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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Habicht's Late-Night, Late-Inning Grand Slam Lifts Falcons, 6-3
May 07, 2006 | Softball
May 6, 2006
DeKALB, Ill. - Senior Abby Habicht's grand slam in the top of the 12th inning lifted the Bowling Green State University softball team to a 6-3 win over host Northern Illinois University Saturday night (May 6). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Mary M. Bell Field.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 34-21 on the year, and BGSU is 15-6 in MAC play. Entering the final day of the regular season, BGSU remains alive in the race for the MAC's East Division title. NIU drops to 22-25 on the season and 10-11 in MAC action.
BGSU has clinched no worse than second place in the East Division, and the third seed for the MAC Tournament. The Falcons are a half-game behind Kent State (15-5 MAC) entering the last day of the regular season. A BGSU win over NIU on Sunday, combined with a KSU loss to Ball State, would give the Falcons the title. Either a Kent State win or a BG loss on Sunday would make the Golden Flashes the division winners.
In Saturday's game, the teams combined for a total of 27 runners left on base, including 15 by the Falcons, tying a season high. BGSU stranded a total of nine runners from the seventh inning on, including leaving the bases loaded in that frame.
Ironically, the game started well for the Falcons, in terms of bringing runners around to score. In the top of the first inning, the Brown and Orange got on the board with a pair of runs.
With one out, sophomore Dawnjene DeLong drew a walk, and senior Gina Rango reached on a Huskie error. NIU starter Taryn Hagemann got an infield grounder for the second out, with the BG runners forced to hold their bases, but Allison Vallas came through with a two-out hit. The sophomore singled to centerfield to score both DeLong and Rango, giving BG a 2-0 lead.
For a long time, it looked like that lead might hold up, as starting pitchers Hagemann and Liz Vrabel hooked up in a pitchers' duel. Ironically, both exited the game long before its conclusion.
Hagemann allowed a runner in each of the second through the fifth innings, but each came with two outs. And, in each game, she was able to retire the next hitter for the third out. In order by inning, the Falcons got a Megan McPherson walk (and stolen base), singles by Desiree Miller and Lindsay Heimrich and a Rango double, but none would come around to score.
Vrabel, meanwhile, did not allow a hit until the fourth. Northern's Krista McPherson, who was the team's only baserunner over the first three frames (a first-inning walk), led off the fourth with an infield single. She got as far as third base on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, and NIU's Kelly Park walked and stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs. But, Vrabel got Elyse Jamrozy on a called third strike to end that threat.
The Huskies were at it again in the fifth, putting the first two runners on base on an error and a walk. A fielder's choice grounder produced a force at third base, but a Jenna Roberts single loaded the bases with one out. Vrabel was up the the task once again, however, striking out McPherson before getting Kelly Drozd to pop up to second base.
Hagemann, for the first time on the night, set down the Falcons in order in the sixth, and the home team tied the score in the bottom of the inning. A walk to Michelle Nendza was followed by a sac bunt, before Jamrozy reached on an error to put runners at the corners with one out.
Freshman Hayley Wiemer replaced Vrabel in the circle, but Ellen Stoddard, the Huskies' leading hitter, singled up the middle to plate Nendza. The next batter, Randi Kreiter, reached on BG's second error of the inning, with pinch-runner Jenna Mitchell scoring the tying run.
BGSU threatened, but could not score, in the seventh. Heimrich led off with a single, prompting NIU to make a pitching change of their own. McPherson's sac bunt moved pinch-runner Emmy Ramsey to second base, before Northern reliever Lindsey LaChiana got a fly ball for the second out. DeLong, however, was hit by a pitch, and a walk to Rango loaded the bases. But, LaChiana got a popup to shortstop to end the inning.
The Huskies had the second- through fourth-place hitters in the order due up in the bottom of the seventh, but Wiemer was more than up to the task. She sandwiched a pair of strikeouts around a grounder to first base to send the game to extra innings.
The Falcons put two runners aboard in the eighth, on a Habicht walk and a Heimrich single with two outs, but a strikeout ended that half-inning. In the bottom half of the frame, a BGSU double play cleared the bases after Park's leadoff single.
BG got a leadoff double from junior Jeanine Baca in the ninth, with DeLong drew a walk to put two runners on base with no outs. But, a fly ball, a strikeout and a ground ball to the circle kept the game tied. Wiemer allowed a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, but got a strikeout and two grounders to send the game to the 10th.
Each team got a baserunner in that 10th frame, and both the Falcons and the Huskies advanced a runner to third base in the 11th, but the score remained the same. In the 12th, however, the Brown and Orange loaded the bases, and Habicht took advantage.
The 12th inning brought on the tiebreaker rules, as a runner was placed on second base to begin each half-inning. For the Falcons, Wiemer was that runner, and a Vallas bunt single gave BG runners at the corners. Junior Ashley Zirkle's walk loaded the bases, before Habicht deposited a LaChiana pitch on the far side of the left-field fence for her first career grand slam.
In the bottom of the 12th, the Huskies also began with a bunt single to put runners at the corners. But, Wiemer struck out Drozd for the first out, then got cleanup hitter Nendza to hit a grounder to shortstop. The Falcons traded a run for an out, with DeLong firing to first base for the second out as Roberts crossed the plate. Wiemer then got Park to ground to first baseman Heimrich to end the contest.
Wiemer picked up the win for the Brown and Orange, improving to 10-10. She gave up only one unearned run in her six-and-two-thirds innings of relief work, allowing four hits. She struck out five Huskies and did not walk a batter.
Vrabel allowed two runs (one earned) before leaving with one out in the sixth. She gave up only two hits, walking four batters and fanning three.
For the Huskies, Hagemann and LaChiana each pitched six innings. Hagemann allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. LaChiana suffered the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) and six hits. She walked six batters and fanned four Falcons.
At the plate, the Falcons outhit the Huskies, 11-9, with Heimrich going 3-for-5 with a walk. Baca, Rango and Vallas each had two hits, while Habicht, of course, had the big blow with her grand slam. Each of the nine hitters in the BG batting order reached base via hit or walk at least once, with seven of the nine reaching base two or more times.
For the hosts, McPherson, Park and Stoddard all had two hits in the game.
The Falcons and Huskies will meet again on Sunday (May 7), closing their two-game series as well as the regular-season schedule with a 1:00 p.m. local start (2:00 p.m. Eastern). Then, BGSU heads to Midland, Mich., for the MAC Tournament, to face an opponent to be determined in Wednesday's (May 10) first round.
