Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Jen Domschot's Homer Lifts Softball Over Akron, 8-5
April 18, 2001 | Softball
April 18, 2001
AKRON, Ohio - Senior Jen Domschot's long homerun lifted the Bowling Green State University softball team to an 8-5, eight-inning win over the University of Akron Wednesday (April 18). The game, the first half of a Mid-American Conference doubleheader, was held at UA's Buchtel Field.
Domschot's three-run blast was the 12th of her career, setting a new BGSU career record in that category. She had shared the record of 11 with teammate Lynsey Ebel and Colleen Bates (1997-2000).
Freshman Jenifer Kernahan had tied the back-and-forth contest at 5-5 with her first collegiate homer in the sixth inning. The Falcons pounded out 15 hits to the host Zips' five in the game.
The Falcons scored seven of their eight runs in the game after two outs were made. In three different innings, the first two BG batters were retired, but the Falcons rallied for multiple runs.
BG wasted a chance to get on the board quickly. Senior Nikki Rouhana led off the game with a single, and sophomore Kandice Machain reached base on an Akron error. But, BG could not bring either baserunner around to score, leaving them at second and third, respectively.
Akron took the lead with a three-run second inning that bordered on the surreal. The Zips batted around in the inning, but did not get a hit of BG starter McKenna Houle.
In that inning, Houle hit Kerstin Sewell with a pitch to start things. Sewell took second on a groundout and third on a BG error. Then, she beat the BGSU throw home on an infield grounder by Ali Janutolo.
Later in that inning, UA's Angie Hill drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the second run of the game. Then, the Zips' third run scored exactly like the first, with the Falcons attempting to cut down a runner at the plate on an infield grounder, but throwing home too late to get an out.
BGSU got a pair of runs back in the third. After the first two batters were retired, Machain reached base on an infield single and took second on a walk to Jen Domschot. Junior Renee Rosemeier hit a grounder to shortstop, but the runners were safe when the umpire ruled that Domschot arrived at second before the throw. With the bases loaded, senior Angie Domschot drove a double off the top of the wall to score Machain and Jen Domschot.
BG took the lead on more two-out magic in the fourth. After UA's Lisa Keenan got two outs, Kernahan singled, and junior Holly Frantz ripped a double off the wall in left to put runners on second and third. Then, Rouhana's bloop single plated both baserunners and gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead.
Houle had a no-hitter into the fourth inning, but Jackie Rothman reached on a one-out error. Hill's grounder forced Rothman at second base for the second out, but Rianne Hess stepped to the plate and hit an opposite-field homer to right-center. That hit by Hess gave Akron a total of one hit, but five runs, in the game to that point.
Kernahan got the Falcons even with her sixth-inning homer. That hit, which came on a 3-2 pitch, went over the wall at almost exactly the same spot as the homer by UA's Hess.
Akron threatened to break the tie and win the game in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Tiffany McCoy doubled off the right-field wall, and Sewell lined a single to center. But, Jen Domschot fielded the hit and gunned down pinch-runner Amy Blauvelt at the plate to preserve the tie. Then, Houle fanned Kristi Koelble looking to end the inning.
In the top of the eighth, reliever Tina McCauley retired the first two BG batters before Rouhana singled. Then, Machain got a single to bring Jen Domschot to the plate. Domschot's homer, her team-high fourth of the year, gave BG an 8-5 lead that would hold up after Houle set down the Zips in the bottom of the inning.
A total of five different Falcons had multiple-hit games, led by Rouhana's 4-for-5 performance. Machain had three hits, while Jen Domschot, Frantz and Kernahan had two apiece.
Jen Domschot scored two runs and drove in three, while Kernahan and Machain each crossed the plate twice.
Houle got the complete-game win, surrendering five runs (all unearned) and five hits. She walked four batters and fanned four.
Keenan, the Zips' starter, allowed five runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings, while McCauley surrendered three runs and six hits in her two-and-two-thirds innings of work. They combined for five strikeouts and just one walk.
Houle's win moved her record to 8-5 on the year, while McCauley took the loss to fall to 6-7.
The Falcons (20-14 overall, 8-3 MAC) and Zips (15-18, 8-6) were scheduled to return to the diamond for the second game of the twinbill.
