Softball struggles in extra-innings loss against Toledo
Softball couldn't hold up to its recent standard of play after a 3-2 loss Sunday against Toledo ended the team's seven-game winning streak at Margo Jonker Stadium.
After playing consistently well over the last few weeks, the Chippewas could not hold on to their hot streak in a disappointing showing against a team they defeated the previous day.
"We didn't show our best stuff today, and it bit us because we did not take charge of the game," head coach Margo Jonker said.
Offensively, the team suffered from poorly placed hits. They had little trouble getting bodies on the base paths, earning nine hits, but had little to show for it after line drives caused several runners to be picked off in scoring position.
"We had some situations where we hit the ball hard right at people, and then we had a lot of people picked off bases, and that shouldn't be," Jonker said. "We've got to be more alert on the bases; we weren't very good at base running today."
Defensively, the Chippewas did well stopping Toledo from rounding the bases, despite giving up 11 hits on the day.
Jonker cycled through three pitchers as the Rockets were able to pick up on juniors Chelsea Sundberg and Morgan Yunker, who gave up nine combined hits. Senior Kara Dornbos was called in to finish the game but was unable to stop a game-winning home run from Marla Gooding in the eight inning.
The Chippewas took the lead in the bottom of the first. With two outs, junior Cory DeLamielleure and sophomore CarolAnn Sexauer reached on balls, putting DeLamielleure in scoring position on second. Freshman Katelyn Rentschler connected at the next at-bat and sent her home with a single to right center.
Senior Brogan Darwin put the Chippewas ahead 2-0 in the second inning with a solo home run to left field. Darwin has been tougher at the plate in the last few games; this weekend she had a .500 batting average in six at-bats.
"She hit the ball well today and has been hitting better in the last couple of games than she was in the beginning of the season," Jonker said. "So, that's good for her, but we needed more positives from the whole team to get a win."
The Rockets responded in the next inning by scoring two runs with a double and long sacrifice fly ball hit for an RBI in the top of the third. CMU would not score for the rest of the game, pushing the game into extra-innings where Gooding's home run sealed the loss.
The Chippewas will need to shake off this loss quickly and look toward a tough non-conference game against Michigan on Tuesday in Ann Arbor.
