Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Vrabel One-Hits Akron In 6-1 Win
April 18, 2003 | Softball
April 18, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Freshman Liz Vrabel threw a one-hitter and senior Libby Voshell reached base in all four plate appearances as the Bowling Green State University softball team recorded a 6-1 victory over the University of Akron Friday afternoon (April 18). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the BGSU Softball Field.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 19-17-1 on the season and 10-5 in MAC play. The win was the 10th in a row for the Brown and Orange, tying a school record. Akron drops to 18-19 and 5-9, respectively.
The Zips got on the board quickly. Leadoff hitter Becky Stern bunted toward third base. BG freshman Gina Rango fielded the ball and threw toward first base, but no one was covering the bag. The ball sailed down the right-field line as Stern went all the way to third on the single and two-base error. The hit, however, proved to be Akron's last of the game.
Vrabel threw a called third strike past the next hitter, Sara Zilles, for the first of nine strikeouts on the day. But, with Tracee McCoy at the plate, a wild pitch enabled Stern to score and give UA the early lead.
The Falcons drew even with an unearned run of their own in the bottom of the second. Junior Jenifer Kernahan led off the inning and reached second base when her fly ball to right-centerfield was dropped for an error. Senior Crystal Wilson moved Kernahan to third base with a sacrifice bunt, but UA starting pitcher Tina McCauley got a foul pop for the second out. Freshman Abby Habicht came through, however, lining a single to center to score Kernahan and tie the game.
The Falcons took the lead for good in the third inning, with all the damage coming after the first two batters were out. Senior Kandice Machain's liner was speared by pitcher McCauley, and freshman Lindsay Heimrich doubled to right, but was out trying for third.
Voshell, who had singled in the first inning after a 10-pitch at-bat, had another lengthy plate appearance, fouling off several pitches before drawing a walk. Likewise, Gina Rango, who had had eight foul balls as part of a 12-pitch first-inning AB, fouled off a number of third-inning pitches before drawing a walk of her own. Then, Kernahan ripped a rising liner to straightaway center. The UA centerfielder could only watch the ball sail over her head and go to the wall as both Voshell and Rango scored.
The two RBI lifted Kernahan's season total to a team-high 23 on the year.
The Falcons had scoring chances in both the fourth and the fifth against UA reliever Megan MacKenzie, but could not increase the lead. In the fourth, sophomore Stephanie Finkel led off with a triple to the wall in right, but was stranded there.
In the fifth, MacKenzie walked the first three batters -- Heimrich, Voshell (10-pitch at-bat, five foul balls) and Rango (12-pitch AB, seven fouls) -- but then struck out the next three batters to thwart a golden opportunity for the Falcons.
The Brown and Orange had another chance in the sixth inning. This time, BGSU made the most of the opportunity.
Habicht led off the inning with a single, and Kristen Anderson's grounder to the right side of the infield moved pinch-runner Marla Murphy to second. Murphy took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Machain. Then, Heimrich drew a walk, and Voshell drilled a ball off the top of the wall in left-center for a run-scoring double. On the next pitch, Rango traded places with Voshell, doubling to left-center to drive home the Falcons' final run.
Meanwhile, Vrabel was mowing down Zip batters. After the first-inning run, UA had only two other runners, on a third-inning walk to Stern and a BG error in the fifth.
Following the first batter of the game, Vrabel retired the next eight batters before issuing the walk. Then, she got seven infield grounders, three popups that she herself fielded, and four strikeouts over the remainder of the game.
Vrabel allowed only two batters to hit balls out of the infield, on back-to-back plays in the second inning. UA's Kerry Omerza hit a soft liner to right for the first out of the second inning, and the next batter, Melissa Hurley, hit a popup that was caught by shortstop Voshell in shallow leftfield.
Vrabel, obviously, allowed only the one unearned run and one hit in her complete-game effort. She walked one batter and struck out nine, one shy of her season high in improving to 12-6.
Both McCauley and MacKenzie pitched three innings and allowed three runs and four hits. One run was unearned against starter McCauley, who walked two batters and struck out one in dropping to 9-8 on the year. MacKenzie had four walks and five strikeouts.
Voshell was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks for the Falcons, scoring two runs and driving in one. Habicht also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3. Five of BGSU's eight hits went for extra bases, on four doubles and a triple.
The teams return to the BGSU Softball Field Saturday (April 19) for a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.
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