Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
SETON HALL
Seton Hall Sweeps Falcons, 6-3 And 2-1
March 14, 2003 | Softball
March 14, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Seton Hall University's Laura Taylor, the nation's leader in homeruns last season, homered in each game as the Pirates swept the Bowling Green State University softball team in a Friday (March 14) doubleheader. The Pirates won the games, part of the Cavalier Classic, by scores of 6-3 and 2-1.
With the wins, Seton Hall improves to 4-2 on the season, while the Falcons drop to 6-7-1. BGSU has dropped three consecutive games.
In the opener, Pirate hurler Christina Shanko (3-0) held the Falcons to only three hits, but two of those BG hits were homers. Both senior Libby Voshell and junior Jenifer Kernahan went deep in the game.
Voshell started the scoring, hitting her solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the first. But, the Pirates would rally with four runs off senior McKenna Houle (0-3) in the third inning.
In that third frame, SHU had two batters hit by pitches and another drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Then, Mary Carroll Smith hit a two-run double to give the Pirates the lead for good, and D'arcy Djakalovic followed with a two-run single. Freshman Lindsay Heimrich replaced Houle and got a strikeout to end the inning.
The Falcons rallied within a run in the fourth. Freshman Gina Rango hit a one-out double, and Kernahan promptly homered to right, cutting the Seton Hall lead to 4-3.
Heimrich pitched two scoreless innings before allowing a run in the sixth. SHU's Meg Berry doubled, and pinch-hitter Katie Flynn singled to score pinch-runner Akoua Lonergan. After Flynn was caught stealing, junior Jody Johnson replaced Heimrich and retired the next two batters to end the inning. The Pirates got a seventh-inning run on Taylor's two-out homer, and Shanko retired the side in the bottom of the inning for the win.
Shanko allowed three hits, all of the extra-base variety, in her complete-game effort. She walked one BG batter and struck out seven. Heimrich, the middle of the three BG pitchers, allowed three hits and one run in her two-and-two-thirds-innings stint. She struck out four batters and did not issue a walk.
The Pirates outhit the Brown and Orange by an 8-3 count, with Djakalovic and Berry each collecting a pair of hits.
In the nightcap, the Pirates got on the board first. Seton Hall, the home team in the second contest, broke on top with Taylor's leadoff homer in the second inning. Johnson, the Falcons' second-game starter, allowed two more hits in the inning, but worked out of a second-and-third, one-out jam. She got Tracy Myhren to hit a popup to the circle, then induced Lindsay Trottier to fly out to center.
The Falcons responded quickly, tying the game in the top of the third. Senior Kandice Machain drew a leadoff walk, and Rango reached base as the Pirates, attempting to cut down Machain at second, committed an error that resulted in runners on first and third. Junior Candace Fenton sacrificed Rango to second, but Machain was forced to hold at third. SHU starter Megan Meyer then got a strikeout, but Kernahan walked to load the bases, and Heimrich reached on an infield single that plated Machain. Meyer got a groundout to avert any further damage.
The game remained tied until the seventh. Meyer allowed only three hits the rest of the way, and Johnson worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the third, getting a strikeout and a groundout.
Freshman Liz Vrabel relieved Johnson to start the fourth inning, and retired the first eight batters she faced before allowing a two-out walk in the sixth. She fanned the next hitter to end the threat.
In the seventh, however, Myhren led off with a double -- the only hit Vrabel would allow in her three-and-two-thirds innings of work. Trottier reached on a fielder's choice, as pinch-runner Caitlin White was safe at third, and Trottier then stole second. But, the Falcons then cut down White at home on a grouonder by McKenzie Richards. Richards and Trottier took second and third, respectively, on the fielder's choice. Vrabel struck out Djakalovic for the second out, but Katie Pierce's grounder to short resulted in an error as Trottier scored the winning run.
Seton Hall held a 5-4 advantage in the hits department in the second game. Heimrich, with a 2-for-3 performance, was the lone player to have a multi-hit contest.
Meyer (1-2) got the win for the Pirates, allowing only one unearned run and four hits in her complete-game effort. She had three walks and four strikeouts.
For the Brown and Orange, Johnson allowed a run on four hits in her three innings, walking two and fanning three. Vrabel allowed just the one hit and one unearned run, but suffered the loss to drop to 4-2. She walked one and struck out four.
Vrabel has now gone 20 innings, spanning six appearances, without allowing an earned run. In those 20 frames, the freshman has allowed a total of just eight hits while walking six hitters and recording 22 strikeouts.
In seven of her eight appearances this season, Vrabel has not allowed an earned run.
In Friday's other action in the Cavalier Classic, the host University of Virginia swept Stony Brook by scores of 4-1 and 11-1 (second game five innings). The tournament continues Saturday (March 15), as the Falcons face Stony Brook in a noon doubleheader. Then, BGSU will meet the host Cavaliers in a Sunday (March 16) twinbill, with the first game starting at 11:00 a.m.
