Chippewas rout Northwood 9-2 in opening fall exhibition
Softball started its fall exhibition games with a 9-2 win against Northwood.
Thanks to a big third and fourth inning, the Chippewas were able to score eight unanswered runs. Offensively, CMU was led by a troop of veteran players including junior shortstop CarolAnn Sexauer, who went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
On the defensive side of the ball, CMU was led by freshman pitcher Rachael Knapp, who pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
“It definitely feels good to win. We learned what we need to improve on and we will go from there,” Sexauer said.
After a quick first inning, the Chippewas were the first to find themselves in a jam. Northwood's Rachel Hammer was hit by a pitch with two outs in the top of the second inning, which gave the Timberwolves runners at first and second. Knapp composed herself and responded by ending the inning with her third strikeout.
In the top of the third, the Timberwolves were finally able to get on the board. With a runner on first, junior Stacey Klonowski blistered a ball into the gap in left field. The runner came around to score while Klonowski was thrown out at third to end the inning.
CMU was able to respond in its half of the inning. Senior Brittney Horan came up to bat with two outs and runners on the corners. During her at bat, Chelsea DeLamielleure tried to steal second, but was caught in a pickle. While the Northwood fielders tried to tag DeLamielleure for the out, sophomore Evelyn Lorimer stole home to put the Chippewas on the board.
Sexauer hit a two out single to left, which allowed for two more runs to score and extended her team's lead to 3-1.
“I liked that when they scored, we came back and immediately scored," said head coach Margo Jonker. "We also adjusted to the pitching the second time through the lineup."
The Timberwolves would tack on one more run the top of the fifth, but the Chippewas countered with a run of their own off a Lorimer sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.
Senior pitching ace Chelsea Sundberg came in to finish the game in the seventh inning, where she struck out two of the three batters she faced.
“This is just a trial run to begin with. We don’t know too much from this and we will have to keep going. I thought Brittney Horan had a nice game. It was early, so we can’t tell a lot at this point in time,” Jonker said. “We have to hit earlier in the game ... can’t make the errors on defense ... and a better job of throwing the correct pitches at the correct time.”
