Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Falcons Win at Central, 4-2, to Close Regular Season
May 08, 2005 | Softball
May 8, 2005
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Bowling Green State University softball team used a three-run fourth inning to post a 4-2 win over Central Michigan University Sunday afternoon (May 8), breaking a long road losing streak against the Chippewas. The game was the conclusion of the teams' three-game weekend series at the CMU Softball Complex.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 27-28 overall, and BGSU finishes the regular season with a Mid-American Conference mark of 12-10. The Brown and Orange placed third in the West Division and earned the fifth seed for next week's MAC Tournament. CMU ends the regular season with records of 26-14 and 16-6, respectively.
The Falcons will begin eight-team, double-elimination league tournament Wednesday morning (May 11), taking on third-seeded Miami University in an 11:00 a.m. contest.
In Sunday's game, the Chippewas struck first, as Christan Dhondt hit a two-out solo homerun to leftfield against Falcon starter Lindsay Heimrich in the opening inning.
Central starter Jessica Garvin kept the Falcons off the board, allowing just one baserunner over the first three innings. Only senior Kristen Anderson reached base during that time, on an infield single in the second. But, the Falcons' offense made some noise in the fourth.
Heimrich helped her own cause with a line single to right to begin the inning. Pinch-runner Emmy Ramsey stole second, then continued to third when the throw got away from the CMU shortstop and trickled into shallow leftfield. The next batter, freshman Allison Vallas, plated Ramsey with a bloop single to left-center. Vallas took second on the throw to the plate.
Garvin got a fly ball for the inning's first out, but sophomore Jeanine Baca followed with a line single to centerfield. Vallas scored easily, and Baca continued all the way to third base after the ball got past centerfielder Christin Sobeck. The Falcons had the lead, and BG added to that lead as Anderson and Baca executed a perfect suicide squeeze. Anderson bunted down the third-base line, and Baca scored without a throw on the single. In all, the Falcons had five hits in the inning.
The Chippewas mounted a threat in the bottom of the fifth. After Heimrich got a ground-ball out, Stephanie Crews and Allie Hansen had back-to-back singles on seeing-eye grounders through the Falcon infield. Freshman Emily Gouge entered the game in relief of Heimrich and, after a long at-bat, got CMU leadoff hitter Karen Hohs to pop out to second baseman Megan McPherson. Then, Gouge induced Jacque Benedict to hit a grounder to shortstop Angie Ortiz for a force play at second base, ending the inning.
Vallas led off the sixth frame with a double to the wall in left-center, and junior Gina Rango greeted CMU relief pitcher Amy Candioto with a single to right, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Candioto got a strikeout, but Anderson hit a fly ball to right-centerfield. Sobeck made the catch, but Vallas easily scored on the sacrifice fly to give BG a 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Chippewas cut into that lead, as Dhondt drew a leadoff walk, and Amy Hudson doubled to score pinch-runner Katie Horvath. Gouge got Lindsey Calme to foul out to Rango at third, then induced Sobeck to hit a popup to Rango as well. The Central runner was running on the play, having lost track of the number of outs, and Rango lobbed the ball to second base to complete the inning-ending double play.
In the seventh inning, Gouge got pinch-hitter Angie Hunter to ground to Rango for the first out, then got Crews to hit a fly ball to Baca in center. On the very next pitch, Hansen popped up to Gouge to end the game.
For the Falcons, the win ended a 18-game road losing streak to the Chippewas. BGSU's last victory over CMU in Mount Pleasant came on April 8, 1994, when the Falcons' freshmen were in second grade.
One of those freshmen, Vallas, was 2-for-3 at the plate in Sunday's game, scoring twice and driving in a run. Anderson, BG's lone senior, was 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and a pair of RBI.
Heimrich, making her first start in over two weeks, got the win to improve to 5-8 on the year. She allowed a run and four hits before leaving with one out in the fifth inning. Heimrich walked one batter and struck out two.
Gouge pitched two-and-two-thirds innings of one-hit ball to pick up her second save of the season. She allowed one run, walking one batter.
Garvin took the loss for the hosts, allowing all four runs (three earned) and seven hits in five innings. She struck out two Falcons and did not walk a batter. Candioto allowed a hit and a walk in her two innings of relief, striking out one.
At the plate, five different Chippewas had one hit apiece in the game.
As mentioned, the Falcons head to Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, for the MAC Tournament (May 11-14). BGSU opens the tourney with Wednesday morning's game vs. Miami.
NOTES
#3 Miami vs. #6 Bowling Green, 11:00 a.m. #2 Central Michigan vs. #7 Eastern Michigan, 1:30 p.m. #4 Western Michigan vs. #5 Buffalo, 5:00 p.m. #1 Marshall vs. #8 Kent State, 7:30 p.m.
