Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Another Grand Day For Wilson As BGSU Blanks Toledo, 6-0
April 23, 2003 | Softball
April 23, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Freshman Liz Vrabel threw a one-hitter, and senior Crystal Wilson hit a grand slam for the second consecutive home game as the Bowling Green State University softball team downed the University of Toledo, 6-0, Wednesday afternoon (April 23). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the BGSU Softball Field.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 21-20-1 overall and 12-6 in MAC play, and BGSU moves into a virtual tie for first place in the MAC's West Division. Toledo drops to 7-30 overall and 4-16 in league play.
Vrabel took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and retired the first two batters before Jessica Horn hit a changeup through the left side of the Falcons' infield.
UT's Kim Pettitt pitched well for most of the game, allowing only two unearned runs through the first five innings. In fact, Pettitt had surrendered only one hit in those five frames, but that hit was a two-run single off the bat of BG freshman Abby Habicht in the second inning.
Habicht had the opportunity to drive in a pair of teammates after they reached base via UT errors in that second frame. Freshman Gina Rango led off the inning by reaching on an error by UT third baseman Audrina Marler. The Falcons and Rockets combined for seven errors in the game, all in the first three innings.
A sacrifice bunt attempt was popped up for the first out, but Rango then stole second with Wilson at the plate. Wilson then hit a soft liner to right that was misplayed for an error, allowing Wilson to reach first and Rango to take third. Pettitt got a strikeout for the second out, but Wilson stole second, and Habicht followed with the game's first hit, a single to center to score both baserunners.
Neither pitcher would allow another hit until the bottom of the sixth. Falcon senior Libby Voshell led off that inning by golfing a single just over third baseman Marler, and Rango followed with a single to left. The two runners advanced on a passed ball, before junior Jenifer Kernahan hit a sharp bouncer to Marler at third. Marler looked Voshell back to third, but had no play to first as her teammates were late to cover first base. With the bases loaded and no outs, Wilson came to the plate.
Wilson had totalled one homer in her first three-plus years prior to hitting a grand slam in BG's most recent home game, Saturday's (April 19) 7-3 win over Akron. She jumped on a Pettitt offering and hit it over the left-field fence, giving the Falcons a 6-0 lead.
From that point on, the only drama was Vrabel's no-hit bid. In the top of the seventh, leadoff hitter Gina Muratori, UT's leading hitter, jumped on a change-up and hit a popup to Voshell at short. The next batter, Jenny Schaaf, hit a liner that was speared by BG first baseman Lindsay Heimrich for the second out. Then, however, Horn ended the no-hit bid with her single, before Pettitt grounded out to end the game.
Vrabel did not walk a batter in the game, and faced only three hitters over the minimum. Three UT batters reached on BG errors, and one of those hitters was cut down trying to steal. Vrabel had five strikeouts in improving to 13-7 on the season.
Pettitt allowed only four hits and three earned runs, but saw her record drop to 3-19. She issued one walk and had four strikeouts.
In the West Division standings, the Falcons are now deadlocked with first-place Western Michigan (11-5 in MAC games) in terms of games back. WMU's .688 winning percentage puts the Broncos just ahead of BGSU (.667) and Central Michigan (10-5, .667). Northern Illinois, BG's weekend opponent, is fourth with a league record of 8-6 (.571) after splitting a Wednesday DH at Kent State (won 6-4, lost 8-7 in eight innings). The top-two teams in each division, plus the next two teams with the best records (in terms of winning pct.), will advance to the six-team MAC Tournament May 8-10 in Akron, Ohio.
BGSU closes out the road portion of the MAC schedule with a three-game series at NIU. The Falcons and Huskies will play a Saturday (April 26) doubleheader and a Sunday (April 27) single game, with action scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. locally (2:00 p.m. Eastern) at NIU's Mary M. Bell Field.
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