Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Falcons Hang On For 4-3 Win at NIU
April 03, 2005 | Softball
April 3, 2005
DeKALB, Ill. - It wasn't easy, but the Bowling Green State University softball team picked up a 4-3 win at Northern Illinois University Sunday afternoon (April 3). The win came in the rubber game of the teams' three-game weekend series at NIU's Mary M. Bell Field.
With the win, the Falcons are now 12-18 on the season, and BGSU is 3-2 in MAC play. The Huskies drop to 16-11 and 3-2, respectively.
Falcon junior Liz Vrabel picked up the win with a complete-game four-hitter, tying her career high with 14 strikeouts. Vrabel, after starting the season with a 1-6 record, is now 8-8 on the year.
Northern Illinois got a baserunner to begin the bottom of the first. Kelly Park hit a ball that leftfielder D.J. DeLong appeared to lose in the sun. The ball fell for a double, but Vrabel retired the next three hitters, with two strikeouts sandwiched around a bunt attempt gone awry.
Meanwhile, NIU starter Lindsey LaChiana was cruising along, setting down the first five hitters. But, senior Kristen Anderson drew a two-out walk, and Natalie Armintrout followed with a sharp single through the left side of the infield. Then, sophomore Angie Ortiz singled past a diving shortstop to plate Anderson. Armintrout was caught in a rundown between second and third to end the inning, but the Falcons had an early lead.
Vrabel struck out the side in the bottom of the second, giving her five strikeouts through the first two frames. In the third, her string of seven consecutive batters retired came to an end with a one-out walk of Krista McPherson, but McPherson was quickly erased by the combination of catcher Abby Habicht and shortstop Ortiz on a stolen-base attempt. Then, Vrabel got Park to foul out to second baseman Megan McPherson after a lengthy at-bat.
Sophomore Jeanine Baca led off the fourth inning with a line-drive double past centerfielder Kelly Drozd. The next hitter, junior Gina Rango, hit a grounder to McPherson at shortstop. McPherson bobbled the ball, then saw Baca in no-man's land, having wandered off second. McPherson's hesitation led to Rango being safe at first as Baca scrambled back to second.
Then, Allison Vallas hit a liner between third baseman Ellen Stoddard and the bag. The single scored Baca and sent Rango to third, On the next pitch, with Anderson at the plate, the Huskies tried a pitchout, but still could not prevent a BG double steal, as Rango scored and Vallas took third. Then, Anderson's single to left brought Vallas home with the Falcons' fourth run of the game.
In the fourth inning, for the second time on the afternoon, Vrabel struck out the side. This time, all three batters went swinging.
Then, in the fifth, Vrabel got a strikeout to begin the inning. When Kathy Dearborn popped up to McPherson at second base, it was the first ball the Huskies had hit into fair territory since Park's leadoff double in the opening inning. Vrabel got the next batter, Megan Meyer, on a swinging strikeout, for the BG junior's 11th K of the game.
BG threatened in the sixth, aided by a pair of Huskie infield errors, but the hosts got out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam. Rango led off with a single, and Vallas hit what appeared to be a tailor-made double-play ball to second baseman Meyer. But, Meyer could not come up with the ball, and both runners were safe. Then, Anderson hit a ball right to third baseman Stoddard, who also booted the ball to load the bases.
NIU relief pitcher Paige Granath got Armintrout to hit a grounder to short, and the throw home forced Rango for the first out. Then, Ortiz hit a liner right to shortstop McPherson, who threw to third to double up Vallas and end the inning.
What looked to be simply a missed opportunity to pad the lead suddenly became more crucial in the bottom of the inning, as the Huskie bats, quiet for most of the day, came alive. Elyse Jamrozy led off with a single to left, and pinch-runner Jenna Mitchell took second on McPherson's excuse-me half-swing single that rolled approximately 30 feet down the first-base line. The next hitter, Park, narrowed the BG lead to just a single run, belting a three-run homer to centerfield.
With no outs and the Huskies within 4-3, Lauren von Holst pinch-hit for the home team. She worked a 3-0 count, then Vrabel battled back to a full count, before throwing a called third strike for the first out.
Vrabel got Drozd to line out to leftfielder DeLong, then induced Toni Del Toro to hit a grounder to shortstop Ortiz for the third out.
The Falcons did not score in the top of the seventh, and the Huskies' leading hitter - Stoddard - led off the bottom of the inning. She drew a walk to bring the potential winning run to the plate in Dearborn. She successfully executed a sacrifice bunt to move Stoddard into scoring position with one out. Vrabel struck out Meyer on three pitches, then the Falcons issued an intentional walk to Jamrozy. The Huskies countered by pinch-hitting Michelle Nendza for McPherson.
Vrabel threw the first two pitches for strikes, but Nendza worked the count to 2-2 before fouling off Vrabel's next offering. Then, however, the Falcon junior threw a pitch past a swinging Nendza to give the Falcons a nail-biting victory.
Vrabel, as mentioned, tied her career high with 14 strikeouts. She allowed four hits and three earned runs, walking three Huskie hitters on the day.
LaChiana took the loss for the hosts, falling to 10-6 on the year. LaChiana allowed four runs (three earned) and six hits before leaving the game with one out in the fifth. She walked one batter and whiffed three. Granath allowed only one hit in two-and-a-third scoreless innings, striking out one.
At the plate, seven different Falcons had one hit apiece. Park led the Huskies with two hits and three RBI.
The Falcons now head Eastward, stopping in Indiana for a Monday (April 4) game vs. Valparaiso University. That game will begin at 3:00 p.m. locally.
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