Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Falcons On Losing End Of Nail-Biter And Blowout
April 26, 2003 | Softball
April 26, 2003
Final Stats - Game One
Final Stats - Game Two
DeKALB, Ill. - The games were totally different, but the results were the same, as host Northern Illinois University swept a doubleheader from the Bowling Green State University softball team Saturday afternoon (April 26). The Huskies won by scores of 1-0 (10 innings) and 13-2 (five innings) in the Mid-American Conference twinbill at Mary M. Bell Field.
With the victories, Northern improves to 20-18 overall and 10-6 in MAC action, and the Huskies move in front of the Falcons (in terms of winning percentage) in the MAC West Division. BGSU drops to 21-22-1 and 12-8, respectively.
The Falcons got another solid pitching effort from freshman Liz Vrabel in the opener. Vrabel allowed only four hits in nine-plus innings of work. She struck out eight Huskies and did not walk a batter, but was the hard-luck loser and drops to 13-8 on the year. Vrabel threw 82 strikes among her 129 pitches.
Early on, BGSU had several chances to score. The Falcons loaded the bases in the top of the first inning, on singles by seniors Kandice Machain and Libby Voshell and a two-out walk to junior Jenifer Kernahan. But, NIU starting pitcher Kathy Dearborn got a fly out to leftfield to end the inning.
The Huskies made a pitching change before the third inning, and BG put two runners on base against Paige Granath in that frame on a hit and a walk. Again, though, NIU got a fly-ball out to end the threat.
Northern's best threat of the first nine innings came in the third. Therese Harper and Amy Ligmanowski had back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, before Vrabel got a strikeout of Megan Meyer for the first out. But, Lisa Mattke bunted back toward the pitching circle, and was safe on a fielder's choice after Vrabel looked toward third, then threw too late to get Mattke. The bases were loaded with one out.
The Falcons' battery responded to the challenge, however. Vrabel got a strikeout of Kelly Redican, and on the third strike, catcher Kernahan's snap throw to third got the Falcons an inning-ending double play as third baseman Gina Rango applied the tag to Harper.
Neither team mounted a serious threat until Rango doubled to lead off the ninth. Kernahan sacrificed her to third base, prompting NIU to change pitchers again. Amy Krahula came on and got a pair of popups to end the threat.
In the bottom of the 10th, Kelly Drozd was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Toni Del Toro punched a ball past Rango and toward the left-field corner for a double, with Drozd holding at third. Senior McKenna Houle came on to replace Vrabel, and got Harper to hit a fly ball to left. Senior Crystal Wilson made the catch, and her throw home was on line as Drozd bluffed toward home, but headed back to third.
The next batter, Ligmanowski, hit a slow roller toward shortstop. Voshell grabbed the ball and fired it home, but Drozd slid in just under Kernahan's tag to give the Huskies the win.
Krahula got the win with an inning-and-two-thirds of scoreless relief. She had one strikeout. Granath had pitched six-and-a-third innings of three-hit, one-walk ball, and had three strikeouts. The starter, Dearborn, allowed two hits and a walk in two innings.
At the plate, Machain had the lone two-hit game for either side as the Falcons held a 5-4 advantage in that department. Both teams left seven runners on base in the game.
In the nightcap, the Falcons scored a first-inning run for a brief lead. Machain and freshman Lindsay Heimrich began the game with singles up the middle, and each moved up a base on Voshell's sacrifice bunt. Rango reached on a grounder to the left side of the infield to load the bases. The next batter, Kernahan, pushed a bunt toward first base, and was retired at first as Machain scored on the play.
But, the lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the first, a base hit, a hit batter and a double off of Houle tied the game and left runners on second and third with no outs. Then, Paige Shemoski hit a grounder to third, but the throw sailed high and went down the right-field line. Shemoski advanced all the way to third as two runners scored on the play. A double steal and an infield grounder each scored a run later in the inning, giving the Huskies a 5-1 lead.
It was more of the same in the second. A triple and a single began the inning for the Huskies, and brought in BG sophomore Kristen Anderson. She gave up a pair of singles to score another run, and a hit batsman with the bases loaded moved the lead to 8-1 for the hosts.
The Huskies blew the game wide open with a five-run third. The big blows were a Drozd double and a Del Toro homer, each of which scored two runs. Junior Jody Johnson moved from third base to pitcher and got the final out of the inning, but the damage had been done long before.
BG got a run in the fourth. Freshman Abby Habicht's two-out single scored Wilson, who had singled earlier in the inning. But, the Falcons could get no closer.
Krahula allowed two runs (one earned) and seven hits to get her second win of the day, imprivong to 11-7. She struck out five and did not allow a walk.
Houle dropped to 2-8 on the year, allowing seven runs (five earned) in an inning-plus. Anderson gave up six runs in an inning and two thirds, while Johnson got the final four outs, two by strikeout, and allowed one hit.
The Huskies pounded out 12 hits, with Mattke getting three. The Huskies' leadoff hitter scored three runs in the game, while four of her teammates scored two runs apiece. Drozd was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI, while three other Huskies had a pair of RBI.
Voshell went 2-for-2 with a sacrifice to lead BG's seven hit attack.
NIU, as mentioned, has moved past the Falcons in the MAC's West Division race. The Huskies are now 10-6, for a winning percentage of .625. BG is 12-8 (.600), as both teams trail co-leaders Central Michigan and Western Michigan (both 13-5, .722) by two games.
The teams will return to Mary M. Bell Field for a single game Sunday to complete the series. That game begins at 1:00 p.m. locally (2:00 p.m. Eastern).
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