Softball Swept in Saturday Doubleheader at Western Michigan

Saturday, May 6

Kalamazoo, MI

1pm

Ball State University

30-25, 14-9

Western Michigan University (GM 1)

22-27, 10-13

Ball State

Western Michigan

Photo by: Kyle Crawford

Softball Swept in Saturday Doubleheader at Western Michigan

May 06, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

2017 MAC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET (PDF)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Ball State softball team jumped out to a pair of early leads courtesy of the long ball, but could not hold on in 8-2 and 2-1 losses to Mid-American Conference rival Western Michigan Saturday afternoon at Ebert Field.

The Cardinals (30-26; 14-10 MAC) enter next week's MAC Tournament at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, as the No. 5 seed and will play No. 4 seed Kent State in Wednesday's 10:30 a.m. Game 1.

With the pair of wins, the Broncos improved to 23-27 (11-13 MAC) and earned the No. 8 seed in the MAC Tournament and will play No. 1 seed Central Michigan in Wednesday's 1 p.m. Game 2. The winners of Game 1 & Game 2 will square off in Game 6 at 1 p.m. Thursday, while the losers of Game 1 & Game 2 will play in Thursday's 10:30 a.m. elimination game (Game 5).

In Saturday's first game, senior center fielder Rachel Houck (Greenfield, Ind./Louisville) opened the game in similar fashion to Friday by blasting her 13th home run of the season to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Broncos countered with a two-run shot of their own in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead.

Ball State capitalized on a pair of two-out hits in the top of the third to even the score, as Houck started a rally with a single to right center and moved to second on a wild pitch. Junior second baseman Maddy Labrador (Lexington, S.C. / Spartanburg Methodist) followed with a double to left field tying the score at 2-2.

The tie was short-lived, however, as WMU rallied for five runs in the bottom of the inning and added one more in the sixth to earn the 8-2 victory.

In the nightcap, Labrador gave Ball State a brief 1-0 advantage after leading off the top of the fourth with her seventh home run of the season.

WMU answered with a one-out solo shot of their own in the bottom of the fourth, before scoring the go-ahead run on a two-out, RBI bases loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth.

The Cardinals managed to out-hit the Broncos six to three in Saturday's second game, with two of the hits coming from freshman third baseman Janae Hogg (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral).

Despite limiting the Broncos to three hits and striking out seven batters in Saturday's second game, freshman pitcher Alyssa Rothwell (Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley) suffered the loss, falling to 5-4 on the year.

Junior pitcher Carolyn Wilmes (Evansville, Ind./Matre Dei) took the loss in the opener, falling to 13-12 on the year after allowing seven hits and six earned runs over 2.0 innings of work. She also struck out one batter.

For the most up-to-date news on Ball State softball, follow the team on Twitter: @BallStateSB, @CoachCBartlett & @BallStateSports / Instagram: ballstatesb / Facebook: BallStateSoftball.

- BallStateSports.com –