TAMPA, Fla. – The Central Michigan softball team scored 14 runs and allowed just one in two games against Cleveland State and Fordham as part of the University of South Florida Under Armour Showcase Tournament on Saturday.
The Chippewas (7-9) defeated the Vikings (2-13), 6-1, in the early game and mercied the Rams (6-12), 8-0, in five innings in the afternoon.
Brittney Horan was 3-for-4 with four runs and an RBI in the two games, Summer Knoop went 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBI, and Chelsea DeLamielleure finished with three RBI. Senior Ashley Gilson also hit her first home run of the season.
The Chippewas finish their trip to Florida on Sunday with a match-up against USC Upstate at 11:15 a.m.
CMU 6, Cleveland State 1
Strong pitching, timely hitting and a handful of Cleveland State errors powered the Chippewas to a victory Saturday morning.
Kara Dornbos, after allowing a run to walk in the second inning with the bases loaded, settled down and did not allow another run for the remainder of the game for the Chippewas. She consecutively retired the final eight Viking batters en route to her third complete game of the season, allowing just four hits while issuing three walks and striking out two.
CSU committed five errors throughout the morning, including three in a three-run fifth inning for the Chippewas.
The Maroon and Gold took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a one-out sacrifice fly by Molly Coldren, that brought Horan home.
The Vikings answered back with a bases-loaded, two-out walk. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, the CMU defense surrendered a single, an error and a walk to load the bases. Dornbos forced a fly ball out to shortstop the very next pitch to end the inning.
The Chippewas struck again in the third with two more runs. After walking on four consecutive balls to start the inning, Raechel Zahrn stole second base and advanced to third on a single to the shortstop by Horan. A passed ball by the CSU catcher during Knoop’s at-bat brought Zahrn home and advanced Horan to second, giving the Maroon and Gold a 2-1 lead.
Knoop then hit a hard ground ball to center field that scored Horan to extend the lead to 3-1.
Horan, who got on base again in the bottom of the fifth due to one of CSU errors, scored her third run of the day on a double lined to center field by DeLamielleure. DeLamielleure’s double also brought Knoop and Brogan Darwin around to score, giving the Chippewas a 6-1 advantage.
Horan made a diving catch in the top of the sixth inning in left field to get the last out of the inning.
Knoop accounted for half of the Maroon and Gold’s six hits, finishing 3-for-3 with an RBI. DeLamielleure was 1-for-2 with three RBI, and Horan was 1-for-2 with three scored runs.
CMU 8, Fordham 0
CMU scored five runs in the first inning against Fordham and never looked back, riding an outstanding outing from Chelsea Sundberg to an 8-0 victory in five innings.
The Chippewas added three in the third inning, and the mercy rule was in effect after CMU held a eight-run lead over the Rams after five innings. The Chippewas recorded 12 hits on the afternoon.
After giving giving up a single and a walk to start the game, Sundberg retired 15 of the following 17 batters. She finished with three strikeouts while allowing just two hits and no earned runs, while issuing just two walks.
Following singles by Macy Merchant and Zahrn to lead off the bottom of the first for the Chippewas, Knoop lined a single to center field to drive home Merchant for a 1-0 lead.
Coldren followed with a double to right field scoring Zahrn, and extend the CMU lead to 2-0. Knoop scored on a passed ball during the following at-bat to give the Maroon and Gold a 3-0 advantage.
The Chippewas weren't done yet. With two outs in the first, Gilson blasted a two-run home run to center field that scored both her and Coldren for a 5-0 lead. The homer was Gilson's first of the season.
Coldren lined another double, this time into left field, to begin the bottom of the third, and crossed the plate after Horan doubled to center field for a 6-0 lead.
Rachael Hensel was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with two outs, when CarolAnn Sexauer singled to left field to advance both runners. When the throw from left was off-target, Horan went for home and scored for a 7-0 lead.
Kristen Kuhlman hit a ground ball to the shortstop for a single, scoring Hensel making the score 8-0.
Coldren was 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI. Horan was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Gilson was 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI.
