Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHWESTERN
BGSU Rallies for 5-4 Win over Nationally-Ranked Northwestern
March 06, 2005 | Softball
March 6, 2005
FULLERTON, Calif. - Trailing, 4-0, in the fifth inning, the Bowling Green State University softball team rallied for a 5-4 win over nationally-ranked Northwestern University Sunday (March 6). The game marked the Falcons' final contest in the Worth Invitational.
With the victory, the Falcons improve to 1-9 on the year, while the Wildcats drop to 13-6. Northwestern, ranked 23rd and 25th in the national polls, was coming off a win over third-ranked Stanford Saturday night.
"Obviously, getting this win was huge for us," said Falcon head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw. "We really struggled against Oregon State in the NCAA Regionals back in May, and we have been seeing that caliber of competition in every game.
"We have been telling our kids that they belong on the field with these teams, but we just needed to go out and play the way I know we can. Today, we put it all together."
The Falcons scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, then won the game on junior Lindsay Heimrich's two-out, two-run single in the seventh.
The Wildcats scored first, in the top of the first inning as Garland Cooper drew a two-out walk, and Kristen Amegin homered for a two-run lead. Teammate Erin Mobley upped the lead to 3-0 with a solo shot in the third inning.
In the fourth frame, Darcy Sengewald tripled home Jamie Dotson for a four-run Wildcat advantage.
BGSU got back in the game with three runs in the fifth inning. The first run came when sophomore Megan McPherson singled and came around to score on a double by classmate Jeanine Baca. Baca and soph Emmy Ramsey each would score in the inning, aided by a pair of NU errors.
In the seventh, Northwestern strung together three-straight singles to load the bases with no outs against junior Liz Vrabel. But, Vrabel responded with back-to-back strikeouts, before getting Dotson to pop up and end the threat, leaving BG behind by just one run.
In the bottom of the seventh, McPherson singled off Northwestern starter Courtnay Foster, but Foster then got a pair of grounders for two outs. Junior Gina Rango then singled, however, before Heimrich plated the tying and winning runs with her game-ending single.
Vrabel picked up the win in relief to improve to 1-4 on the year. Foster surrendered three earned runs and seven hits, walking two and striking out five.
Heimrich and McPherson had two hits apiece for the Brown and Orange, while Mobley had three hits and Katie Logan two for the Wildcats.
"Despite our losses (earlier in the Worth Invitational), we really haven't played that poorly," said Ross-Shaw. "There have been no easy games, though, as we have been facing some of the top teams in the nation.
"It just seems like something has been off. We have been getting solid pitching and defensive play, but our hitting has been off. Then, last night (against Nevada), the hitting came around, but we struggled in other areas.
"We have been trying to stay positive, however, and today we put it all together and came back to beat a very good Northwestern team."
THe Falcons now head to Las Vegas for seven games in the Eller Media Stadium Classic, beginning with a pair of Thursday (March 10) games, vs. North Carolina State and host UNLV.
