Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Falcons Put It All Together in Sweep of Northern Illinois, 11-0 and 4-0
April 24, 2004 | Softball
April 24, 2004
Final Stats -- Game One
Final Stats -- Game Two
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - When good pitching, good hitting and good fielding come together, the results are usually ... well, good. That was certainly the case for the Bowling Green State University softball team Saturday afternoon (April 24), as the Falcons got a pair of complete-game shutouts and a total of 16 hits in sweeping Northern Illinois University by scores of 11-0 (five innings) and 4-0. The Mid-American Conference doubleheader was held at the BGSU Softball Field.
With the wins, the Falcons improve to 23-23 overall and 10-7 in MAC play, while dropping the Huskies to 12-34 and 4-12, respectively.
Sophomore Liz Vrabel threw a one-hitter in the opening game, while senior Jody Johnson spun a two-hitter in the second contest. In the opener, sophomore Gina Rango homered in each of the first two innings, as the Falcons had four extra-base hits in that game.
Senior Jenifer Kernahan doubled in each game, with her two-run two-bagger capping the scoring in the second game.
In addition to pitching and hitting, the Falcons got a solid defensive effort as well, putting together back-to-back errorless games for just the third time this season.
The Falcons got on the board quickly in game one, batting around in the first inning. NIU starter Kathy Dearborn got a strikeout to open the game, but the next five batters would reach base.
Freshman Emmy Ramsey beat out a grounder to shortstop, and continued to second base when the throw skipped past the first baseman. She took third on a passed ball, and came home to score easily when sophomore Lindsay Heimrich doubled to centerfield.
Then, Rango unloaded on a Dearborn pitch for a long homerun to left. The two-run shot was her seventh of the season, setting a new school record, and put the Falcons ahead by three.
 Sophomore Liz Vrabel threw a one-hitter in Saturday's first game ...  |
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 ... while senior Jody Johnson threw a two-hit shutout in the nightcap |
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BGSU kept the offense coming in the second inning. Ramsey reached when her grounder to short was bobbled, and Heimrich replaced her at first base with a fielder's choice grounder for the second out. With two outs, Rango went deep again, with her second homer in as many innings and her eighth of the year. This ball cleared the wall in center, just to the left of the flagpole, and put the Falcons ahead by a 5-0 count.
The hit parade continued in the third, as the first six runners of the inning reached base safely. Kernahan led off the third with a line double to the wall in left-center, chasing Dearborn. Sophomore Abby Habicht worked Huskie reliever Amy West for a walk, and Finkel's sharp single to left loaded the bases with no outs. McPherson hit a grounder toward first, and everyone was safe as first baseman Toni Del Toro bobbled the ball, with Kernahan scoring the Falcons' sixth run.
Another run scored, in the person of Habicht, as freshman Jeanine Baca singled to left. Ramsey worked West for a walk to put the Falcons up by eight.
It just wasn't the Huskies' game. Even when things went well for NIU, BG still found ways to score. After Ramsey's walk, West got Heimrich to hit into a double play, with Habicht scoring. The Huskies, however, started to head off the field, thinking the inning was over, and Baca came all the way around from second to score on the play.
In the fourth, freshman Kari Steigerwald led off with a pinch-hit single, and moved to third base on back-to-back pitches, a passed ball and a wild pitch. She scored on freshman Natalie Armintrout's grounder to put the Falcons ahead by 11 runs.
Meanwhile, Vrabel was in command the whole way. The Falcon sophomore allowed only a first-inning single to Kelly Redican, striking out 10 batters in her five-inning complete game. Vrabel issued two walks in improving to 12-12 on the year.
Dearborn (5-16) took the loss, allowing six runs (four earned) and six hits before leaving after facing one batter in the third inning. West pitched two innings, allowing five runs (only two earned) and three hits. Both NIU pitchers walked two batters and struck out one.
At the plate, Rango was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four runs batted in, while Kernahan also had a two-hit game, with a double and a single in three at-bats. Heimrich scored a pair of runs in the win.
The second game started more promising for the Huskies, as Therese Harper and Redican drew back-to-back walks off Johnson. But, the Falcon senior got a pair of force plays at third base, then threw a called third strike past Bernard to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first, Baca led off by reaching base on a nubber hit toward first, and a throwing error allowed her to take second. Huskie starter Amy Krahula got an out, but Heimrich drew a walk, and Rango's inside-out blooper landed just fair beyond the third-base bag to load the bases.
Krahula, however, got Anderson to pop up for the second out, but Kernahan hit three hard foul balls before drawing a run-scoring walk after a nine-pitch at-bat. The next hitter, Habicht, fouled off a number of pitches as well, before earning the Falcons' second-straight walk after a 10-pitch at-bat. Heimrich crossed the plate to give the Brown and Orange a two-run lead.
Johnson, meanwhile, settled down after her rocky start. After walking the first two hitters of the game, she got 10-straight outs before allowing her first hit, a one-out single by Lauren von Holst in the fourth inning. She then got a grounder for a force play, and got Lacey Gones on an inning-ending strikeout.
The Falcons added to the lead in the fifth. After singles by Heimrich and Anderson, Kernahan lofted a ball to the base of the wall in left-center. The two-run double doubled the BGSU lead to 4-0 and chased Krahula. Reliever Paige Granath retired the four batters she faced, but the damage had been done.
In the Huskie seventh, Johnson allowed a one-out single to Bernard, but got a pair of grounders to end the game. As mentioned, she allowed just two hits, striking out eight batters. Her two walks to open the game were the only free passes she issued in the game. Johnson improves her record to 8-7 on the season.
Krahula (5-11) allowed four runs and seven hits in four and two-thirds innings, walking four and striking out three. Granath's perfect inning-and-a-third included one strikeout.
Kernahan had three of the Falcons' four RBI in the game, and Heimrich scored two runs for the second consecutive game. Seven different Falcons, including the top-six hitters in the order, had a hit apiece.
The Falcons and Huskies are scheduled to complete the three-game weekend series Sunday (April 25), returning to the BGSU Softball Field for a single game beginning at 1:00 p.m.
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