CMU softball sweeps Toledo
The Central Michigan softball team has proved to be a different team at home, pulling off its second consecutive sweep Friday at Margo Jonker Stadium.
After 26 straight road games to start the season, the team brought everything home.
“I was pretty happy with how we’ve done so far at home,” said head coach Margo Jonker. “We just need to keep playing (well) at home all year.”
CMU (18-12, 3-3 MAC) opened Friday with a 9-1 victory, and followed it with an 8-0 win to sweep Toledo – pushing the Rockets’ losing streak to seven consecutive and 12 of the their last 13.
The strong pitching duo of senior Kari Seddon and sophomore Kara Dornbos gave up a combined one run and the offense took care of the rest, scoring 17 runs between the two games.
“I thought our pitchers did a nice job – Kari pitched better than she’s pitched in a while,” Jonker said. “She had more command of her pitches and she’s excited about that and I am too.”
Aside from the normal pitching and batting statistics, the Chippewas excelled in another column.
[caption id="attachment_76625" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Freshman outfielder Brittney Horan connects with a pitch during Friday\'s doubleheader against Toledo. Horan went 3-for-3 with an RBI on the day. (Erica Kearns/Staff Photographer)"]
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Led by sophomore Macy Merchant’s five steals, the team combined for 11 stolen bases on the day, adding an extra threat to an offense already on a roll.
“I like to be aggressive right away, and coach does too,” Merchant said. “We just saw that she had a slow release and we were going to take advantage of it.”
Game 1
CMU (18-12, 3-3 MAC) got off to a quick start, scoring three runs on five hits.
Senior Brittini Merchant hit a grounder that allowed her sister, Macy, to put the team on the board. Back-to-back doubles by Seddon and junior Molly Coldren tallied two more scores.
Dornbos stayed focused despite the lead, allowing only one hit and one run (zero earned runs). She struck out five and walked two.
“Dornbos was very good today – her drop ball was amazing,” Jonker said. “When she has that drop ball on, she’s tough to hit.”
Toledo (5-26, 1-5 MAC) could not find a groove offensively, recording only one hit in the game and three on the day.
Game 2
The Chippewa offense didn’t cool off between games. On the day, they scored a combined eight runs in the first innings.
Jonker said aside from the obvious goal of winning the team set another goal of getting the leadoff runner on base each inning.
A fielding error allowed sophomore Macy Merchant to do just that, reaching first in the bottom of the inning. After stealing second, she came home on a Summer Knoop double.
Toledo struggled to get out of the inning, recording three errors, two wild pitches, a hit batter and two walks, allowing five runs to cross the plate before finally getting out of the jam.
Amanda Klosterman was hit by a pitch in the ankle, causing her noticeable pain and forcing her out of the game. Jonker said she took a ball right on the bone, but she would be OK.
The Chippewas added another run in the third and a solo home run by Amanda Patrick in the fourth to expand their lead. Brittini Merchant’s double in the fifth ended the game via mercy rule, sending the team’s eighth run across the plate.
“You want to play ball, so you like to play innings, but on the other hand you want to win big if you can,” Jonker said after the team won its fourth straight game by mercy.
The team will be back in action Saturday, hosting Bowling Green for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Margo Jonker Stadium.
“I think (the wins) were huge,” Merchant said. “We were down from last weekend and I think this weekend we needed to do something and we came out huge.”
