KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Toledo softball team maintained its hold on second place in the Mid-American Conference standings following a split with third-place Western Michigan in Kalamazoo on Friday. The Rockets won the opener 1-0 but fell 7-6 in the nightcap.
Freshman
Mady Yackee (3-3) tossed a five-hit shutout in the opener, striking out six batters without allowing a walk. The Rockets, who managed just two hits off of WMU's Rissa Bajusz, got all the offense they needed in the first inning on a two-out RBI single from senior
Lauren Erickson.
In Game Two, Toledo was up 6-1 headed into the bottom of the fifth when things took a turn for the worse. The Broncos took advantage of two walks and an error to explode for five runs to tied the game at 6-6. The Broncos won it with another unearned run in the seventh. Yackee, who came on in relief and slammed the door on WMU in the fifth, took the loss.
Senior
Jenna Kroll went 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs in Game Two. Kroll now has four round-trippers on the season and 23 for her career, which moves her into a tie with No.2 Kaitlyn Bergman (2014-19) on Toledo's all-time list.
Toledo (22-18, 12-7 MAC) entered the day just percentage points ahead of WMU (24-20, 13-8 MAC) in the standings and ended the day in the exact same position. The two teams will meet in the deciding game of the series on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1 – Toledo 1, Western Michigan 0
- Lauren Erickson's two-out single in the first inning scored senior Riley Mohr from second.
- WMU put two on with one out in the third but Mady Yackee put down the next two batters to end the inning.
- WMU got two runners on with two out in the sixth inning, but Yackee again got out of the jam by inducing pinch hitter Riley Chumbley to pop up.
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Game 2 –Western Michigan 7, Toledo 6
- Jenna Kroll opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning.
- Mohr made it 4-0 with a two-run shot in the third.
- Toledo went up 5-0 on an RBI single from Maris Barbato in the fourth.
- WMU cut the lead to 5-1 on a solo homer by Taylor Garey in the bottom of the fourth.
- Kroll went deep again, cranking a solo blast in the fifth inning to make it 6-1.
- WMU took advantage of two walks and an error to explode for five runs in the bottom of the fifth and tie the score at 6-6.
- WMU's Riley Dittmar reached first on an error, stole second with two outs, then scored the winning run on a single by Garey.