Central Michigan University Athletics
Photo by: Julia Bice '22,M'24 - @jb.jpg10
Softball Takes Down Northwestern in First Game of Cardinal Classic
2/28/2025 4:52:00 PM | Softball
Compau throws a complete game with five strikeouts to propel Central Michigan to a victory over Northwestern in the first day of the Cardinal Classic.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Central Michigan started their trip to Louisville with a 4-2 victory over Northwestern in their first game of the weekend.
CMU dropped their second game of the day to the host school 1-8.
The Chippewas move to 2-9 on the 2025 season with three more games to go in the weekend, including a rematch with Louisville and two games against Longwood.
Sophomore outfielder, Emma Lotus, played against her big sister, Easton in the matchup with the Cardinals. Easton, an infielder for Louisville, was out due to injury when the two teams met in the 2024 season, marking this as the first time the two have competed against each other at the collegiate level.
Game 1
Central Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning of the game against Northwestern in the second inning. Grace Koenig started the fun with a double to left field and was quickly brought home when Keira Tolmie followed up with a double of her own.
Maddie Springer charted a hit to right field and Tolmie crossed the plate.
Northwestern answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning.
Carly Sleeman had an answer for the Wildcat home run…a solo blast of her own in the top of the third; 3-1 Chippewas.
In the top of the fourth inning, Tori Briggs recorded a double to left field, and Springer, who reached via fielders choice scored; 4-1 CMU.
Northwestern scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when CMU took the out at first allowing a run to score.
Brooklyn Compau was stellar in the circle for CMU. The sophomore right-hander threw the first complete game of her career striking out five on the day.
Briggs and Sleeman continued to be sources of offensive power and consistency, with Briggs recording a multi-hit game along with Grace Koenig.
CMU's victory over the Big Ten opponent marks the second for McCall Salmon in her time as the leader of the Chippewas. On February 25th, 2022 her squad defeated Maryland 5-4 in South Carolina.
Game 2
Carly Sleeman charted another home run against the Cardinals, but would post the only run for the Chippewas in their second outing of the day.
CMU held their lead until the bottom of the third inning after Sleeman charted her round-tripper as the third batter of the game.
Madelyn Wallace took the start in the circle for CMU and threw 3.1 innings, facing 18 batters.
Mackenzie Langan entered in the bottom of the fourth inning in relief with bases loaded and one out. Langan would face two batters issuing a fly out and one hit-by-pitch.
Cierra Laska entered in her all too familiar relief role and closed the game for CMU. Laska faced the final 15 batters over 2.1 innings where she issued seven hits and five runs.
Louisville scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to reach their eight runs after grabbing one in the third and two more in the fourth.
Central Michigan will take on Longwood at 10 am on Saturday followed by a rematch with the Cardinals at about 12:30 pm.
For the latest news and updates on CMU Softball, follow the team on X (@cmusoftball) and Instagram (@cmichsoftball).
CMU dropped their second game of the day to the host school 1-8.
The Chippewas move to 2-9 on the 2025 season with three more games to go in the weekend, including a rematch with Louisville and two games against Longwood.
Sophomore outfielder, Emma Lotus, played against her big sister, Easton in the matchup with the Cardinals. Easton, an infielder for Louisville, was out due to injury when the two teams met in the 2024 season, marking this as the first time the two have competed against each other at the collegiate level.
Game 1
Central Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning of the game against Northwestern in the second inning. Grace Koenig started the fun with a double to left field and was quickly brought home when Keira Tolmie followed up with a double of her own.
Maddie Springer charted a hit to right field and Tolmie crossed the plate.
Northwestern answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning.
Carly Sleeman had an answer for the Wildcat home run…a solo blast of her own in the top of the third; 3-1 Chippewas.
In the top of the fourth inning, Tori Briggs recorded a double to left field, and Springer, who reached via fielders choice scored; 4-1 CMU.
Northwestern scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when CMU took the out at first allowing a run to score.
Brooklyn Compau was stellar in the circle for CMU. The sophomore right-hander threw the first complete game of her career striking out five on the day.
Briggs and Sleeman continued to be sources of offensive power and consistency, with Briggs recording a multi-hit game along with Grace Koenig.
CMU's victory over the Big Ten opponent marks the second for McCall Salmon in her time as the leader of the Chippewas. On February 25th, 2022 her squad defeated Maryland 5-4 in South Carolina.
Game 2
Carly Sleeman charted another home run against the Cardinals, but would post the only run for the Chippewas in their second outing of the day.
CMU held their lead until the bottom of the third inning after Sleeman charted her round-tripper as the third batter of the game.
Madelyn Wallace took the start in the circle for CMU and threw 3.1 innings, facing 18 batters.
Mackenzie Langan entered in the bottom of the fourth inning in relief with bases loaded and one out. Langan would face two batters issuing a fly out and one hit-by-pitch.
Cierra Laska entered in her all too familiar relief role and closed the game for CMU. Laska faced the final 15 batters over 2.1 innings where she issued seven hits and five runs.
Louisville scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to reach their eight runs after grabbing one in the third and two more in the fourth.
Central Michigan will take on Longwood at 10 am on Saturday followed by a rematch with the Cardinals at about 12:30 pm.
For the latest news and updates on CMU Softball, follow the team on X (@cmusoftball) and Instagram (@cmichsoftball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Compau , Brooklyn (1-1)
L: Grudzielanek (2-5)

Batting:
2B: Briggs, Tori 1 ; Koenig, Grace 1 ; Tolmie, Keira 1
HR: Sleeman, Carly 1
RBI: Briggs, Tori 1 ; Sleeman, Carly 1 ; Tolmie, Keira 1 ; Springer, Maddie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sleeman, Carly 1 ; Koenig, Grace 1 ; Tolmie, Keira 1 ; Springer, Maddie 1

Batting:
2B: Avvisato 1
HR: Cunnea 1
RBI: Nader 1 ; Cunnea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robinson 1 ; Cunnea 1
PO: Cunnea 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Win 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