Falcons Split Two on Day Two of Sunshine State Classic

Sunday, February 14

Tallahassee, Florida

3:35 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

FLORIDA STATE

Senior Karmen Coffey crushed a homerun over right field for the Falcons

February 14, 2010 | Softball

By: by Hannah Archer, Athletic Communications Intern

BGSU vs. Iona BOX SCORE

BGSU vs. FSU BOX SCORE

TALLAHASSEE, Florida—The Bowling Green State University softball team split wins on day two of the Sunshine State Classic in Tallahassee, Fla. The Falcons (1-3) defeated the Iona College Gaels 4-0, but were unable to edge out the Florida State Seminoles in their second meeting of the tournament, falling 8-1.

Leading the Falcon offense at the Sunshine State Classic was freshman Andrea Arney who racked up a .375 slugging percentage. Seven Falcons also maintained a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage during the opening tournament, including, Andrea Arney, Karmen Coffey, Adrienne Dick, Paige Berger, Carley Riepenhoff, Melissa Bott and Zada Lines.

Falcons Oust the Gaels
The Orange and Brown squad had a strong start in this morning's matchup (Feb. 14) against the Gaels (0-3), scoring all four of their runs in the first two innings.

Kick starting the Falcons offense was freshman Hannah Fulk who crushed a double to right center. Sophomore Rachel Proehl followed Fulk with a single to the pitcher, advancing Fulk to third; but the play did not finished there. On a wild pitch by Iona's Alyssa Maiese, Proehl ran to third while Fulk took off for home plate and scored the Falcons first run of the day.

Keeping the Gaels hitless and scoreless in the bottom of the first, the Falcons took to the plate ready to score. Senior Susan Sontag started off the Falcons offense, pounding a triple to left center. After walking Andrea Arney, Karmen Coffey nailed a single to right field, but advanced to second on the throw, allowing Sontag and Andrea Arney to score. Rounding back to the top of the Falcon lineup, Fulk was hit by a pitch but took to second on an error by Iona's catcher. The error allowed Coffey to score the Falcons third run of the inning and the team's final run of the game.

On the defensive end, Melissa Bott, a junior, pitched all seven innings for the Falcons, keeping the Gaels to just two hits and no runs the entire game.

With neither team able to score throughout the remainder of the game, head coach Shannon Salsburg and the Falcons took their first win of the season.

“It feels good to get our first win of the season,” said Salsburg. “The team came out focused and ready to play today. Melissa threw a great game and it was very important that we scored early.”

In total, the Falcons kept the Gaels hitless in the first, second, fourth, sixth and seventh innings. Iona recorded the team's only two hits in the bottom of the third and fifth innings. BGSU posted four hits, including one double, one triple and one RBI. Recording hits for BGSU was Fulk, Proehl, Sontag and Coffey.

'Noles Out hit Falcons
In the Falcon's second game against the Florida State Seminoles (3-1), BGSU fell to FSU 8 -1, in seven innings.

The Falcon's first hit and only run came from a homerun by senior Karmen Coffey who smashed the ball over right field in the top of the third inning.

Coffey's homer was the first of two hits by the Falcon squad in today's Valentine's Day matchup with FSU. Today's homerun also marked Coffey's first career homerun as a Falcon.

The team's second hit came in the top of the seventh inning by freshman Courtney Cox who crushed the ball down the right field line.

Splitting time in the circle was Zada Lines and Melissa Bott. Of the 23 batters Bott faced, she allowed only eight hits in the six innings she spent in the circle. Bott kept the Seminoles scoreless in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and kept them to only one hit throughout the same time span.

The Falcons ended the tournament with a 1-3 record. On the tournament, BGSU had 14 hits, including eleven doubles, one triple, one homerun, and three RBIs. Defensively, the Falcons racked up an impressive .929 fielding percentage.

Coach Salsburg and the Falcons will be back in action next weekend (Feb. 19-21) in Athens, Ga., for the Red and Black Classic where they will square off against Western Carolina, Georgia, Winthrop and Virginia Tech.