Softball Surges Late To Earn Split, Capture Series From NIU

Sunday, April 10

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

11 a.m.

Central Michigan University

15-16, 0

Northern Illinois

10-18, 0

Northern Illinois

Central Michigan

Photo by: Hayley Steffy

4/10/2022 5:39:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A little patience went a long way for the Central Michigan softball team on Sunday.

The Chippewas scored all of their runs in their final two at-bats in posting a 12-4 victory over Northern Illinois and earn a split of a Mid-American Conference doubleheader at Margo Jonker Stadium.

NIU won game one, 7-3. The Chippewas are 16-16, 7-4 MAC and go to Michigan for a nonconference game on Tuesday, April 12 (4 p.m.) and then return to league play with a three-game series at Ohio next weekend. The Huskies are 10-19, 4-10.

The Chippewas won Saturday's series opener to take the series. They have won three of their four league series this season.

"That's really what it comes down to in MAC play is winning every series," CMU coach McCall Salmon said. "NIU was in control for the first half of the (second) game. We didn't stop, and to see them respond … we had to keep competing. We had to string together some hits, score a couple runs and it lit the fire for us to bust it open there at the end."

Down 4-0, the Chippewas got a three-run homer from Shannon Stein in the fifth inning of the nightcap, then sent 12 batters to the plate in scoring nine runs on five hits and four walks in the sixth to win on the run rule.

Michaleigh Vallimont's one-out, two-run single in the sixth put the Chippewas in front, 5-4. CMU then drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks to make it 7-4, and then Emily Bracamonte chopped a two-run single up the middle to make it 9-4.

Samantha Mills doubled off the right-field fence to up CMU's lead to 11-4. Abbey Tolmie, who had gone hitless on the day to that point, then ripped a triple to left center to score Mills and give CMU the eight-run lead.

The game was delayed 30 minutes after Mills' double had given CMU a seven-run lead. A scorekeeping error showed on the scoreboard that CMU was up, 12-4, and left all involved – players, coaches, umpires and off-field game officials – with the impression that the game was over.

After a lengthy review, the players and umpires re-took the field, and the left-handed hitting Tolmie went opposite field, drilling the third pitch she saw from NIU pitcher Delaney Ostrowski to the fence in left.

"I just told Abbey I couldn't think of a better time for her to get her first hit of the day," Salmon said. "I told (the team) to stay relaxed and we've got to finish it and they rose to the occasion."

Stein's homer, her second of the day and her 11^th of the season, snuck inside the foul pole in left and it came after Tessa Nuss, a redshirt sophomore in her first season at CMU, led off the inning with a pinch-hit single, her first hit as a Chippewa. Tolmie reached on a fielder's choice and Nuss was safe at second on an error, setting the table for Stein.

"Shannon Stein's home run was huge just from a momentum shift standpoint," Salmon said. "It kind of lit a fire under our hitters and on our bench in general. It was nice to see Tessa get her first hit in a CMU uniform and start that rally for us as well."

Grace Lehto (9-8) went the distance for the win. She struck out three, walked one, and surrendered five hits.

"After game one, we talked in general -- limit the freebies," Salmon said. "We gave them way too many freebies in that first game and any time you give teams an extra 60 feet they're going to capitalize. I kind of challenged them there and I thought we did a better job with that in game two."

NIU broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run fifth in the opener. The Huskies took advantage of two walks and two of their four hits in the inning never left the infield.

The Chippewas got their runs on back-to-back RBI doubles by Caitlyn Britton and Kelsey Alexander in the second and a towering solo homer to left by Stein in the third.

Kaitlyn Bean (4-7) allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits over four innings in taking the loss. Britton pitched the final three frames. They combined to walk five.