Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Tennessee Tech
Golden Eagles Barely Squeak By Falcons, 1-0
March 08, 2008 | Softball
March 8, 2008
AUBURN, Alabama - The Falcons dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles this afternoon (Mar. 8), a 2007 NCAA sweet sixteen team. Although Tenn. Tech out hit BG 8-2, the Falcon pitching staff and defense were able to keep the Golden Eagles scoreless for 6.2 innings with a total of nine strikeouts, four from Hayley Wiemer and five from Emily Gouge.
The Golden Eagles had multiple opportunities to score but the Falcon defense buckled down and kept them from reaching home plate. In the bottom of the first Tenn. Tech had their first scoring opportunity with runners on second and third with no outs, however short-stop Dawnjene DeLong threw out two batters at first, followed by Wiemer retiring a batter to end the inning.
The Golden Eagles had their second scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second with back-to-back singles to start off the inning, but once again the Falcon defense stepped up to get the next three batters, holding Tenn. Tech.
The Falcons got their offense going in the top of the third with a two-out rally. DeLong got a free ticket to first, which was followed up by the Falcons' first hit of the game with a line drive to right field by Zada Lines. The Golden Eagles walked Wiemer loading the bases for Allison Vallas. Vallas blasted a long fly ball down the right field line but the Golden Eagles right fielder was able to make the catch, keeping the Falcons from scoring.
The Orange and Brown were able to make the bottom of the third a one, two, three inning. The lead off batter grounded out to Wiemer, followed by a great catch in right center by center fielder Susan Sontag and Bielstein throwing out the last batter at first to end the inning.
The Falcons were kept hitless in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth the Falcon defense stepped up once again after the Golden Eagles had back-to-back hits to open the inning putting runners on first and third. Wiemer retired the next two batters herself and an incredible stretch by first basemen Vallas off of a throw from third basemen Rachel Delp got the third out to end the inning with the score remaining, 0-0.
BG put runners in scoring position in the top of the sixth, which started off by Wiemer getting her third walk of the game. Vallas then smashed a line drive up the middle giving the Falcons runners on first and second. Lauren Rockich then got on base off of a fielder's choice, bringing up Delp. Rockich stole second base to put two runners in scoring position for the Falcons, however the Falcons were unable to score.
The bottom of the sixth brought in Gouge as a relief pitcher where she struck out the side. The Falcons weren't able to score in the top of the seventh, going into the bottom of the seventh with the score remaining, 0-0. Gouge retired the lead-off batter but the next batter reached on a base-on-balls. Gouge fired back striking out her fifth batter in two innings, putting the Falcons one out away from extra innings. On the strike out, the Golden Eagles base runner stole second base, putting the winning run in scoring position. The next batter up hit a hard shot to the right center gap, Falcons' center fielder Sontag made an incredible attempt to make the catch but was just shy of the ball as the Golden Eagles scored the only run of the game to win, 1-0.
The Falcons' two hits came from Lines and Vallas. Vallas is currently leading the Falcons with .462 hitting percentage with 12 hits, including two doubles, a triple, a homerun and seven RBIs.
The Orange and Brown will finish the War Eagle Classic on Sunday (Mar. 9) against Georgia Southern at 11:00 a.m. This will be the first meeting between the Falcons and the Eagles in program history.
