Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MICHIGAN
Late Uprising Leads To BGSU Second-Game Win, Split With Michigan
March 25, 2003 | Softball
March 25, 2003
Final Stats - Game One
Final Stats - Game Two
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University softball team, held scoreless for over 12 innings of Tuesday's (March 25) doubleheader, erupted for three sixth-inning runs to capture a 3-1, second-game win over the nationally-ranked University of Michigan and a split of the twinbill. The visiting Wolverines won the opener by a 4-0 count at the BGSU Softball Field.
The Falcons are now 9-12-1 on the season, while U-M, ranked #14 in the nation, is 16-7. BGSU's second-game victory snapped a Michigan 10-game win streak.
Freshman Liz Vrabel picked up the win with a complete-game five-hitter. She allowed only one unearned run, walking three batters and striking out three in improving her record to 6-4.
Despite Vrabel's effort, the Falcons trailed, 1-0, heading to the bottom of the sixth. U-M starter Nicole Motycka (5-5) had allowed only one hit through the first five innings. In that sixth frame, however, redshirt sophomore Marla Murphy won a long battle with Motycka, drawing a leadoff walk. Freshman Lindsay Heimrich moved Murphy to second with a sacrifice bunt, bringing senior Kandice Machain to the plate. Machain singled to left, with Murphy scoring just ahead of the throw.
The next batter was senior Libby Voshell, and the Brighton, Mich., native lifted a long drive that caromed off the top of the right-field fence and bounced over for an opposite-field homerun.
Vrabel allowed a one-out single in the seventh, but got a pair of infield groundouts to end the game. The win snapped a nine-game U-M win streak in the series, and was the Falcons' first win over the Maize and Blue since April 8, 1992.
Voshell had two of the Falcons' five hits in the second game to complete a three-hit day. Both Voshell and freshman Gina Rango went 3-for-6 in the twinbill.
U-M's leading hitter, Melinda Moulden, went 2-for-4 in the nightcap, driving in the Wolverines' lone run with a third-inning double.
Motycka allowed three runs, all earned, and four hits before departing with one out in the sixth. She walked two batters and fanned three. Jennie Ritter got the final two outs of the sixth, allowing one hit.
In the opener, Michigan's Marissa Young was in command all the way in pitching a complete-game four-hitter. Young, now 10-0 on the season, struck out nine Falcons and did not walk a batter.
Falcon senior McKenna Houle, a native of Grass Lake, Mich., allowed only seven hits in her complete-game effort, but saw her record drop to 0-5. U-M turned walks into runs against Houle, as three of the Wolverines' four runs came as a result of bases on balls. Houle walked seven and whiffed three in the game.
U-M got on the board in the first inning, after one-out walks to Meghan Doe and Moulden. Cleanup hitter Monica Schock had an RBI single through the right side of the Falcons' infield.
In the third, Doe drew another walk, and was erased on a Moulden fielder's choice. Schock also walked, and Young helped her own cause with a two-run double to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
Michigan completed the scoring in the fourth. Moulden singled home pinch-runner Amy Prichard with two outs. On the play, Machain threw out Tiffany Haas at the plate to end the inning.
U-M held a 7-4 advantage in hits in the opening game, with Schock picking up two hits. Rango had two of the Falcons' four safeties, including a double.
The Falcons head right back to the BGSU Softball Field Wednesday (March 26), hosting Detroit in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.
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