Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2
AKRON, Ohio - Head coach Kathy Leitke earned her 500th coaching victory on Friday afternoon in dominating fashion as Western Michigan recorded 12 hits and hit three home runs in a 13-3 win at Akron. It was the first game of a doubleheader at Akron but it was the third attempt for the Broncos to get their coach to the win plateau. WMU ended up earning a sweep in today's action.
"I have been blessed with many good ball players over the years. We were happy to come out on top of a one-run game today when we had the same opportunity during three games last week and and didn't get the wins so this was huge for us today," commented Leitke.
WMU (16-14, 8-6 MAC) wasted no time in game one, scoring five runs in the top of the first to set the tone. The four batters reached base and the first run was tallied without registering a hit or a base on balls. Mandi Sayres and Becky Bartosz each reached on errors and then Amanda Gelder Lexi Jager were each hit by a pitch.
Samantha Vargocko recorded the Broncos' first hit, a single, to plate both Gelder and Bartosz. Runners were on second and third when Lauren Fuller registered a hit, scoring both runs and giving WMU a 5-0 lead after one half of an inning. Akron answered with a run in the bottom half of the first on a one-out base hit by Julie Boyles.
Sayres hit the first of her two doubles in the game to lead off the second and later scored on a fielder's choice hit by Bartosz. Gelder her first of three hits during the game (3-for-4) to score Bartosz, giving the Broncos a 7-1 lead after two innings of play.
Both teams were quiet in the third inning, each going down in order, but Gelder put another crooked number on the scoreboard for Western Michigan in the fourth with her fourth-career home run. The Zips (15-33, 4-12 MAC) answered with a lead-off double by Katrina Moffett, who later scored on a triple by Krista Hansen.
The two opponents traded runs in the sixth when Bartosz ripped her fourth home run of the season, ninth of her career, to put the senior alone in third on the career list at WMU and give her team a 9-2 lead. Akron's Alex Feltes answered with a dinger of her own in the bottom of the sixth to tack on another run for the home team.
The Broncos secured Leitke's 500th career victory with four runs in the top of the seventh. Nina Ojala drew a one-out walk and was followed by a double off the bat of Michelle Bendewald. Western Michigan recorded its third homer of the day when Sarah Thomas cleared the bases with second of thes season. Sayres scored the game's final run, crossing the plate on Bartosz's two-out double after collecting a two-base hit of her own.
Four Broncos had multi-hit games during the first part of Friday's doubleheader with Gelder leading with three hits. Sayres and Bartosz each had two hits apiece and Vargocko added a pair of base knocks as well (2-for-4). Five Broncos also had a multi-RBI game in the 10-run win - Bartosz, Thomas (3); Gelder, Vargocko, Fuller (2).
Friday's second game had more drama than the the first. The alotted amount of innings were not enough to decide this game as WMU and Akron for 10 innings before the Broncos scratched out a one-run, 4-3, win to sweep the twinbill.
Tied heading into the 10th inning, Sarah Thomas was placed on second base. The next two batters registered a fly out and a pop out, respectively. Bartosz plated Thomas for her fifth RBI of the day with a single to right field. Akron loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning but Sullivan, who came on in relief in the seventh, struck out Cali Stratton and forced Feltes to pop out to second base for her first empty at bat of the game in four tries.
Moffett and Feltes each singled in the bottom of the second and later scored to give Akron a 2-0 leader that stood until the top of the fourth inning. Sayres reached on an error and later scored on Bartosz's second double of the day.
The one-run deficit stayed until the top of the seventh when Jager got things going with a lead-off base hit. Two batters later Fuller smashed her first home run of the season, fifth of her career, to give WMU a 3-2 lead heading into the home half of the seventh.
The Zips loaded the bases with two outs and a single by Lisa McLean brought the game-tying run. Kyla Sullivan, who had earned her 10th win of the season in game one, forced Sarah Early to pop out to third base, ending the inning and leaving the bases loaded full of Akron base runners.
