was able to use some of her off-speed pitches to be successful," Salmon said. "I think for her and what we're seeing with the entire staff is that they're building off that stamina.

"It was another hot day; we're not going to complain about that, but we talked to them beforehand and knew it was going to be a team approach. Really impressed with the composure of both Maddy and Faith working out of some tough situations, and they put us in position for offense to add some insurance runs that gave us the ability to breathe a little bit on defense."