Coldren hits Chippewas past Eastern Michigan
It was business as usual for Molly Coldren as she hit home run No. 14 on the season en route to another Central Michigan victory.
The senior first baseman led the Chippewas (25-25, 10-10 Mid-American Conference) to a 5-1 win against rival Eastern Michigan by tying her own single-season home run record in the third inning with a two-run blast over the left field wall.
Coldren had three RBIs on the day, with the first giving CMU the lead in the first inning after she laid down a squeeze bunt that allowed junior center fielder Macey Merchant to score from third base.
“I just followed what coach wanted me to do with the suicide and we saw her changeup and I knew it was coming in my at-bat,” Coldren said.
Junior Kara Dornbos got the start in first of a two-game weekend series with the Eagles (21-31, 7-13 MAC). She started with a perfect first and second inning, but ran into some trouble in the third.
Dornbos gave a up a lead-off home run that was followed up by a double and a sacrifice bunt to tie the game and put a runner on third with one out.
But solid defense from the DeLamielleure sisters got Dornbos out of trouble after freshman third baseman Chelsea DeLamielleure fielded a grounder and was able to catch the runner off the base.
That was followed by her sister sophomore catcher Cory DeLamielleure, who caught MAC leader in stolen bases senior Jessica Richards trying to steal second.
“We got put in a situation with a few runners on but our defense got us out of it,” said head coach Margo Jonker.
Dornbos settled in after that third inning as she only allowed four hits and one run while striking out three.
“It wasn’t one of her best games as far as being in control but when you can win without being on your best, (it) is always good,” Jonker said. “I was proud of her on how she hung in there.”
The MAC tournament is right around the corner and the Chippewas have locked up a spot, but are currently fighting for position between the sixth and eighth seed.
“It’s important to get the highest seed we can,” Coldren said. “We want to get the highest we can so we can have better shot at getting that ring.”
CMU is back in action at 1 p.m. Sunday against the Eagles in the regular season finale.
“It’s huge (to hit our stride) especially with this upcoming week,” Coldren said. “We come out strong like we did today, and keep that in our back pocket, we’ll be on fire for the MAC tournament.”
