Central Michigan University Athletics
Wednesday, April 20
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
19-19, 0
10
vs
2
Toledo
9-30, 0
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3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Toledo
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
7
2
Central Michigan
0
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5
1
1
10
10
0
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Softball Sweeps Doubleheader, Series From Toledo
4/20/2022 6:40:00 PM | Softball
CMU heads to Western for weekend series tied for third place in MAC
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan hit four home runs in the opener and then employed a little patience in the nightcap on Wednesday in sweeping a Mid-American Conference softball doubleheader from Toledo at Margo Jonker Stadium.
Shannon Stein, Skylar Coberley, Kelsey Alexander and Emily Bracamonte each homered to lead the Chippewas to a 10-2 run-rule win in game one, and then CMU overcame an early 3-0 deficit in taking the nightcap, 6-3.
The wins gave CMU its first three-game MAC series sweep of the season as it improved to 20-19, 11-6 league. They are tied with Ball State for third place. The top four teams earn a berth in the MAC Tournament. The Chippewas go to Western Michigan for a three-game series this weekend.
"It feels great to get a sweep," CMU assistant coach Sara Driesenga said. "Every game is important and that's what we really emphasize with (our players). Just show up today, take care of today.
"If we're worried about the past (or) we're worried about games in the future, we're not going to be focused on the present and the game right now. That's what they've been doing a really good job at. There obviously are moments when we can get better, but I think that we're feeding off each other and making sure we're here and we're in the moment."
The Chippewas played perhaps their best MAC series of the season in outscoring the Rockets by a combined 27-9 and outhitting them 32-19. They also got three solid pitching performances from Grace Lehto and Kaitlyn Bean.
Lehto (11-9) struck out four and allowed five hits in going the distance in the nightcap on Wednesday. On Tuesday, she fired a complete game in an 11-4 win. Bean (6-8) allowed seven hits and struck out five in Wednesday's opener. The duo combined to strike out 11 and walk just five over the three games while the Chippewa defense committed just one error in the series.
"Bean gave us some really good energy today from the start," Driesenga said. "She kept us in the game and kept them off balance as much as possible. They started off scoring first and we came right back, punched back and it was the same thing with the second game. We came back, kept punching away, chipping away, every inning. That was big for us."
In the opener, Alexander hit her eighth home run of the year leading off the second inning to tie the game, 1-1. The Chippewas added two runs in the third when Abbey Tolmie scored on an error and then Caitlyn Britton delivered an RBI single.
CMU exploded for five runs in the fourth on a Michaleigh Vallimont two-run single and then Coberley's three-run homer. It was her fourth round-tripper of the season. Bracamonte hit her third homer of the year in the fifth to make it 9-2, and then Stein ended the game with a lead-off homer in the sixth, giving the Chippewas the eight-run lead and the game.
It was Stein's 13th home run of the season, and she needs four to break Molly Coldren's season program record of 16 set in 2012.
The Chippewas scored three runs in the fourth to tie the nightcap, 3-3. Britton smacked a run-scoring double, pinch runner Tessa Nuss scored on an error, and then Bracamonte roped an RBI double.
CMU went ahead, 4-3, in the fifth on a Vallimont RBI double and then extended its lead to 5-3 on a Britton RBI single. Tolmie's RBI double in the sixth gave CMU the final margin.
The Chippewas collected 10 hits in each game. Eight of those 20 hits went for extra bases.
"I think our philosophy is to beat that pitcher once," Driesenga said. "Sometimes it takes that first at-bat to get acclimated, see a couple pitches, see what she's throwing and make sure that we're on time … make sure we're seeing the ball deep, driving it (to the opposite field), hitting it hard and hitting it solid.
"I think it's just trusting our process, that was the big thing. For us being patient and trusting that we're good enough to get it done and we're good enough to score that many runs. Our defense and our pitching kept us in the games, and then it's making sure we're getting good cuts and swinging at good pitches and not beating ourselves."
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bean, Kaitlyn (6-8)
L: KNIGHT, Sophia (5-15)
Batting:
2B: GRIFFITH, Sidney 1
HR: KROLL, Jenna 1
RBI: KROLL, Jenna 1 ; VANDER LUGT, Kendra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KROLL, Jenna 1 ; GRIFFITH, Sidney 1
SB: DIXON, Anna 1
Batting:
HR: Stein, Shannon 1 ; Coberley, Skylar 1 ; Alexander, Kelsey 1 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1
RBI: Stein, Shannon 1 ; Vallimont, Michaleigh 2 ; Britton, Caitlyn 1 ; Coberley, Skylar 3 ; Alexander, Kelsey 1 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tolmie, Abbey 2 ; Stein, Shannon 2 ; Vallimont, Michaleigh 1 ; Britton, Caitlyn 1 ; Coberley, Skylar 1 ; Alexander, Kelsey 1 ; Bracamonte, Emily 1 ; Springer, Maddie 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C/UTL
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballP/UTL
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballP/IF
/ SoftballCF/1B/P
/ SoftballOF/UTL
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Softball vs Detroit Mercy
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Softball vs Ohio
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Softball vs Ohio DH
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