Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
UIC
Flames, Errors Too Much For Falcons, 2-1
May 20, 2004 | Softball
May 20, 2004
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The University of Illinois at Chicago scored a pair of unearned runs, including one in the eighth inning, en route to a 2-1 win over the Bowling Green State University softball team Thursday night (May 20). The game, an elimination contest in the NCAA Region No. 6 Championship, was held at Alumni Field on the University of Michigan campus.
With the win, the Flames improve to 40-22 and remain alive in the regional. UIC will play a Friday (May 21) game at 5:30 p.m., against the loser of the Michigan-Notre Dame game scheduled for earlier Friday afternoon. The Falcons' season comes to an end at 34-30.
The Falcons got off to a much better start than in Thursday morning's game, a 7-0 loss to #18/20 Oregon State. Freshman Jeanine Baca led off the bottom of the first inning by hitting UIC starter Brittany McIntyre's first pitch over the left-field fence and into the BG bullpen. The homer was Baca's fifth of the season.
Freshman Emmy Ramsey reached base via a walk, and got as far as third base before being stranded there.
The Flames threatened to tie the score or take the lead in the top of the third against BG senior Jody Johnson. With one out, leadoff hitter Cameron Astiazaran singled off the glove of diving shortstop Jenifer Kernahan. The next hitter, Michelle Miller, laid down a sacrifice bunt, and was safe on a Falcon error, with Astiazaran moving to third. Sara Hernandez also reached on an infield error, with Astiazaran forced to hold at third. The bases were loaded with one out and cleanup hitter Amanda Rivera due up.
Rivera singled to center to plate the game-tying run. Then, however, Johnson got a strikeout of Alycia Creese, and got Nicole Shepard to hit a slow change-up that Baca caught in left-center to end the inning.
The Flames looked to take the lead when Joyce Cathey tripled with two outs in the fourth. The BG relay throw to third skipped away, but a leaping grab by Johnson kept the ball from going into the Falcon dugout and allowing the runner to score.
Then, Astiazaran walked, and Miller also drew a walk to load the bases for Sara Hernandez. She hit Johnson's first pitch to sophomore Gina Rango, who fielded the grounder and stepped on third base for the inning-ending force play.
Johnson allowed a one-out walk to Creese in the fifth, then threw a ball to Shepard. With that 1-0 count, the Falcons replaced Johnson with sophomore Liz Vrabel. Vrabel got Shepard to hit a grounder to shortstop to force pinch-runner Kathleen Mixan at second, for the second out. Shepard then stole second, but Vrabel got Elizabeth Jacoby to ground to third to end the inning.
The Falcons did not score in the bottom of the fifth, and UIC got a line-drive double off the bat of Astiazaran with two down in the sixth. But, Vrabel got Miller to hit a soft liner to Rango at third to end the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Lindsay Heimrich reached on a one-out walk, and took third when Rango doubled off the center-field wall. But, on a squeeze bunt attempt by junior Kristen Anderson, pinch-runner Marla Murphy was out at the plate for the second out, and McIntyre then got the inning-ending ground ball to third. The teams headed to the seventh inning with the score deadlocked.
In the top of that inning, Vrabel struck out a pair of batters, then got Creese to fly out to left. But, McIntyre retired the Falcons in order in the home half, sending the game to extra innings.
Jacoby hit a one-out bloop single for the Flames in the eighth. On Emily Stoddard's bunt back to the circle, the throw to first was low, allowing Stoddard to reach and Jacoby to take third. Then, the Flames went ahead as Kernahan fielded Cathey's chopper near the second-base bag. Kernahan stepped on second, but had no play at any other base, as Jacoby scored the go-ahead run. The run was the Flames' second unearned marker of the night, and the Falcons trailed for the first time in the game.
Vrabel recovered to get an inning-ending grounder to second, and the top of the order came up to bat for the Brown and Orange in the bottom of the inning.
Baca hit a liner that UIC rightfielder Shepard nearly misjudged, but reached up to grab for the first out. But, Ramsey hit the next pitch through the left side of the infield for a one-out single. Heimrich bunted Ramsey to second base, bringing Rango to the plate with two down. And, the Falcon sophomore ripped a 1-0 pitch off the third baseman's glove for a single. But, the ball was hit so hard that Ramsey could only advance as far as third base. Then, McIntyre got a grounder to first base for the final out.
McIntyre picked up the win to move to 11-6 on the year. She allowed one run and six BGSU hits, walking two and fanning one. Vrabel took the loss in relief, dropping to 15-16. She allowed just one unearned run and two hits in three and two-thirds innings. Vrabel struck out two batters and did not issue a walk.
In the final outing of her collegiate career, Johnson allowed just four hits and a single, unearned run in her four-and-one-third innings of work. Johnson walked three batters and struck out three.
Errors, as mentioned, were a big part of the Falcons' undoing. BG made four errors in the field, to UIC's one.
The Flames and Falcons each had six hits. Astiazaran went 2-for-4 for the visitors, while Rango had a pair of hits in four at-bats for the Brown and Orange. UIC left 11 runners on base, to BG's seven.
The game marked the final collegiate action for BGSU's three fourth-year players, Johnson, Kernahan and Murphy.
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