Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Marshall
Falcons Stay Alive, 4-3
May 12, 2000 | Softball
May 12, 2000
DeKALB, Ill. - Colleen Bates homered to cap a three-run second inning, and the Bowling Green softball team stayed alive with a MAC Tournament victory over Marshall, 4-3, Friday (May 12) morning. The game was held at Mary M. Bell Field in DeKalb, Ill.
With possible elimination staring both teams in the face, the Thundering Herd (25-27 overall) drew first blood. After a walk and a fielder's choice, MU's Vanessa Clarkson doubled to send teammate Carrie Dean to third base. BGSU pitcher Jessie Milosek walked her Marshall counterpart, Sara Gulla, to load the bases, and a sacrifice fly by Karri Britt brought Dean home to give the Herd a 1-0 lead.
A two-out error opened the door for BGSU (now 31-17) in the second inning, and the Falcons took advantage. After Gulla retired the first two hitters, junior Lynsey Ebel lifted a fly ball toward left-center field. MU leftfielder Danielle Esenwein dropped the ball, with Ebel winding up on second.
Freshman Libby Voshell followed with a single to score Ebel, and Bates, the next batter, blasted a homer to left. For the senior, the round-tripper was her fifth of the season, tying the school record. Bates is the fourth player to hit five homers in a season, joining Amy Lienhardt (1988) and current teammates Ebel (1999) and Jen Domschot (2000).
Bates, already the BGSU career leader in homers, hit her 11th as a Falcon in the Marshall game.
The Falcons scored another unearned run in the third. Senior Erin Zwinck led off with a sharp single up the middle, chasing Gulla and bringing in Michelle Boam. Two infield groundouts moved Zwinck to third base. Then, Nikki Rouhana drew a walk and Ebel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Voshell's grounder up the middle was knocked down by MU second baseman Nichole Corrigan, but she could not make a play at any base. Zwinck came in to score on the error. All four BGSU runs in the game were unearned.
The Herd made things interesting with a pair of runs in the fifth. Dean led off with a walk, one of her three in the game. She took second on a groundout and went to third on a Boam single. Then, Dean came in to score when BG catcher Bates attempted to pick her off third, but the throw trickled into the outfield. Milosek struck out Britt, but back-to-back singles by Natasha Johnson and Kelli Hall brought Boam around to score.
The Herd threatened in the bottom of the sixth. Nikki Wilcox led off with a hit, and the next batter, Corrigan, lined a ball along the first-base line. Rouhana speared the hit in midair and beat Wilcox to the bag to complete the unassisted double play. The play proved critical when Marshall went on to get a walk and another hit in the inning.
BGSU freshman McKenna Houle retired the Herd in the seventh for the win, allowing only a two-out single in the process. Houle picked up her second save of the season with two innings of three-hit work.
Milosek earned the win to improve to 11-4 on the year. She allowed three runs on six hits. She walked five batters and fanned two.
For the Herd, Gulla took the loss to fall to 13-18. She allowed five hits and four unearned runs in two innings. Gulla walked one batter and fanned two.
Boam allowed just one hit in four innings of relief work for Marshall. She walked two, fanned two and hit two batters. Johnson worked a one-two-three seventh, striking out two Falcons.
At the plate, six different Falcons had one hit apiece as the Falcons broke a five-game MAC-Tournament losing streak. Four different Falcons scored a run, and Bates had a pair of RBI in the win.
For Marshall, Wilcox went 3-for-3, while both Clarkson and Hall had two hits. The Herd outhit the Falcons, 9-6.
Marshall's season comes to an end with the loss, while the Falcons advance to meet tournament host Northern Illinois. The #1-seeded Huskies survived against Ball State in Friday's second game, winning by a 3-2 score.
MAC TOURNAMENT
Thursday, May 11:
Game 1 - #3 Central Michigan 2, #6 Ball State 0 Game 2 - #5 Akron 2, #4 Marshall 0 Game 3 - Central Michigan 3, #2 Bowling Green 0 Game 4 - Akron 9, #1 Northern Illinois 1
Friday, May 12:
Game 5 - Bowling Green 4, Marshall 3 (MU eliminated) Game 6 - Northern Illinois 3, Ball State 2 (BSU eliminated) Game 7 - Akron vs. Central Michigan, 3:00 p.m. Game 8 - Bowling Green at Northern Illinois, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 13:
Game 9 - UA/CMU loser vs. BGSU/NIU winner, 11:00 a.m. Game 10 - UA/CMU winner vs. Game 9 winner, 1:30 p.m. Game 11 - Game 10 participants, if necessary
