Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Zirkle, Falcons Explode for 10-1 Win at NIU
May 07, 2006 | Softball
May 7, 2006
DeKALB, Ill. - Junior Ashley Zirkle capped a five-run third inning with her second grand slam in as many Sundays, as the Bowling Green State University softball team closed the regular season with a 10-1, five-inning win over Northern Illinois University. The Mid-American Conference game was held at Mary M. Bell Field.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 35-21 overall, and BGSU ends the regular season with a MAC ledger of 16-6. The Huskies drop to 22-26 and 10-12, respectively.
BGSU ends the regular season in second place in the MAC's East Division, just a half-game behind Kent State. The Flashes also won a five-inning game Sunday, downing Ball State by a 10-0 final to finish with a 16-5 MAC record.
 Natalie Armintrout hit her first collegiate homer in Sunday's win (photo by Jeff Zwicker)  |
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On Sunday, the Falcons spotted the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the first inning, then scored in each of the remaining four innings. BG tied the game with a run in the second inning, then scored five times in the third, three times in the fourth and capped the win with redshirt junior Natalie Armintrout's first collegiate homer, a pinch-hit solo shot, in the fifth.
Sophomore Emily Gouge allowed four hits in the win, improving to 9-1 on the season.
The Falcons pounded out a total of 11 hits in the five-inning win, including nine extra-base hits. In addition to the homers by Zirkle and Armintrout, BGSU had no fewer than seven doubles in the victory. Senior Abby Habicht and sophomores Dawnjene DeLong and Allison Vallas each had two doubles on the day.
BGSU was held without a run in the first inning, as NIU starter Paige Granath kept the Falcons off the board for the only time all day. Senior Gina Rango had a double with two down in that inning, however, in a foreshadowing of things to come.
The Huskies took an early lead with a run in the bottom of that inning. Krista McPherson had a base hit, took second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch. Rightfielder Zirkle then made a shoestring catch of a fly ball by Michelle Nendza, but McPherson was able to tag and score on the sacrifice fly. That, however, would be the only run that Gouge and the Falcons would allow.
The Falcons quickly tied the score in the top of the second. Vallas led off with a double to left-centerfield, and Habicht would switch places with her, lacing a one-out two-bagger to left to knot the score at 1-1.
The visitors exploded for a five-run third inning. With one out, DeLong doubled, and Rango reached base on an error. Freshman Desiree Miller then reached on a fielder's choice, and both Rango and DeLong were safe as well, loading the bases.
Vallas, the next hitter, singled up the middle to plate DeLong and give the Falcons a 2-1 lead, before Zirkle came up to bat. The junior, who hit a game-tying grand slam late in last Sunday's (April 30) game vs. Toledo, again drove in four runs with one swing of the bat, depositing a Granath pitch over the left-field fence for a 6-1 lead.
The grand slam was the Falcons' second in as many games, and BG's third in an eight-day span. Habicht's homer with the bases full of Falcons in the 12th inning of Saturday night's game vs. NIU lifted the Brown and Orange to a 6-3 win.
Gouge retired the Huskies in order in the bottom of the inning, before the BG bats picked up right where they had left off. DeLong led off the fourth inning with a double to center, sparking a three-run inning.
One out after DeLong's hit, Miller was hit by a pitch from Huskie reliever Taryn Hagemann, and Vallas then hit her second double of the day to score DeLong, with Miller taking third. Hagemann got a grounder for the second out, but Habicht's second two-base hit of the contest scored both Miller and Vallas, giving the Falcons a 9-1 lead.
Falcon coach Leigh Ross used four pinch-hitters among the six batters in the fifth inning, with three of those subs reaching base. The first hitter was Armintrout, who promptly homered to center for a 10-1 advantage.
Freshman Hayley Wiemer drew a one-out walk in a pinch-hitting role, while junior Lauren Hoffman had a two-out, pinch-hit single, but Hagemann was able to keep the Falcons from scoring any additional runs. In the bottom of the inning, Northern got a leadoff single from Randi Kreiter, but Gouge struck out both Dani Thompson and Ashley Clement, before getting McPherson to ground back to the circle for a game-ending fielder's choice.
Gouge, as mentioned, improved to 9-1 on the season with the win. She allowed one run and four hits in her five innings, striking out four batters without issuing a walk.
Granath suffered the loss to fall to 3-4 on the year. She gave up six runs (five earned) and six hits before leaving with one out in the third. Granath had one strikeout.
Hagemann gave up four runs on five hits and two walks, striking out one BG batter in her two-and-two-thirds-innings of relief work.
At the plate, Vallas was 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs scored and two batted in, while Habicht was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles of her own and three RBI.
DeLong had two doubles in three trips to the plate, with a pair of runs. Miller also scored two runs in the win.
The Falcons, as mentioned, will take on Akron to open the MAC Tournament. The BGSU-UA winner will meet the winner of the Kent State-NIU game, with the losers of each game also meeting in Thursday action (May 11). Should the Falcons win, BGSU's Thursday game would begin at 5:00 p.m. A BG loss would put the Brown and Orange in the first game on Thursday's docket, starting at 11:00 a.m.
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