Softball drops first two in 2013 Hoosier Classic
At the brand new Andy Mohr field in Bloomington, Ind. softball lost both games of a double-header on Friday against University of Illinois-Chicago and Indiana.
“It Felt like we just didn’t come ready to play today," said head coach Margo Jonker. "We were very tentative. We needed to be the aggressors and we weren’t."
That was the story of the day for the Chippewas, being held to only eight hits combined on the overcast and cold day that caused delays to both games.
In the first game the team was held in check by UIC’s Devin Miller who went a complete game allowing only four hits and two runs.
The two RBI came off the bat of senior utility player Summer Knoop, who leads the team with 19 hits, she singled in the second inning scoring senior Brogan Darwin and junior Raechel Zahrn.
“I don’t think we made an adjustment to the pitcher quick enough today in game one,” Knoop said.
CMU’s second game was against the host Hoosiers, who the Chippewas lost to last year in a 5-3 comeback.
This year it was up to the Chippewas to make a comeback after the Hoosiers gained a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning off a home run by designated hitter Amanda Wagner.
Junior pitcher Chelsea Sundberg would pitch a strong game, after letting up the first inning home run, only giving up one more run off of five hits. She would also add five strikeouts and only one walk on the game.
However, the team could not get the timely hits to give Sundberg the run support needed for a win. Despite a sixth inning RBI by freshman Trista Cox that scored junior Brittney Horan.
“We tried to make adjustments in the batting order and swinging earlier in the count in the second game,” Jonker said. “It was pretty frustrating that we couldn’t get the big hits.”
The Chippewas on the day had good enough pitching to win games giving up only four earned runs but struggled to supply run support with only three runs total.
But despite these troubles the Chippewas still have three more games left in the 2013 Hoosier classic one against in state rival Michigan State and two against Wright State. Last year in this same tournament CMU beat both these teams.
