Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Central Sweeps BGSU, 6-1 & 3-1
April 06, 2002 | Softball
April 6, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Central Michigan University received a pair of strong pitching performances en route to a doubleheader sweep of the Bowling Green State University softball team Saturday afternoon (April 6). The Chippewas won the Mid-American Conference games by scores of 3-1 and 6-1 at the BGSU Softball Field.
With the wins, Central improved to 18-11 overall and 6-1 in MAC action. The Falcons fell to 12-16-1 and 3-5, respectively.
In the opening game, BGSU junior McKenna Houle allowed only five hits, but CMU walks and timely Chippewa hitting proved to be too much for the Falcons to overcome. Three times in the game, the CMU leadoff batter drew a walk, and that runner was sacrificed to second and came around to score on all three occasions.
Becky Manson opened the game with a walk, and Karly McCormack bunted her to second. Then, Michelle Brander singled up the middle to plate Manson.
The scenario was very similar in the third inning, as Manson walked and moved to second on a McCormack bunt. Houle got Brander on a called third strike, but Jennifer Skuta beat out a grounder to shortstop, with Manson coming all the way around from second and beating the throw to the plate.
CMU sophomore Amber Puchalski, the MAC Pitcher of the Year in 2001, shut down the Falcons on just one hit though the first five innings, striking out five consecutive batters at one point, but the Falcons broke through in the sixth.
BGSU's lone hit during those first five innings was a first-inning double by senior Natalie Phillips, but the Brown and Orange got two more doubles with two outs in the sixth frame. Junior Libby Voshell doubled over CMU centerfielder Sarah Hamilton's head, and senior Renee Rosemeier followed with a perfectly-placed bloop double into shallow right-center that landed between Hamilton, second baseman Natalie de la Vega and rightfielder Wendy Stephens, scoring pinch-runner Marla Murphy. But, Puchalski retired junior Crystal Wilson on a hard-hit fly ball to left, ending the BGSU threat.
Central put an insurance run on the board in the seventh inning, as Lindsay Horvath walked and took second on a Stephens bunt. Horvath moved to third on a groundout, then scored on de la Vega's double that fell in front of a diving Kandice Machain in centerfield.
Puchalski surrendered a one-out double to freshman Sam Moore in the bottom of the seventh, but struck out the last two batters to end the game. Puchalski allowed only four hits in improving her record to 7-5 on the year, walking two and striking out 13.
Houle walked four batters and fanned three in her complete-game five-hit effort, but saw her record fall to 4-7. All four of BGSU's hits in the game were doubles.
In the second game, Manson again drew a walk, and again came around to score. After BGSU senior Jessie Milosek induced McCormack to hit an infield popup, Brander singled to move Manson to second base, and an infield hit by Skuta loaded the bases. Hamilton's infield grounder was mishandled for an error, allowing two runs to score. BGSU averted further damage when Horvath's attempt at a sacrifice turned into a double play, as Horvath was out at first and Skuta was gunned down attempting to score.
The two runs proved to be all that pitcher Jenni Rasmussen would need, as she took a perfect game into the fifth. CMU gave her more support with a run in the second inning and another in the fifth.
In the second, Christin Sobeck drew a one-out walk, took second on de la Vega's groundout, and scored when Manson's bloop hit landed just inside the left-field line for a double.
The Chippewas extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth. McCormack reached on a one-out error, but pinch-runner Melissa Luplow was retired on Brander's fielder's choice. Skuta tripled to right-center, though, to plate Brander with CMU's second unearned run of the game.
BGSU finally got a baserunner in the bottom of the fifth, as Rosemeier singled off the glove of pitcher Rasmussen. One batter later, the Falcons put runners on first and second after a CMU error, but the threat ended there.
Central scored twice more in the seventh inning, as McCormack had a one-out infield single and took third on Brander's double. Both runners scored on Skuta's single to left.
The Falcons got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh, as Voshell and Rosemeier began the inning with sharp singles to leftfield. After a groundout advanced pinch-runners Murphy and Liz Tuza, senior Holly Frantz hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Murphy. But, Rasmussen got a grounder to short for the final out.
Rasmussen allowed just three hits in moving her record to 7-3. She struck out four Falcons and did not walk a batter.
Milosek allowed eight hits and four earned runs, falling to 5-3 on the year. She walked two batters in the complete-game effort.
At the plate, Skuta had a game-high three hits and three RBI, while Brander had two hits and scored three runs for the Chippewas. Rosemeier had two of the three BGSU hits, while Murphy scored both of BG's runs in the twinbill.
The teams will return to the BGSU Softball Field for a single game Sunday (April 7), beginning at 1:00 p.m.
