Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
AKRON
Wilson's Grand Slam Sparks Falcon Win, DH Split
April 19, 2003 | Softball
April 19, 2003
Final Stats - Game One
Final Stats - Game Two
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Senior Crystal Wilson's grand slam capped a six-run third inning as the Bowling Green State University softball team posted a 7-3 win over the University of Akron Saturday afternoon (April 19). The win gave the Falcons a split of the teams' doubleheader at the BGSU Softball Field. UA won the opening game, 4-3.
The Falcons are now 20-18-1 overall and 11-6 in MAC play. The game-one loss ended a school record-tying 10-game winning streak, all in league action, for the Brown and Orange. Akron is now 19-20 and 6-10, respectively.
In the first game, Akron rallied from a 3-0 deficit with two-out, extra-base hits in three of the final four innings. The Falcons broke on top when junior Jenifer Kernahan led off the second inning with a homerun to leftfield. For Kernahan, the homer was her third of the season and the sixth of her career.
BGSU increased the lead in the third inning off UA hurler Megan MacKenzie. Sophomore Kristen Anderson led off with a bloop single to left-center, but was forced out at second on a grounder by senior Kandice Machain. Freshman Lindsay Heimrich followed with a grounder to the pitcher's circle, but both runners were safe as the throw to second base went awry. Senior Libby Voshell drew a walk to load the bases, and freshman Gina Rango also drew a base on balls, forcing home Machain with the Falcons' second run.
The next hitter, Kernahan, hit a grounder to third, and UA third baseman Amy Garner threw home to force Heimrich for the second out. But, the throw to first in an attempt to get a double play sailed high and went into rightfield as Voshell scored.
Meanwhile, BGSU freshman Liz Vrabel had kept the Zips off the scoreboard in the first three innings, but UA finally broke through in the fourth. Sara Zilles, leading off the inning, hit an infield grounder on a 3-2 pitch, but the umpire had ruled an illegal pitch, giving Zilles a walk. The next hitter, Tracee McCoy, singled through the left side to move Zilles to second.
Vrabel retired the next two hitters, though, as Kerry Omerza popped up a bunt attempt and Garner hit a foul pop just wide of first base. But, Melissa Hurley came through, lining a triple into the gap in right-center to score a pair of runs.
Both pitchers kept their opponents off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. Vrabel had retired six consecutive batters since Hurley's triple, but Omerza hit a solo homer to centerfield to tie the game with two outs in the sixth.
An inning later, Kelly Quigley hit a two-out homer to left, giving the Zips a 4-3 lead. BGSU got a two-out double by Machain in the bottom of the inning, but could advance the runner no further as MacKenzie got the final out.
MacKenzie (9-10) allowed seven hits and just one earned run in her complete-game effort, walking two batters and striking out four. Vrabel surrendered four runs and five hits in a complete-game outing of her own, walking one batter and striking out eight. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Vrabel.
At the plate, Machain had three of the Falcons' seven hits, while Wilson was 2-for-3. Five different UA players had one hit apiece.
In the nightcap, the Zips got on the scoreboard quickly. Zilles drew a one-out walk against Falcon starter McKenna Houle in the top of the first, and McCoy followed with a triple to left-center to give UA a 1-0 lead.
The score remained the same until the third inning, when the Falcons exploded for the team's biggest inning of the season to date. BGSU sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run third.
Redshirt sophomore Marla Murphy led off the inning with a single to shallow left off UA hurler Tina McCauley, and Machain successfully sacrificed her to second base. Then, Heimrich hit a fly ball to right which was dropped for a two-base error, with Murphy coming around to score on the play. Voshell and Rango drew back-to-back walks to load the bases, and Kernahan laid down a bunt down the first-base line. UA first baseman Quigley charged the ball, but had no play, and Kernahan reached for a single as Heimrich scored the go-ahead run. Then, Wilson came to the plate.
The senior leftfielder clubbed a McCauley offering over the left-field fence for her second career homer and first career grand slam, giving the Brown and Orange a 6-1 lead.
Akron looked to narrow the gap in the fourth, but the Zips were thwarted by some nifty BG defense. With one out, Hurley was hit by a pitch, and Garner followed by driving a ball to the wall in center for a double. But, centerfielder Machain's throw to the infield prevented Hurley from scoring on the play.
With runners on second and third, Quigley's hard-hit ball seemed ticketed for rightfield, but first baseman Heimrich speared the grounder and retired Quigley as the runners were forced to hold. Houle then got Aaren McBride to hit a grounder back to the circle for the third out.
UA did break through, however, in the fifth. Becky Santo and Becky Stern had back-to-back singles to start the inning, and junior Jody Johnson replaced Houle. Johnson walked Zilles to load the bases, then walked McCoy to force in a run. She then induced Omerza to hit an infield popup for the first out, but Hurley singled to centerfield to score Stern. On the play, however, Machain fielded the ball on one hop and fired a strike to catcher Kernahan, who blocked the plate as the ball arrived a split-second before Zilles. The UA runner was out on the play, and Johnson got a Garner foul pop for the third out, keeping the BG lead at 6-3.
The Falcons got another run in the sixth. Machain led off with a single, her fourth hit of the day, and Heimrich bunted her over to second. Voshell hit a grounder to third, and the Zips had Machain trapped off second, but the throw to second was mishandled for an error, and BG had runners on first and third. Rango drilled a liner that was caught by the leftfielder for the second out, but Kernahan's line-drive was inches too high for McCoy to grab, and the ball skimmed off the top of her glove into shallow right as Machain scored.
Johnson set the Zips down in order in the top of the seventh to clinch the win.
Houle picked up the victory, improving to 2-6 on the year. The senior allowed three runs and four hits in four-plus innings of work, walking a pair of batters. Johnson got her second save of the year with three innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. She issued two walks and had one strikeout.
McCauley (9-9) took the complete-game loss for Akron, allowing seven runs (five earned) and nine hits in six innings. She issued five walks and had two strikeouts.
At the plate, Kernahan had two of the Falcons' nine hits, with seven other players picking up a hit apiece. The only BG player in the starting lineup without a hit was Voshell, but she drew a pair of walks and scored a run. Five different UA players had one hit apiece.
The Falcons will return to action with a Tuesday (April 22) non-conference doubleheader at Oakland University, with game one scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. The Brown and Orange then will return home, and will return to MAC play, with a Wednesday (April 23) single game vs. the University of Toledo. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the BGSU Softball Field.
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