Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
BALL STATE
Falcons Sweep Ball State, Run Streak To Eight
April 12, 2003 | Softball
April 12, 2003
Final Stats - Game One
Final Stats - Game Two
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Bowling Green State University softball team, fresh off a perfect 6-0 homestand, headed to Ball State University and posted a pair of road wins Saturday afternoon (April 12). The Falcons downed the Cardinals by scores of 1-0 and 9-4 at the BSU Softball Complex.
With the victories, the Falcons improve to 17-17-1 overall and 8-5 in Mid-American Conference play. BGSU has now won a season-high eight consecutive games. Ball State drops to 9-16-1 and 5-6-1, respectively.
The first game matched two of the MAC's top freshmen pitchers in BGSU's Liz Vrabel and Ball State's Quincy Duran. Both hurlers were up to the task, as neither allowed an earned run in the game.
The Cardinals put a pair of runners aboard on back-to-back BGSU errors in the second inning. Those were the only Falcon miscues of the game. With runners on first and second, Vrabel got a strikeout of BSU's Crystal Newton for the first out of the inning. Then, Jodi Willis hit a liner in foul territory, and sophomore rightfielder Stephanie Finkel made a running stab of the ball. Kerrie Campbell then hit a soft liner to second baseman Abby Habicht to retire the side.
Despite that rally, the Cards remained hitless until the fourth, when Janice Campbell hit a bloop double down the left-field line with two outs. Campbell was stranded at second base as Vrabel got a groundout to end the inning.
BGSU finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth. Freshman Lindsay Heimrich started the rally with a one-out infield single, but was retired on a grounder by senior Libby Voshell for the second out. But, freshman Gina Rango singled up the middle to move Voshell to second, and junior Jennifer Kernahan's grounder was bobbled by BSU shortstop Katie Shea. Shea's hurried toss to second base was off-target and bounced away as Voshell came around to score.
The Cardinals, held to one hit through the first five innings, picked up three safeties in the sixth. But, Vrabel and her teammates kept the hosts off the scoreboard.
In that inning, Mandy Snyder beat out a dribbler toward third base for a one-out single, and Shea then singled up the middle. Vrabel got a strikeout of Ruth Hjelmeland for the second out, after a long at-bat (and a long foul ball). Then, however, Janice Campbell singled sharply to left to load the bases. But, Vrabel got Newton to hit a grounder to second base for the third out. Vrabel set the Cardinals down in the seventh for the win.
The complete-game shutout was the fifth of the season for Vrabel, who improved to 10-6 on the season. She allowed only four hits and one walk in the game, striking out six. Duran took the loss despite giving up only five hits and no earned runs in her complete-game effort. She struck out one Falcon batter and did not issue a walk, but dropped to 5-9.
Five different Falcons collected hits in the game, with Voshell and senior Crystal Wilson picking up doubles. Janice Campbell had two of Ball State's four hits in the game.
The second game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Cardinals breaking on top first. The Falcons actually had the first threat of the game, as Rango doubled off the wall in right to lead off the second inning. But, on Kernahan's single to center, Rango was called out attempting to score.
In the bottom of that inning, Hjelmeland led off with a single, her first of four hits in the game. One out later, Darla Dewig reached on a BG error, with the runners winding up on second and third. Falcon starter McKenna Houle got an infield grounder off the bat of Kerrie Campbell, with the runners forced to hold. But, Willis hit a seeing-eye grounder through the right side of the BG infield, with both runners scoring. The Cards had their first runs, and their first lead, of the day.
That lead was short-lived, however, as the Falcons put up a three-spot in the top of the third. Senior Kandice Machain drew a one-out walk off Cortney Winger, who had entered the game to start the third after Duran threw two scoreless innings. Winger got a grounder for the second out, but Voshell then drew a walk, and Rango drilled a Winger offering over the fence in left-center to give the Falcons the lead. The homer was the fourth of the season for Rango.
BSU rallied, however, reclaiming the lead in the bottom of the inning. Snyder had a one-out single, and Shea drew a walk. Junior Jody Johnson replaced Houle for the Falcons, but Hjelmeland greeted her with an RBI single to center, scoring Snyder. Then, Janice Campbell drew a walk to load the bases, and Shea then scored on a wild pitch. But, Johnson got Dewig to fly out and Kerrie Campbell to strike out to avoid further damage.
The Cards threatened to increase the lead in the fourth, as Britni Clark and Kris Burdine drew back-to-back walks. Snyder's grounder to third base resulted in an error as the Falcons tried to force Clark, and the bases were loaded with one out. But, Shea hit a liner right at shortstop Voshell, who tossed the ball to third baseman Rango to double up Clark and end the threat.
Then, BGSU took the lead in the fifth. With one out, Machain beat out an infield single. Heimrich then singled, and Voshell drew a walk to load the bases. Rango's grounder, however, resulted in a force play at the plate for the second out. But, Kernahan came through with a two-out, two-run single to give BG a 5-4 lead.
Falcon sophomore Kristen Anderson relieved Johnson with two outs in the fifth and got the final out, then set the Cards down in the sixth, and the teams headed to the seventh inning with BG still clinging to a tenuous one-run lead. But, the Falcons would give Anderson some breathing room.
BG struck for four runs in the top of the seventh. Machain began with a single off the first baseman's glove, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Heimrich. Then, Voshell singled to center to plate Machain, and Rango's infield single moved pinch-runner Marla Murphy to second, as the BSU shortstop had no play at first and threw to second a split-second too late. The next batter, Kernahan, drew a walk to load the bases, and Wilson then ripped a double over centerfielder Hjelmeland's head to score two teammates. Junior Valerie Tipton's RBI groundout scored Kernahan with the game's final run.
Rango led the Falcons at the plate with three of BG's 10 hits. Rango, 3-for-4 in the game, scored two runs and had three RBI. Machain and Kernahan each had a pair of hits, with Machain scoring twice. Voshell had a hit and two walks, scoring twice, while both Kernahan and Wilson had a pair of RBI.
For the Cardinals, Hjelmeland had two-thirds of the team's hits with a 4-for-4 performance. Willis had a hit and two RBI.
All three Falcon pitchers threw two-and-a-third innings in the game. Johnson, the second hurler, picked up the win to improve to 4-4. She allowed no runs and two hits, walking four batters and fanning one. Anderson got her first save of the season with one-hit relief. She faced just one batter over the minimum in her stint, striking out two batters without issuing a walk. Houle had allowed three hits and four runs (only two earned), walking one and whiffing one.
For the Cards, Winger took the loss in relief, allowing nine runs and eight hits in five innings. She walked four and fanned two in falling to 4-5. Duran allowed two hits and a walk in her two innings, striking out one.
The Falcons and Cardinals will conclude their three-game weekend series with a single game Sunday (April 13) in Muncie, beginning at 1:00 p.m. locally (2:00 p.m. Eastern). The game is scheduled to be broadcast by BSU's WCRD radio, and can be heard through the BSU athletics web site, www.ballstatesports.com.
NOTES
WEST DIVISION Central Michigan ...... 8-3 .728 Northern Illinois ..... 5-2 .714 Western Michigan ...... 8-4 .667 Bowling Green ......... 8-5 .615 Ball State ............ 5-6-1 .458 Toledo ................ 3-10 .231 Eastern Michigan ...... 1-7 .125EAST DIVISION Marshall .............. 13-2 .867 Kent State ............ 8-4 .667 Miami ................. 7-7 .500 Akron ................. 5-7 .417 Buffalo ............... 2-6 .250 Ohio .................. 2-11-1 .179
