Saturday, April 12
Kent, Ohio
3:30 p.m.
Kent State University
16-15, 2-3
2
vs
7
Central Michigan University
25-11, 5-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Central Michigan
0
1
1
0
5
0
0
7
8
2
Kent State
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
4
2
Ariele Patterson
Photo by: David Dermer
Softball Falls to Central Michigan in Home Opener, 7-2
4/12/2014 7:03:00 PM | Softball
KENT, Ohio – Central Michigan took advantage of Kent State's mistakes in a five-run fifth inning that proved to be the difference in the Chippewas' 7-2 victory at the Diamond at Dix Saturday afternoon. The Golden Flashes drop to 16-15 and 2-3 in the Mid-American Conference, while the Chippewas improve to 25-11 and 5-2 in conference play.
Kent State got off to its best start in league playing, plating a run for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, freshman Maddy Grimm drew a walk to extend the inning and moved to second after senior Abbey Ledford was hit by a pitch. Junior Ariele Patterson then singled through the left side to bring Grimm home.
That would be the Flashes' only lead of the day, however, as Central Michigan tied the game on back-to-back base hits in the second inning. The Chippewas took the lead for good on a Chelsea DeLamielleure solo home run in the top of the third.
Central Michigan started the fifth with a pair of singles and managed to score five runs in the inning despite not collecting another base hit. A hit batter and consecutive walks allowed two runs to score. Senior Lauren McNeil, who entered the game in relief earlier in the inning, then got a grounder to third. Grimm fired home for the first out of the inning, but the relay throw to first was mishandled, allowing Central Michigan to tack on another run. After another walk that loaded the bases again, Kent State was unable to handle a well-hit ball to shortstop that allowed another run to score and the batter to reach safely. A sac fly that scored Central Michigan's final run follower and McNeil recorded a strikeout to get out of the inning.
Junior Kim Kirkpatrick looked to give the Flashes hope with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but they were unable to move any other runners into scoring position.
Patterson continued to swing a hot bat and had half of the Flashes' four hits. She is hitting .368 with a double, home run and 11 RBI over the past 8 games.
Freshman Ronnie Ladines (4-5) threw four strong innings before struggling in the fifth. Ladines allowed six runs on six hits and added two strikeouts. McNeil allowed one unearned run and recorded three strikeouts in three innings of relief duty. Morgan Yuncker (8-1) threw a complete game to earn the victory for Central Michigan. Yuncker allowed two runs on four hits but walked five batters.
Kent State and Central Michigan will finish the weekend with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday at the Diamond at Dix
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Yuncker (8-1)
L: Ladines, Ronnie (4-5)
Batting:
2B: Rentschler 1
HR: DeLamie_Ch 1
RBI: DeLamie_Ch 2 ; DeLamie_Co 1 ; Rentschler 1 ; Marlink 2
SF: Marlink 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DeLamie_Ch 2 ; DeLamie_Co 1 ; Cox 1 ; Rentschler 1 ; Bowman 1 ; Zahrn 1
SB: Cox 1
HBP: Horan 1
Batting:
HR: Kirkpatrick, Kim 1
RBI: Kirkpatrick, Kim 1 ; Patterson, Ariele 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kirkpatrick, Kim 1 ; Grimm, Maddy 1
HBP: Ledford, Abbey 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
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