Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
CLEVELAND STATE
Softball Completes Sweep In Cleveland, 7-4
April 30, 2001 | Softball
April 30, 2001
CLEVELAND, Ohio - A five-run fourth inning lifted the Bowling Green State University softball team to a 7-4 win over host Cleveland State University Monday (April 30). The game, the second of a non-conference doubleheader, gave the Falcons the sweep.
With the victory, BGSU improves to 31-16 overall, and the Falcons have won six consecutive games. The host Vikings drop to 15-29 on the year.
The Brown and Orange got on the board quickly. Sophomore Kandice Machain led off the game by beating out an infield single. Freshman Candace Fenton, making her first collegiate start, then slapped an infield single of her own past CSU pitcher Kimberly Evans. The runners moved up a base on a groundout by senior Jen Domschot, and Machain scored on a sharp single to leftfield by junior Renee Rosemeier.
The Vikings took the lead in the bottom of the inning, however, scoring twice off freshman Jody Johnson. The hosts loaded the bases with two outs, and a Tiffany Nofziger double to dead center scored both Jackie Miller and Stephanie Taylor.
BGSU tied the game in the third inning when Jen Domschot crushed an Evans offering over the fence in right-center. The homer, which landed on the CSU tennis courts beyond Viking Field, was Domschot's fifth of the season and the 13th of her career.
Jen Domschot now moves back into a tie for the BGSU career record with teammate Lynsey Ebel. Ebel had hit her 12th and 13th career homers in Saturday's (April 28) doubleheader sweep of Miami.
Domschot's homer was the Falcons' 19th this year. BGSU has now hit 19 round-trippers in each of Leigh Ross-Shaw's three years as head coach. Prior to the 1999 season, the school record for homers in a season was eight.
The Falcons broke the 2-2 tie in a big way, scoring five times off Evans in the fourth. Senior Angie Domschot led off with a single off the glove of a leaping Evans, and Ebel attempted to sacrifice Domschot to second. Each player advanced two bases, however, when the CSU third baseman threw wildly in an attempt to retire Ebel.
Sophomore Jess Jenkins gave the Falcons a lead they would not relinquish, ripping a first-pitch single to center to score Angie Domschot. Jenkins promptly stole second and, one out later, moved to third when junior Holly Frantz blooped a single to right-center to plate Ebel.
Machain then hit a two-run double to left-center to score Jenkins and Frantz, and a gorgeous bunt single by Fenton moved Machain to third. Jen Domschot then picked up her second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly.
The Vikings got a run back in the fourth, but lost a chance to score more runs. After Nofziger led off with a walk, Michelle Beightol appeared to reach on a BGSU error. Ross-Shaw quickly emerged from the dugout and alerted the umpires to the fact that the Vikings were batting out of order.
The scheduled batter, Lisa Horton, was called out and Beightol, as the next scheduled batter, returned to the plate and popped up to Jenkins at shortstop. CSU then got back-to-back singles from Jackie Richards and Tiffany Stocker to load the bases, and BGSU reliever Andrea Genter walked Lindsay Gervais to cut the lead to 7-3.
Jen Domschot, in addition to tying the career homerun record, set another record in the game. She drew a walk in the sixth inning to set a new single-season mark in that category, with 25. The old record of 24 walks was set by Dena Romstadt in 1992.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Vikings loaded the bases with no outs on a BG error, a walk and an infield hit. Then, Gervais plated Beightol with a sacrifice fly. Genter then struck out Jackie Miller, but walked Taylor to reload the bases. The junior induced Jessica Miller to hit a popup to second on a 3-2 pitch to retire the side.
The Falcons nearly increased the lead in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with no one out. But, Evans got a popup and a fielder's choice, with a runner forced at the plate on the latter play. Then, Machain hit a ball to left-center, but Viking CF Stocker made a nice running catch to prevent at least two runs and retire the side.
Johnson returned to the circle for the Falcons in the bottom of the seventh, and Nofziger got a leadoff single. But, Johnson got Horton to hit a soft liner to Jenkins at short, then got an infield grounder for the second out. She threw a third strike past Richards to end the game and give BG the sweep.
Johnson earned the win, her seventh in a row and her fifth in a seven-day span, to improve to 8-2 on the year. She allowed two runs and five hits in four innings of work, striking out four Vikings without issuing a walk.
Genter gave up two runs (one earned) and four hits in three innings. She walked three batters and fanned four.
Evans allowed five earned runs in seven innings, walking one and whiffing three.
At the plate, Jenkins paced BGSU's 13-hit attack, with her first career three-hit game. Jenkins scored a run, drove in a run and stole a base.
Fenton, Machain and Ebel all had two hits in the win. Fenton entered the game with season totals of one hit in four at-bats, and went 2-of-4 in the contest.
Machain scored two runs and had a pair of RBI. Jen Domschot also had two RBI in the game.
Taylor went 3-of-4 for the Vikings, while Nofziger was 2-of-3 with a pair of RBI.
The BGSU starting lineup featured three players (Johnson at P, Ebel at 3B and Jenkins at SS) from Keystone High School and three more (Angie Domschot at 2B, Jen Domschot at CF and redshirt freshman Liz Tuza at DP) from Notre Dame Academy. Evans, the CSU starting pitcher, is a Keystone H.S. product as well.
The Falcons return home for the final four games of the regular season, beginning with Tuesday's (May 1) Mid-American Conference game vs. the University of Toledo. The arch-rivals will meet in a 4:00 p.m. start at the BGSU Softball Field.
This weekend, the MAC East Division-leading Falcons (16-4 MAC) will face second-place Kent State University (15-6) in a showdown for the division title. The teams are scheduled to play a Friday (May 4) single contest beginning at 3:00 p.m., followed by a 1:00 p.m. Saturday (May 5) doubleheader.
The MAC Tournament will be held May 10-12 at the site of the team with the top regular-season record. The Falcons trail Central Michigan (17-4) by a half-game in the race for the top mark in the league.
