After a successful home stand, the Eastern Michigan softball team went back on the road and found the struggles that have plagued it all season.
EMU went 5-1 on the recent homestand, but has gone 0-4 on the current six game road-trip, losing tight contests to Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. The Eagles were swept in a doubleheader at NIU Friday, losing 5-3 in game one and 5-2 in game two, while losing to WMU 3-2 on both Saturday and Sunday.
The Eagles fell behind in game one versus NIU 2-0 in the first inning, but a three run second inning for EMU yielded a 3-2 lead. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Huskies countered with a two run second inning with back-to-back homers from Allyson Hecht and Caitlyn Warren off of Trisha Trujillo to regain the lead 4-3, a lead EMU wouldn’t be able to overcome in a 5-3 defeat.
EMU also fell behind to the Huskies in game two of the doubleheader, falling behind 4-0 after five innings. Pitcher Lindsay Rich began a rally in the sixth, tripling home Michelle Kriegshauser and Haley Hostetler, but were unable to complete the comeback and fell in a sweep.
Finishing up the MAC road schedule, the Eagles then traveled to in-state rival Western Michigan looking for pride as the season draws close.
The first game with the Broncos on Saturday started out strong, as Abi Clark drove in Hostetler in the top of the first inning to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. With the score tied at 1-1 in the fourth, Marlee Wilson hit a two-run homer to give the Broncos a 3-1 lead, which would be the difference in the 3-2 Broncos victory.
WMU jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings in game two on Sunday, and even with Jenn Lucas recording two RBIs, the Eagles were unable to comeback, falling 3-2 in the second consecutive game and complete a second consecutive sweep.
The Eagles with the four losses now fall to 15-29 on the season. EMU will finish the final road-trip of the season with a doubleheader Wednesday at Oakland University. First pitch from game one is set for 2 p.m.
