April 12, 2005

Complete Release (including statistics and MAC standings in PDF Format
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MOUNT PLEASANT -- Continue its momentum is what the Central Michigan University softball team (15-8, 8-0 Mid-American) is looking to do in a busy week ahead. The Chippewas, winners of nine of their last 10, have six games on tap, including a three-game home Mid-American Conference series against Ball State on the weekend.

CMU starts out with a doubleheader at Detroit (10-12, 3-2 Horizon) on Tuesday, April 12. First pitch at Buysse Ballpark is set for 2 p.m. The Chippewas then head to Michigan State for a single game on Wednesday, April 13, for a makeup game from the March 24 date that was cancelled because of the weather. Action begins at Old College Field at 4 p.m. CMU defeated the Spartans 4-1 earlier this season on the Florida spring break trip.

The week comes to a close with a three-game set against MAC West Division rival Ball State on Saturday and Sunday, April 16-17, at the CMU Softball Complex. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday with the teams taking the field at 1 p.m., both days.

"Our goal for the week is to try and keep things going," head coach Margo Jonker said. "When playing instate foes it is always important to get the win. But, our midweek games will also give us the opportunity to try different people in different positions and improve our hitting by facing different pitchers and making adjustments."

CMU is coming off a 4-1 week that saw the Chippewas defeat the nation's No. 1-ranked team, Michigan, and sweep a three-game series at Toledo.

The Maroon and Gold split with the Maize and Blue, winning 5-4 and falling 7-3, before downing Toledo 3-2, 5-0 and 5-3.

Much of CMU's success could be attributed to freshman Amy Hudson who earned MAC West Division "Player of the Week" honors for the second straight week.

She scored or drove in 13 of CMU's 21 runs to account for 62 percent of the Chippewas' scoring. The third sacker batted .529 with seven RBI, seven runs scored, three doubles and a homer. Hudson notched a hit in all five games, including a 3-for-3 performance in the win over Michigan where she scored three times, including the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth.

After splitting with the Wolverines on Wednesday, CMU swept Toledo in a three-game series on the weekend, including a pair of close games.

"Toledo is a much improved team from the last couple years," Jonker said. "We played as a team all week long and that's why we were successful."

Scouting the Opponents

Detroit Titans (10-12, 3-2 Horizon)
The Titans took 2-of-3 at Youngstown State last weekend to improve to 3-2 in Horizon League action and 10-12 overall. Katrina Klemp, the reigning Horizon League co-Player of the Week, is hitting a team-high .377 with three homers and 12 RBI and Sarah Dickey is batting .342. The Titans have used six different pitchers this season with Lisa Ferguson sporting a 4-2 record and 2.90 ERA. Anna Ollgaard is 3-2 with a 3.21 ERA.

Michigan State Spartans (13-21-1, 4-4 Big Ten)
Led by former Chippewa Jacquie Joseph, the Spartans play a single game at Western Michigan on Tuesday before hosting the Chippewas on Wednesday in a makeup game from March 24. MSU split a pair of Big Ten series last weekend against Ohio State and Penn State. Caitlin Mahoney is hitting .310 with 10 RBI and Victoria Morache is hitting .286 with six stolen bases. Rachel Turney is 8-11 in the circle with 1.78 ERA and 115 strikeouts.

Ball State Cardinals (13-26, 1-6 Mid-American)
Ball State picked up its first league win last weekend with a doubleheader split against Western Michigan. The Cardinals are at IPFW for a doubleheader on Tuesday before traveling to Mount Pleasant. Kelli Jeziorski is hitting .256 with nine doubles and 11 RBI while Taylor Yancey is batting .252 with 11 RBI and four stolen bases. Amy Brownfield is 5-6 with a 2.99 ERA and Nicki Hellem is 6-9 with a 3.49 ERA. Three of BSU's six MAC losses are shutouts.

Making it Interesting: CMU continues to take care of business in tight games, evidenced by its 9-1 record in one-run games. The Chippewas added two more victories in that category last week with the 5-4 win over Michigan and a 3-2 triumph over Toledo in game one of the series.

Rookie Leading the Way: Amy Hudson leads the MAC with a .422 batting average, eight points ahead of fellow freshman Rachel Folden of Marshall. Hudson also ranks second in slugging percentage (.656) and fourth in on base percentage (.441). The third sacker enters the week with a seven-game hitting streak and in the last 10 games she's batting . 471 with 10 RBI and 12 runs scored. In MAC play only, she ranks in nine categories of the MAC rankings, including leading the league in batting average (.429), doubles (6), RBI (9), total bases (24) and slugging percentage (.857).

Stats Don't Lie: The Chippewas' 8-0 MAC record should be expected when you consider that in league play CMU ranks second in both team batting (.256) and ERA (1.31). However, CMU's .957 fielding percentage ties for eighth.

Off and Running: CMU is 8-0 to start MAC play, its best league-opening stretch since 1997 when CMU went 13-0 to begin conference play en route to a 22-6 MAC championship season.

