Coldren ties home run record as softball splits Saturday
Junior Molly Coldren hit her 19th home run against South Florida (15-12) on Saturday, tying her with Christina Novak for the most homers in program history.
Central Michigan (10-7) lost 4-3 to South Florida even with Coldren’s homer, but beat Long Island (6-17) 8-0 later in the day.
“Molly is really relaxed at the plate right now,” said CMU coach Margo Jonke, after Coldren continued her sound hitting earlier this week.
Coldren’s fifth home run of the season was a three-run blast in the top of the fourth inning, giving the Chippewas a 3-1 lead. However, homer was the only scoring CMU could muster up the entire game.
USF scored four unanswered runs, including two in its last at bats to win in walk-off fashion. The Bulls got their game-tying run in the seventh after an error, which has been Jonker’s biggest concern.
“We have to play more consistent on defense,” Jonker said.
The Chippewas had improved their defense the past few games before committing the costly error.
In Game 2, senior Kari Seddon continued her dominance in the circle. She threw another complete game shutout, striking out seven batters and allowing only three hits.
“When she has her off-speed pitches going, she’s tough to hit,” Jonker said Friday after Seddon’s performance.
The CMU offense woke up in the fourth inning to score six runs off five hits and one Long Island error.
The Merchant sisters, Macy and Brittini, both had multi-hit games. Sophomore Macy stole a base and scored two runs while senior Brittni scored a run and drove in two more.
The team wraps up its Spring Break trip at noon today in Clearwater, Fla., against Boston University (5-4).
