Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Vrabel, Falcons Sweep Eastern Michigan, 4-1 and 8-0
April 16, 2005 | Softball
April 16, 2005
Game 1 Stats - BGSU 4, Eastern Michigan 1
Game 2 Stats - BGSU 8, Eastern Michigan 0 (5 inn.)
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Junior Liz Vrabel was stellar in the first game, and was nearly perfect in the second, as the Bowling Green State University softball team picked up a sweep of visiting Eastern Michigan University Saturday afternoon (April 16). The Falcons downed the Eagles by scores of 4-1 and 8-0 in the Mid-American Conference doubleheader, with the second game taking just five innings at the BGSU Softball Field.
With the wins, the Falcons are now 22-21 overall and 8-5 in MAC play. BGSU, after beginning the season with nine consecutive losses, is over the .500 mark for the first time this year. The Eagles drop to 10-15 and 6-7, respectively.
BGSU scored in the first inning of each game to take the lead for good, and Vrabel made those leads stand up. The junior pitched a four-hitter in the opener, and came within one out of a perfect game in the nightcap.
In the opener, the Falcons got on the board quickly, scoring a pair of runs against Eastern starter Aimee Woodrum in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, junior Lindsay Heimrich walked, and sophomore Jeanine Baca followed with a double to the base of the wall in centerfield, sending Heimrich to third. Both runners scored when junior Gina Rango lined a ball back through the circle and into center, and the Brown and Orange had a two-run lead.
In the third inning, the Falcons put several runners aboard with two outs, as Baca singled and Rango walked. But, Eastern third baseman Liz Flack made a nice running catch of a ball in foul territory for the final out of the inning.
In the top of the fourth, Flack hit the first pitch she saw over the wall in center for a two-out homerun, cutting the Falcons' lead in half. Vrabel responded with a strikeout of the next batter, Lindsay Schmid, to end the half-inning.
In the fifth, the Falcons restored the two-run lead on back-to-back extra-base hits. Sophomore Megan McPherson led off with a sinking liner to left-center that got past diving centerfielder Heather Giroux for a triple. Then, Heimrich's sinking line drive to left went all the way to the wall for an RBI double.
The Eagles got a sixth-inning baserunner in the person of Nikki Denman, who drew a two-out walk, bringing Flack to the plate as the potential tying run. Flack worked the count full, but Vrabel got her to swing and miss for an inning-ending strikeout.
BG upped the lead with three singles in the bottom of the inning. Freshman D.J. DeLong beat out a roller toward third base for a one-out hit, and took second on junior Abby Habicht's sharp single to left. Then, with two outs, McPherson came through with a single through the right side of the infield. DeLong came around to score, eluding the tag attempt of EMU catcher Katie Grens with a nifty slide.
Vrabel got the complete-game win to improve to 12-9 on the season. The junior scattered four hits, walking two batters and striking out 11. At the plate, Baca and McPherson each had two hits to pace BGSU's eight-hit attack.
Woodrum took the loss, allowing four runs and eight hits in her six innings of work. She walked a pair of batters and struck out six. Flack had two of the team's four hits, including the homer.
In the second game, the Falcons again got on the board quickly, with three runs in each of the first two innings against Eastern starter Michelle Lloyd. Heimrich and Rango drew walks, and freshman Allison Vallas converted those walks into runs with a two-out homerun to right-center. For Vallas, the homer was her second of the season.
BGSU was back at it in the second inning, as the bottom of the order got things started this time. DeLong walked to begin the inning, and took second on Habicht's single. Then, sophomore Kari Steigerwald's two-strike single plated DeLong and sent Habicht to third base.
The next hitter, McPherson, beat out a grounder for an infield hit, and went all the way to third on a throwing error by the Eagles. The two runners scored on the play, giving the hosts a 6-0 lead after two frames.
The Falcons missed a chance to add to the lead in the third inning, but made no such mistake in the fourth. In that fourth inning, Heimrich and Baca had back-to-back walks against Krissy Threet, and Rango greeted Woodrum, the third Eagle pitcher of the game, with a single up the middle to score pinch-runner Emmy Ramsey. Vallas followed with another hit up the middle, bringing Baca across the plate with the Falcons' eighth run.
With the lead at eight runs, the focus shifted to Vrabel's attempt at perfection, as the chance for a five-inning game now existed.
In the top of the fifth, Vrabel got Flack to hit a fly ball to Kristen Anderson in right, then induced Schmid to hit a ball to leftfielder Steigerwald. But, Lauren Allen spoiled Vrabel's bid for a perfect game, with a single up the middle. The Falcon hurler rebounded to get a game-ending strikeout of Stephanie Sabo.
Vrabel allowed just the one hit in the win, her second of the day. She faced only one batter over the minimum, striking out five hitters in improving to 13-9 on the year.
Vallas had a 3-for-3 game, with the homer and four RBI, to lead the BG bats. Rango was 1-for-1 with two walks, a run and an RBI, while Steigerwald was 1-for-2, drove in a run and scored a run.
Lloyd, the first of three Eastern pitchers, took the loss, falling to 3-5 on the year She allowed six runs (five earned) and five hits before leaving in the third inning. Lloyd walked four batters and struck out one.
Threet allowed two runs in an inning-and-a-third of work. She did not allow a hit, but walked two batters. Woodrum allowed two hits in two-thirds of an inning, but did not surrender a run.
Of the six BG batters who drew walks in the game, five eventually came around to score.
The teams will complete their three-game weekend series with a single contest Sunday afternoon (April 17) at the BGSU Softball Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
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