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AKRON, OH - The University at Buffalo softball team saw its first-ever appearance at the MAC Tournament come to an end this afternoon with a 4-1 loss to No. 2 Central Michigan at Firestone Stadium in Akron, OH. The Bulls, the tournament’s fifth seed, finish the season with a 22-28 overall record after going 1-2 at the tournament. The Chippewas (28-15) continue on to face top-seeded Marshall (37-18) at 5:30 pm tonight.

Stacey Evans

Central Michigan’s Christin Sobeck hit a one-out solo home run to left center in the bottom of the second inning to get the Chippewas on the board early. The run was the first of the tournament given up by senior pitcher Stacey Evans (Collinsville, IL/Triad), who had allowed just seven hits and no runs in the previous 13.2 innings, including a four-hit shutout of Kent State on Thursday. A Buffalo fielding error then allowed Brittany Decker to reach base, and she came around to score the game’s second run on another Buffalo fielding error following a single to left field by Karen Hohs.

CMU threatened to add to its 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, but the Bulls were able to get out of the jam. Sobeck led off the inning with an infield single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Decker and then to third on a single by Stephanie Crews. The Bulls caught Sobeck in a rundown leading off of third for the second out of the inning, and Evans got Hohs to ground out to first to end the inning.

The Bulls weren’t so fortunate in the bottom of the fifth, as the Chippewas scored two more times on no hits and three Buffalo errors. After Evans struck out Jacque Benedict to start the inning, Suzie Giroux drew a one-out walk. Amy Hudson then hit a deep fly ball to right center that was mishandled by the Buffalo fielder, allowing Giroux to advance to third and putting Hudson on second. Christan Dhondt then hit a foul fly ball to right for the second out of the inning, but two Buffalo throwing errors following the catch allowed both runners to cross the plate to put the Chippewas up 4-0. Evans finally struck out Lindsey Calme to end the inning.

The Bulls finally got on the board in the top of the sixth inning. Junior Lauren Picciano (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) drew a leadoff walk, stolen second and then moved to third on an infield single by senior Ann Magur (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott/Connecticut). With two outs and runners on the corners, senior Julie Hibner (Salem, OR/South Salem) laced a single to left to score Picciano and break up CMU pitcher Jill DeRoche’s shutout attempt. DeRoche then got a groundout to third to end the inning.

DeRoche allowed just four hits and struck out three in the complete-game victory. Evans suffered the loss despite allowing just one earned run on six hits while striking out three in five innings. She allowed just one earned run in 17.1 innings pitched in the Bulls’ three tournament games.

Sophomore pitcher Sophie Barstad (Canby, OR/Canby) allowed one hit in the final inning in relief.