Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Chippewas Squeak Past Falcons, 3-2
May 09, 2004 | Softball
May 9, 2004
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Central Michigan University scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh inning to down the Bowling Green State University softball team Sunday afternoon (May 9). The Mid-American Conference game, the final regular-season contest for both teams, was held at the BGSU Softball Field.
With the win, the Chippewas are now 32-15 overall and 21-3 in MAC play. The Falcons drop to 29-27 and 13-11, respectively.
Despite the loss, BGSU has qualified for the MAC Tournament , which begins on Thursday (May 13) at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. The Falcons will be the sixth seed for the six-team, double-elimination tournament, and will open against third-seeded Western Michigan at 11:00 a.m. Thursday.
In Sunday's game, things did not start well for the Falcons. On the first pitch of the game, Central's Karen Hohs hit a bouncer that BG starting pitcher Jody Johnson went high to grab. But, Johnson's throw to first was high, allowing Hohs to reach safely. She took second on a wild pitch, then advanced to third on Brittany Decker's single.
Johnson got Lindsay Calme on a swinging strikeout, but Hohs was able to score on Aimee Smith's grounder to the right side. Johnson then threw a third strike past Christin Sobeck to end the inning.
The Chippewas doubled the lead in the third, as Calme reached on a bloop single to right, then scored on Sobeck's two-out double to the wall in right. Sobeck took third on the relay throw home in an attempt to get Calme at the plate. The next batter, Christan Dhondt, hit a grounder to second base as Sobeck broke for home. But, freshman second baseman Megan McPherson and sophomore first baseman Lindsay Heimrich teamed up for a nifty defensive play on both ends, as McPherson gloved and quickly threw to beat Dhondt's headfirst slide to the bag, ending the inning.
Meanwhile, CMU starter Amber Puchalski was making a bid for a no-hitter. After allowing a leadoff walk to Falcon freshman Jeanine Baca in the first inning, Puchalski retired the next nine batters.
However, after Johnson retired the Chippewas in order in the fourth, freshman Emmy Ramsey led off the bottom of the inning with a bunt single that stayed fair along the third-base line. Heimrich followed with a bunt of her own, and both runners were safe as Ramsey beat Puchalski's throw to second.
The next hitter, sophomore Gina Rango, hit a hard bouncer back toward the circle. Puchalski was able to get a glove on it, but the ball deflected slowly toward shortstop Stephanie Crews, who did not have a play at any base.
Puchalski, though, got junior Kristen Anderson to pop up for the first out, then got a strikeout of senior Jenifer Kernahan. With sophomore Abby Habicht at the plate, Puchalski uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Ramsey to score. On catcher Calme's throw to the plate, the ball arrived at the same time as Ramsey, and bounced toward the backstop. Calme again tracked down the ball and flipped it toward Puchalski, but this time, the ball hit a BG player as Heimrich slid home. The ball bounced away again, and Rango also slid home safely. But, after the three umpires huddled, Heimrich was ruled out due to interference. When the dust had settled, the inning was over with the Falcons trailing, 2-1.
But, Johnson set the Chippewas down in order in both the fifth and the sixth, and the Brown and Orange knotted the score in the bottom of that sixth frame. Baca led off with a single, and took second on Ramsey's sac bunt. She scored the tying run when Heimrich singled to center. The throw home was high, and Calme made a leaping catch, hitting Baca as she did so. But, Baca's dive to touch the plate beat Calme's diving tag try, and the game was tied.
Heimrich took second on the throw home, but Puchalski got a called third strike of Rango for the second out. Then, Anderson hit a fly ball down the left-field line, but leftfielder Decker made a sliding catch to end the inning.
Johnson had retired 10 consecutive batters, but , the Chippewas' Jacque Benedict led off the seventh inning with a single, and took third on Crews' grounder to third. The next hitter, Hansen, grounded out to Kernahan. Benedict broke for home on the throw to first base, however, and was ruled safe ahead of catcher Habicht's tag.
Johnson got out of the inning without further damage, and Kernahan led off the bottom of the seventh. She worked a full count against Puchalski, then fouled off five consecutive pitches. On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, an inside throw hit her to give BG a leadoff baserunner.
Habicht successfully bunted pinch-runner Marla Murphy to second base, giving the Falcons a runner in scoring position with one out. But, Puchalski got a called third strike against the next two hitters to close out the game.
Puchalski improved to 21-7 with the complete-game four-hitter, allowing two runs. She walked one batter and hit one batter, striking out eight.
Johnson took the loss, despite allowing only one earned run and five hits. Johnson issued two walks and struck out four CMU hitters, but saw her record fall to 12-8.
At the plate, five different Chippewas and four Falcons had a hit apiece, with the top-four hitters in the BG lineup each recording one hit. Baca had a hit, a run scored and a walk, while Ramsey scored the Falcons' other run. Heimrich had BGSU's lone RBI on the day.
As mentioned, the Falcons will be the sixth seed for the MAC Tournament, and will open league tourney play vs. third-seeded WMU at 11:00 a.m. Thursday. The BGSU-Western winner will return to the diamond to face second-seeded Kent State in the third game that day, tentatively scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
NOTES
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