Berger Ties School Record With 11th Homer In Losses To Ball State

Friday, April 23

Muncie, IN

1:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Ball State

Berger Ties School Record With 11th Homer In Losses To Ball State

April 23, 2010 | Softball

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Game 1 Boxscore - Ball State 17, Bowling Green 4
Game 2 Boxscore - Ball State 12, Bowling Green 3

Muncie, Ind. – Bowling Green freshman Paige Berger hit home runs in both games of Friday's doubleheader, tying the school record with her 11th of the year, but the Falcons lost to Ball State 17-4 and 12-3. Berger ties current assistant coach Hayley Wiemer as the only players to hit 11 homers in a season as Wiemer reached that total in both 2007 and 2008.

The Falcons' pitchers struggled from the outset as Ball State scored at least five runs in the first inning in each contest. In the opener, the Cardinals lead 5-0 after one and 10-1 after two. After Adrienne Dick's second career homer in the second put Bowling Green on the board, the Orange and Brown showed signs of life in the third.

With nobody on and two outs, Rachel Proehl singled and stole second before Karmen Coffey followed with a single to drive in a run. Berger then hit her 10th home run of the year to make the score 10-4. Susan Sontag tripled in the team's next at-bat but the Falcons were unable to push across any more runs in the frame.

Bowling Green was unable to post a hit over the next two innings while Ball State scored seven in the bottom of the fourth to put the contest away.

In the second game, Ball State again started quickly, scoring six in the first and three in the second. The Falcons finally got on the board in the fourth on Berger's leadoff homer, her 11th of the season to tie the program record. In the fifth, Coffey and Berger drove in runs with RBI singles but the Falcons left the bases loaded to complete the 12-3 loss.

For the afternoon, Proehl went 4-for-6, scoring two runs. Coffey and Berger had three hits each and Berger drove in four runs.

Ball State improved to 30-13 overall and 8-4 in MAC play with the win. Bowling Green fell to 10-18 overall and 6-6 in conference play. The Falcons will head back to the diamond Saturday at Miami (Ohio) at 2 p.m. before concluding the two-game set with the RedHawks Sunday at 1 p.m.