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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
BALL STATE
BG Completes Sweep at Ball State, 5-2
April 13, 2003 | Softball
April 13, 2003
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Bowling Green State University softball team scored three runs in the third inning en route to a 5-2 victory over Ball State University Sunday afternoon (April 13). The win completed a sweep of the teams' three-game weekend series at the BSU Softball Complex.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 18-17-1, moving over the .500 mark for the first time since March 15, and BGSU is now 9-5 in MAC play. The Falcons' nine-game conference winning streak ties the school record for a single season. The Cardinals drop to 9-17-1 and 5-7-1, respectively.
Freshman Liz Vrabel picked up her fifth consecutive win, moving her record to 11-6 on the year. She allowed just one earned run and seven hits, walking one batter and striking out one in her 13th complete-game effort of the season.
BGSU broke on top in the second inning. Junior Jenifer Kernahan drew a leadoff walk, and a sacrifice bunt by senior Crystal Wilson gave the Falcons a runner on second base with one out. Sophomore Stephanie Finkel singled Kernahan to third, but Finkel was caught stealing for the second out. But, freshman Abby Habicht won a long battle with BSU pitcher Quincy Duran, fouling off several pitches before depositing a bloop double into shallow rightfield to plate Kernahan with the game's first run.
The Falcons got three more runs in the third inning. Senior Kandice Machain led off with a single, but was erased on a grounder by freshman Lindsay Heimrich. Senior Libby Voshell hit a grounder to short, but her toss to second base was dropped, with both runners reaching safely on the error. Then, freshman Gina Rango hit a fly ball to deep leftfield. BSU leftfielder Mandy Snyder, battling the sun, was unable to make the play as the ball dropped for a run-scoring single. Heimrich came around to score, with Voshell taking second base.
After Kernahan hit a fly ball to right for the second out, senior Crystal Wilson hit a grounder up the middle. BSU second baseman Janice Campbell made a diving stop behind the bag, but had no play as the Falcons loaded the bases for Finkel. The sophomore made the most of her chance, with a two-run single to right-center to plate Voshell and Rango and give BG a 4-0 lead.
Ball State got a run back in the fourth, as Darla Dewig doubled to score Ruth Hjelmeland, and the Cards scored again in the fifth inning. In the fifth, a pair of Falcon errors, sandwiched around back-to-back sac bunts, led to the unearned run. BGSU made a season-high four errors in the game.
Machain answered for the Brown and Orange in the sixth, however, clouting a two-out, opposite-field homer to leftfield to complete the scoring.
BSU did not go without a fight, putting three runners on base with two singles and a walk in the bottom of the seventh. But, Vrabel got Janice Campbell to hit a slow roller toward first for the final out of the game.
Duran took the loss for the Cardinals, dropping to 5-10 on the season. She allowed six hits and four runs (only one earned) in three innings, walking one batter. Amy Brownfield pitched the final four innings, allowing a run on three hits. Brownfield struck out three Falcons and did not walk a batter.
At the plate, Machain had three hits as the Falcons held a 10-7 advantage in that department. Rango and Finkel each had a pair of hits, with Finkel recording the lone two-RBI game. Each of the top-five batters in the Falcon batting order scored a run.
Seven different players had hits for the Cardinals.
The Falcons now return home for a three-game series against the University of Akron. BG and UA will play a single game Friday (April 18), beginning at 3:30 p.m., followed by a Saturday (April 19) doubleheader, starting at 1:00 p.m., at the BGSU Softball Field.
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