TEMPE, Ariz. -Western Michigan fell to a pair of 2012 NCAA Tournament teams, including the fourth ranked team in the nation to close out day two of the Kajikawa Classic on Saturday.
Western Michigan opened the day against San Diego State, a team that finished one game shy of a berth in a super regional a season ago. The Broncos jumped out early, scoring a run in their first at bat Saturday morning, but came up short, 5-1.
Melissa Palmer led off the game with an infield single to the shortstop. Sabrina Gamboa, one of yesterday's heroes in WMU's win over Cal Poly, followed with a base hit up the middle two batters later, advancing Palmer to third. With Mackenzie Shepeck at the plate, Gamboa was caught in a run down, getting picked off at first base, which allowed Palmer to score.
Shepeck eventually drew a walk and Elisha Handshoe collected an infield single to put runners on first and second with two outs. The scoring stopped at the one run when Shepeck was out advancing to third on a ground ball to the third baseman.
The Aztecs answered in the bottom of the first on a one-out triple. San Diego State tacked on a pair of runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to take control of the game.
After three hits in the first, WMU managed just three more the rest of the game with two of those leading off the fourth inning off the bats of Lynch and Megan Stamm, respectively. Both were stranded in scoring position with the game tied at one run apiece.
Jenny Rohn's single up the middle with one out in the sixth wound out being the Broncos' final base hit and Rohn was WMU's last base runner of the game as it went down in order in the seventh.
In the night cap, Western Michigan faced the No. 4 team in the country, and tournament host, Arizona State. The Sun Devils were a game away from playing for the national title in 2012 and came away with a 7-0 win on the strength of a four-run first inning.
ASU scored runs in chunks in the opening frame, registering a pair of two-run home runs off freshman Allyson Kus. After the first inning, Kus settled in and pitched well throughout, striking out three batters and registering her first career complete game.
The Broncos weren't without chances in the game after the first, stranding seven runners on the base paths on Saturday night. WMU loaded the bases in the second and had two runners in scoring position in the third but could not scratch a run across the plate.
All four hits came off the bats of four of the top five batters in the line up. Palmer, Caity Pixley, Shepeck and Marleen Rodriguez each collected base hits for the Broncos in the loss.
WMU closes out its stay in Tempe with an early morning tilt against Cal State-Northridge with first pitch scheduled for 8:30 a.m. MT.
