Ladines Blanks Chippewas in 2016 MAC Tournament Opener

Wednesday, May 11

Akron, Ohio

1:00 p.m.

Kent State University

36-20

Central Michigan University

24-26-1

Central Michigan

Kent State

Photo by: Dave Warren

Ladines Blanks Chippewas in 2016 MAC Tournament Opener

5/11/2016 4:26:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Box Score (pdf)

AKRON, Ohio – Junior Ronnie Ladines threw her eighth shutout of the season and top-seeded Kent State beat Central Michigan, 1-0, in the first round of the 2016 Mid-American Conference Softball Championship at Firestone Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The Golden Flashes (36-20) scored just three batters into the bottom of the first inning on a double by junior Maddy Grimm. Kent State had other scoring opportunities but left six runners on base.

Fortunately, that was all of the offensive support that Ladines (23-8), who threw Kent State's first shutout in a MAC Softball Championship game since Kylie Reynolds in 2010, needed.

"This was a great pitchers' duel, which is what we expected," said interim head coach Eric Oakley. "Rachael Knapp is a great pitcher. We saw her last year in the tournament, and it was also a 1-0 game. We found a way to come out on top this time."

Ladines showed great command of her pitches and finished with seven strikeouts without walking any batters. She held CMU to only four hits and has not allowed an earned run in her last five starts against MAC schools.

"Ronnie has been great for us lately," Oakley said. "She did a great job of keeping them off the bases and got us out of a little bit of a jam there at the end."

Kent State got on the board in the first inning when Grimm crushed a double down the left field line to score senior Arika Roush, who started the frame with an infield single. Roush then alertly advanced to third base after noticing it was uncovered on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Emily Dobbin before coming across to score the lone run of the game.

"Roush saw an opening and made an aggressive play getting over to third," Oakley said. "And then Maddy did what Maddy does. She put a ball into play when we needed her to, and that ended up being the difference in the game."

Central Michigan put the go-ahead run aboard in the seventh when a single followed an error that extended the game. Grimm then made the defensive play of the game, diving to her right to snare a liner down the left field line.

Both teams collected four hits in the game. Grimm led the Flashes with two hits.

No. 1 seed Kent State will play No. 4 Northern Illinois in a second round game on Thursday at 1 p.m. The Huskies beat No. 5 Western Michigan, 3-1, in their first round game.