Akron Travels to Kalamazoo, Mich. for Weekend Series against Western Michigan

Friday, March 29

Kalamazoo, Mich.

3:00 PM

University of Akron

Western Michigan

Akron Travels to Kalamazoo, Mich. for Weekend Series against Western Michigan

March 28 | Softball

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron women's softball team travels to Kalamazoo, Mich. to battle Western Michigan in a three-game conference weekend at Ebert Field on Friday and Saturday, March 29-30.

WHAT'S AHEAD:
After a weather related schedule change, Akron and WMU will now play a doubleheader on Friday with first pitch of the first game at 1 pm and game two approximately at 3 p.m. Saturday will now be a single game beginning at 1 pm. Fans can follow all games via Live Stats.

March 29 at Western Michigan (DH Game 1) | 1 p.m. | Live Stats
March 29 at Western Michigan (DH Game 2) | 3:00 p.m. | Live Stats
March 30 at Western Michigan | 1 p.m. | Live Stats

SCOUTING AKRON:
Sophomore Meagan Lee is coming off a big week where she earned MAC Player of the Week accolades. In five games, Lee recorded 14 hits in 21 at bats, hitting for a team-high .667 average. Lee registered two stolen bases en route to touching 14 total bases and scoring one run.

In addition, sophomore Haley Croyle led the Zips pitching staff, earning a pair of wins including a complete game, 11 inning shutout performance in game one of the Northern Illinois series. Croyle threw 18 innings and limited the opposition to a .206 batting average. In 18 innings of work, she struck out 10 batters and only allowed three earned runs on 14 hits.

The Zips are currently own a 14-15 overall record and 5-1 in league play. Lee leads the Zips offensive attack with a .440 batting average and is 44-for-100 on the year with a team-best 44 hits. Lee scored 14 runs and registered seven RBI with one homerun. Brooke Sivek follows with 26 hits, 17 runs scored, and 16 stolen bases, while junior Alexis Campbell has also scattered 23 hits around the yard. Freshman Sophia Wygast adds 19 hits and a team-high six homeruns. In the circle, Croyle leads the team 3.38 ERA with five wins and a shutout. She has 66.1 innings of work with a team-best 31 strikeouts. Macy Walters follows with a 3.86 ERA in 61.2 innings pitched. She collected 29 strikeouts. Cailey Joyce is tied for the team-high in wins with five and one save in 61.2 innings pitched. She recorded 30 strikeouts and owns a 4.20 ERA.

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN:
Western Michigan enters play against Akron at 12-14 on the year, including a 1-4 mark in the Mid-American Conference. Riley Dittmar owns team-best .412 batting average and team-high marks in hits (28).She leads the squad in RBI (20), doubles (9) and triples (1). Addison Hudson follows in batting average with .333, including 16 hits, while Megan Welsh paces the Broncos in homeruns (5) and adds four doubles with 20 hits and 14 RBI. In the circle, Rissa Bajusz leads the staff with a 2.11 ERA and six wins. She has thrown eight complete games with three shutouts in 76.1 innings of work, including 104 strikeouts. Kailey O'Connor follows with a 4.23 ERA in 46.1 innings pitched. She has 32 strikeouts.

SERIES HISTORY:
Western Michigan owns the series lead versus the Zips, 45-28. Last year, Akron claimed the series 2-1, falling 3-2 in the opener and sweeping the doubleheader by scores of 1-0 and 4-2.

AKRON NOTES:
• The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 30+ years after joining the league in 1993 from the North Star Conference.
• Under second-year head coach Craig Nicholson, the Zips return 10 players from the 2023 squad and added 12 newcomers to the 2024 roster.
• The 2023 season marks the 48th season of intercollegiate competition for the Akron softball program.

ON DECK:
The Zips play five league games next week, starting with a home doubleheader against Buffalo on Tuesday, April 2 (1 and 3:30 p.m.) at Lee R. Jackson Field. Akron will then travel to play Bowling Green in a weekend showdown against the Falcons on April 6-7 with a doubleheader on Saturday (1 and 3:30 p.m.) and the series finale on Sunday (1 p.m.).