Courtesy: Tim Fitzgerald/CMU Athletics

Central Michigan's Brogan Darwin watches a pitch during the home stand with Michigan State this year. Darwin has started the last five games for the Chippewas, recording five hits in 16 plate appearances.

QUICK LINKS

IPFW (35-11, 12-6 Summit) at Central Michigan (21-22, 6-9 Mid-American)
Wednesday, April 25, 2 p.m. (DH), Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Margo Jonker Stadium)
Live Stats

Preview

The Central Michigan softball team will host IPFW on Wednesday, the first of eight straight home games to close out the regular season, in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.

IPFW has won five out of its last six games. These two teams have never faced one another before, but the Chippewas are 3-0 this season against teams from the Summit League. Alex Bousquet, who is batting .378 with seven home runs and 41 RBI on the season, leads the Mastodons offensively. IPFW's pitching staff splits time between three players. Courtney Cronin has the lowest ERA at 1.32 with a 16-2 record on the season. She has 102 strikeouts in 127.1 innings pitched.

Team Comparison
2.90	ERA	1.56
.258	Avg. Against	.206
.271	Batting Avg.	.288
.374	Slugging Pct.	.397
172	Runs Scored	227
50	Stolen Bases	46

Storylines

Coldren Breaks Another Record -- Last week Molly Coldren recorded three home runs in five games, bringing her season total to 10. She now holds the top-three home run spots in CMU history, hitting 14 last year and 11 the year before. Her 38 career home runs puts her second all-time in the Mid-American Conference, well behind the leader, Kelli Metzger of Akron, who has 57.

Coldren has moved into a first place tie with Elizabeth Barnes for the program's career RBI record with 125, and is fourth in CMU history in runs scored, as she has 122 during her tenure.

Against Non-Conference Opponents -- Against non-conference opponents this season, CMU is 15-13, including a 2-2 record while at home. It is batting .282, while holding the opposing team to.259. The Chippewas have also recorded 132 runs, well above the opponent's 100.

Mixing it Up -- In the last 10 games two new faces have stepped up for head coach Margo Jonker offensively. Ashley Gilson is batting .367 with five RBI and a .441 on base percentage. She went a perfect 3-for-3 against Bowling Green with an RBI as the Chippewas knocked off the Falcons 3-2. On Friday against Miami, she went 2-for-3 in game two helping CMU claim a 2-0 win.

Brogan Darwin has started the past five games, batting .312 with five hits in 16 plate appearances.

Touch ‘Em All Tidbits --

• CMU is 12-1 when scoring more than six runs and 18-4 when it produces three or more runs.
• CMU is...
  • 11-4 when scoring in the first inning
  • 16-5 when scoring first
  • 18-5 when out-hitting the opponent
  • 3-18 when scoring under two runs
• The Chippewas are 18-2 when leading after four innings, 15-2 when leading after five and 14-1 when leading after six.

NCAA Rankings (April 15) -- The Chippewas are 32nd currently in the country averaging .39 double plays per game; they have turned 15 this season. They are 67th in stolen bases per game, averaging 1.26 per game and 74th in earned run average at 2.64.

Individually Macy Merchant is 85th in batting average at .393, while Kara Dornbos is 57th in saves with two.