May 7, 2009
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - Two Western Michigan home runs proved to be a bad omen for Ohio as the `Cats ended up falling, 6-1, to the Broncos in their MAC Tournament opener Thursday afternoon at Firestone Stadium. The Green and White will look to keep its season going at 9:15 p.m. when it takes on Akron.
Jordan Paden (Walla Walla, Wash.), Paige Kemezis (Hackensack, N.J.) and Brooke Morgart (Wayne, Ohio) tallied the `Cats' hits on the day to pace the Ohio offense. Bonner picked up the loss on the rubber after throwing three and two-thirds innings with three strikeouts.
"It was one of those games where the ball didn't spin our way," Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek said. "We had some good opportunities to get some runs, but Western (Michigan) made some great plays to get out of innings. I really thought our pitchers threw well. They missed twice, and that hurt us. We'll be ready to go tonight."
Ohio threatened almost immediately, putting runners on second and third with just one down in the first inning. The Broncos responded by forcing a strikeout and making a nice catch at short to thwart the `Cats' hopes of any runs. WMU put the first run on the board in the bottom of the inning on a homer from Lexi Jager to take a 1-0 lead after one inning.
The Green and White came back in the top of the second with a pair of hits from Paige Kemezis (Hackensack, N.J.) and Brooke Morgart (Wayne, Ohio) and a walk from Alexis Zambrana (Alvin, Texas) to load the bases with two out. Once again, the Broncos would get the final out to halt any potential hopes.
After inning three went quietly for the `Cats, WMU looked poised to add on to its tally. Shalene Petrich (Chehalis, Wash.) put a damper on some potential Bronco hopes with a one-hop rocket throw to Jordan Paden at the plate, who applied the sweeping tag on a WMU runner looking to score. Bonner then got a strikeout to end the inning.
Jager struck Ohio again in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run shot to left to extend the Bronco advantage to 3-0. The `Cats were unable to get any offense going in the fifth or sixth innings, before WMU managed to tack on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, the major blow coming on a two-run double from Meredith Whitney.
The `Cats would not go down without a fight in the seventh, however. Candace Saucedo (Ontario, Calif.) reached on a WMU error and was replaced by Lauren Histed (Shelby Township, Mich.). Histed advanced to second on a passed ball and Paden singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Kemezis followed with a ground out to plate Histed. The Broncos would not allow anything more, however, and took the 6-1 win. The Green and White also lost its opening-round game in last year's tournament before coming back to advance all the way to the championship game.
Ohio will look to extend its stay at Firestone Stadium when it takes on Akron at 9:15 p.m.
