Softball team sees streak end
The University of Michigan sure isn't making many friends with CMU's softball team.
After winning two games Saturday and running its win streak to 11 games, the CMU softball team headed for a collision of two of the top 25 teams in the country as it squared off against U-M Sunday.
For the third straight time, spanning the last two years, U-M defeated CMU, ending the win streak for the Chippewas and frustrating them before losing to Bradley to go 2-2 over the weekend at the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational.
CMU started out the tournament doing what it did well, playing solid defense and connecting on offensive opportunities, winning both games Saturday against Purdue and Indiana State.
"(Saturday) we played extremely well. We hit well. We had good defense and pitching and we did a nice job," said head coach Margo Jonker.
Sunday, however, was the opposite.
"Today was the opposite end. Our pitching and defense was not as strong," Jonker said.
The loss to Michigan down-spiraled the team into a loss against Bradley.
"We were down after the (U-M) loss," Jonker said.
Now it's time for the Chippewas to stop looking back and start looking forward as they open their Mid-American Conference season Friday at Toledo.
"We have a week of practice to get back on track," Jonker said.
Overall, Jonker was pleased with the pre-MAC season and is pleased with the potential she saw.
"Overall, before the MAC, we hit well and different people performed well at different times. We've got all aspects of our game, we just need to put it together every game," Jonker said.
Sunday
Michigan 8, CMU 0
CMU could only manage one hit against U-M in an 8-0 loss.
U-M had 11 hits off Central pitchers.
Wendy Stephens gave up six runs, five earned in the Central loss.
Starter Anne Foster took the loss, going 3.2 innings and giving up two runs.
Bradley 9, CMU 0
Kinney gave up eight earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched, as Central fell 9-0 to Bradley.
Becky Manson went 2-for-4 for CMU.
Saturday
CMU 3, Indiana State 2
Indiana State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the Chippewas in the first two innings, but the Chippewas responded by scoring three runs in the third as they hung on for victory.
Tina Kinney went the distance for the Chippewas giving up two runs on six hits with six strikeouts to up her record to 2-1.
Freshman Becky Manson hit 3-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI to lead the offense.
Eli Barnes added an RBI with one hit in two tries.
CMU 8, Purdue 0
The Chippewas got the bats going early with six runs in the first game of the weekend while Anne Foster cruised to a five inning shutout for her sixth win of the year.
Jenny Bouck, Kim Burke and Jen Skuta led the offensive firepower.
Bouck hit 2-for-2 with a run score and 2 RBIs; Burke and Skuta both hit 2-for-3 with one RBI and a run scored.
