TOLEDO, Ohio – After a five-and-a-half-hour rain delay at Scott Park, Toledo softball (23-32, 10-11 MAC) came up on the short end of a 9-4 decision vs. Western Michigan (21-25, 9-12 MAC) on Senior Day.
 
Senior Celeste Fidge propelled Toledo's offense in her final game at Scott Park, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Junior center fielder Ashley Rausch and freshman DP Samantha Golden each contributed a pair of hits.
 
Sophomore Heather Webb (9-11) was saddled with the loss after permitting three runs off four hits and three walks in the first two frames of the contest. Freshman Leah Allison (0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB) relieved Webb in the third and was replaced by sophomore Kailey Minarchick in the same frame. Minarchick allowed two runs off five hits in 4.1 innings of relief work.
 
The game was interrupted by inclement weather at 11:20 a.m. just as Webb was facing her third batter of the game. The game resumed at 5:00 p.m. to a quiet first inning for both squads.
 
The Broncos were the first to threaten when a hit batter, single and sacrifice bunt put a pair of runners in scoring position. Consecutive one-out RBI singles and a Toledo throwing error gave WMU a 3-0 lead in the top of the second.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, Fidge connected for a lead-off single to short. Junior first baseman Samantha Showalter followed with a grounder to short and reached first on a fielder's choice to second base. An infield grounder by Golden advanced Showalter to second, and Gross launched a double to deep center off her first pitch to score Showalter and put UT on the board.
 
Back-to-back singles and a base on balls put three Broncos aboard in the top of the third, and a hard throw home by sophomore third baseman Katie Cozy kept WMU from scoring on the next play. Unfortunately for the Rockets, an RBI double and RBI single off 0-0 offerings plated four WMU tallies with two down. A grounder to senior second baseman Chandler Rice ended the inning without further damage.
 
Bidding to put together some offense in bottom of the third, the Rockets eventually loaded the bases off two walks and an infield single. Fidge lined a one-out single to left center, which allowed senior catcher Ashley Maynard to plate a run. A pop-out to short and a fielder's choice at third ended the inning with the Bronco's holding on to a comfortable 7-2 lead.
 
WMU loaded the bases for the second-straight inning off two singles and a hit batter. A hard single up the middle scored two runners to give the Broncos a 9-2 advantage in the fourth.
 
Rausch connected off the first pitch of the fifth frame for a single to center field, but was tagged out at second on Cozy's infield grounder. Fidge stepped into the box and drove a double to left center that advanced Cozy to third. Junior Courtney Heinritz entered the game to pinch run for Cozy, and crossed the plate off an RBI single by Showalter. Fidge cut UT's deficit to 9-4 by scoring on a single by Golden.