Softball splits doubleheader with NIU, holds final spot for MAC Tournament heading into final regular season game
Currently positioned as the last team to qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament, the Central Michigan softball team split a doubleheader at Northern Illinois on Friday in its last series of the regular season.
Behind the arm of junior Rachael Knapp, the Chippewas (23-25, 10-11-1 MAC) took game one 5-4, but came up short in game two. CMU fell 8-3 after a late scoring barrage by the Huskies (33-17, 13-9 MAC), who clinched their first MAC West title since 2000.
CMU sits in eighth place in the MAC standings and holds the last spot for the postseason tournament heading into Saturday’s final game in DeKalb. The Chippewas can punch their ticket with either a win Saturday or losses by Eastern Michigan and Buffalo.
Friday was only supposed to feature game one, but possible thunderstorms on Saturday pushed one of the games to Friday.
With senior CarolAnn Sexauer out with an injury, the underclassmen stepped up offensively for CMU in game one.
Scoreless in the third inning, sophomore Maison Kalina hit a 3-run home run. After a home run by Northern Illinois’ Dominique Greeno, sophomore Lacy Tolfree hit one of her own to put CMU up 4-1. Tolfree's home run knocked NIU starting pitcher Alex Frenz out of the game.
"It was a combination of a lot of players stepping up to get hits," said Head Coach Margo Jonker. "We made some nice defensive plays too and (Katelyn) Rentschler had a big hit too along with Allison Curtis."
Knapp (14-12, 2.88 ERA) went the distance for the sixth straight game and struck out six batters, while walking two and giving up nine hits.
Leading 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Knapp hit the first batter and allowed a triple to Jessica Rio. After an RBI single to Kayti Grabble, CMU's lead was down to one run. Knapp dug in however and got the next three batters out to end the game.
"It would have been easy for us to lose that game, but i'm proud of the way we battled," Jonker said.
In game two it was sophomore Hanna Warren (7-10, 3.42 ERA) who took the mound. She gave up home run in the first inning and a triple in the third inning.
In the fifth inning, it was NIU pitcher Tara Thacker who experienced trouble of her own. After hits by freshman Kayla Noch and sophomore Sarah Hansen, Rentschler sent both home on a double off the wall to tie the game.
The Northern Illinois’ bats responded in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run home run by Emily Naegele and an RBI-double by Bekah Harnish to go up 6-3 and knock Warren out of the game.
Sophomore Laura Vaccaro came in for relief and surrendered two hits in two innings pitched, but an RBI-double by NIU’s Caitlyn Warren in the sixth inning extended the lead to 8-3 and was too much for the Chippewas to overcome.
First pitch in Saturday’s finale is scheduled for 3 p.m. with Knapp expected to get the start. While the game is crucial for the team's postseason fate, Jonker says the game plan is no different.
"Strategy is the same it's been all year: one pitch at time, be aggressive, high energy and let's go out and get some drive-able pitches," she said."