DeRoche Shuts DeDoor on Toledo: Sophomore Jill DeRoche has been a welcome sight back in the pitching circle for the Chippewas. After a nagging injury kept her out of most of the fall and spring preseason practices, she is looking like she is back to her old form that earned her 2003 Michigan Miss Softball honors at Brighton High School. DeRoche is 3-0 with a save and a 0.98 ERA in MAC action. Her ERA mark is fifth-best in the league in MAC games. She picked up a relief win against No. 1-ranked Michigan last Wednesday and followed that with some key performances in the Toledo series. In game two she tossed a one-hit shutout and in game three she entered a pressure situation in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, bases loaded and Rocket cleanup hitter Kim Pettitt at the plate. The Chippewa hurler got Pettitt to strike out swinging and DeRoche earned the save. She is 4-2 overall on the year with a 3.76 ERA.

Team of Thieves: CMU stole 10 bases in 11 attempts last week to raise the season total to 32 stolen bases. By comparison, the opponents had just one stolen base last week and sport just 12 on the year. Jacque Benedict and Karen Hohs lead the way for CMU with nine swipes in 10 attempts each. Newcomer Katie Horvath has primarily been used as a pinch runner this season and she has stolen six bases in eight attempts, including 4-for-4 in MAC play.

Calme Needing More Official At-Bats: Sophomore Lindsey Calme is hitting .429 in MAC play which would tie teammate Amy Hudson and Bowling Green's Gina Rango for the top mark in league play. However, Calme doesn't have enough official at-bats to qualify. The minimum is 2.0 at-bats per games played by the team. In league play, Calme is 6-for-14 but has walked seven times and sacrificed three others. The catcher/infielder is hitting .250 on the year with six RBI.

Key Hit for Sobeck: Senior Christin Sobeck came through in the clutch to drive in the game-winning run in CMU's 5-4 victory over No. 1-ranked Michigan. She singled to center scoring Amy Hudson from second base. The outfielder is second on the team in both hitting (.310) and RBI (nine).

Perfect in MAC Action: Jessica Garvin's five wins in MAC action (5-0) tie for second in the league behind Miami's Jackie Poggendorf who is 6-3. Garvin has a 1.49 ERA in MAC play with a shutout. She has won five straight decisions since being credited with the loss in the final three games of the spring Florida trip. The junior is 10-4 on the year and her win total is a career high.

Benedict Looking for First MAC RBI: Outfielder Jacque Benedict ranks among the team RBI leaders with seven but she hasn't driven in a run in MAC play despite a .333 batting average in league games. Benedict is hitting .304 overall with three doubles and a homer. She has added nine stolen bases as well.

Candioto Back in the Mix: Freshman pitcher Amy Candioto returned to the circle last week after an injury had kept her out of the lineup lately. She was solid in a relief effort against Michigan last Wednesday, going five and a third innings and giving up just three hits and a run. At one point she retired 15 straight Wolverines. She also fanned three and didn't walk a batter. The righty is 1-2 this season with a 3.00 ERA and she has held the opponents to a .224 batting average, the lowest on the team.

Hit and Run: Heading into Wednesday's game at Michigan State, the Chippewas are 3-4 versus the Big Ten this season with three of the losses coming against Penn State ... When Amy Hudson leads off an inning, she reaches base 71 percent of the time (12 times in 17 opportunities) ... Christin Sobeck leads the team with six two-out RBI ... CMU is 11-1 when holding the opponent to two runs or less ... The Chippewas are 3-0 when they hit a home run ... Over the past two seasons, the Chippewas have now defeated teams ranked No. 1 (Michigan), No. 4 (Washington) and No. 5 (Oklahoma) at the time of the game ... Amy Hudson's current seven-game hitting streak is the longest by a Chippewa this season ... Christan Dhondt tallied three hits last week and two of them were doubles. Five of her 10 hits on the year have been for two bases.

Game Recaps

at Central Michigan 5, No. 1 Michigan 4
Jessica Garvin kept offensive powerhouse Michigan off balance into the sixth inning and Jill DeRoche came on in relief to earn the win as the Chippewas defeated No. 1-ranked Michigan. Amy Hudson led the offensive attack with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate and three runs scored. CMU held a 4-0 lead but the Wolverines tied the score in the top of the sixth. However, Hudson led the bottom of the frame off with a single, was sacrificed to second and scored on a Christin Sobeck RBI single.

No. 1 Michigan 7, at Central Michigan 3
Three Wolverine home runs, including two by Jessica Merchant, were too much for CMU to overcome as Michigan earned the split. Brittany Decker went 2-for-2 and Amy Hudson added another hit and an RBI. Jill DeRoche took the loss as the starter and Amy Candioto pitched five and a third quality innings of relief, allowing just three hits and retired 15 straight batters at one point.

Central Michigan 3, at Toledo 2
Amy Hudson broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth when she led the inning off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a wild pitch. Karen Hohs finished with two hits and Brittany Decker and Christan Dhondt each drove in runs. Jessica Garvin went the distance for the win.

Central Michigan 5, at Toledo 0
Jill DeRoche held the Rockets to just one hit for her first shutout of the season. She struck out seven and walked just two. The Chippewas scored in five different innings on eight hits. Brittany Decker and Amy Hudson each tallied two hits and two RBI. One of Hudson's hits was a solo homer.

Central Michigan 5, at Toledo 3
Toledo loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh but Jill DeRoche came in and got cleanup hitter Kim Pettitt to strike out ending the game after she had homered earlier in the contest. Jessica Garvin earned the win and DeRoche the save as CMU remained perfect in league action. Amy Hudson drove in four of CMU's five runs on a pair of hits. CMU won the game despite just five hits to Toledo's eight.