Lines Pitches One-Hitter To Propel Falcons To MAC Tournament

Sunday, May 9

Kent, Ohio

12:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Kent State

May 09, 2010 | Softball

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

Game 1 Boxscore - Kent State 8, Bowling Green 0
Game 2 Boxscore - Bowling Green 3, Kent State 0
MAC Softball Tournament Bracket (.pdf)

Kent, Ohio – The Bowling Green softball team faced a tall task Sunday afternoon if it wanted to qualify for the MAC Tournament – bounce back from an 8-0 loss to the runaway champions of the MAC East in the opening game of a doubleheader to win on that team's home field. But the Falcons did just that. Zada Lines held Kent State hitless until the sixth inning and Bowling Green scored three times in the first to pull out a 3-0 win and a trip to the conference tournament beginning Friday.

The Falcons end MAC play with a record of 9-13, tied with Buffalo for seventh place. Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan both ended just one-half game out at 8-13-1. Akron, which was also in the race until the final day, finished 7-15. Based on tiebreakers, Buffalo will be the No. 7 seed and Bowling Green will head into the MAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed. Kent State will be the No. 1 seed and BGSU and KSU will face off again Wednesday in the opening round.

Coming off of that 8-0 loss to start the day, Bowling Green built some confidence early. Rachel Proehl singled and Karmen Coffey reached on an error that put runners on second and third with one out. Freshman Paige Berger followed with a single that plated both runs to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Lines had a two-out single that plated Berger for a 3-0 lead.

Then Lines went to work on the mound. She struggled in the first inning but worked around three walks to strike out Mary Holt with the bases loaded to get out of the jam. From there, she baffled the Golden Flashes' hitters, setting them down in order over the next three innings before giving up a leadoff walk in the fifth.

Lines got out of that threat in the fifth by forcing a double play and then Kent State finally got its first hit of the game the next inning on a one-out double from Lauren Grimes. But Lines got a strike out and a line out to end that threat. In the seventh, she struck out the side in order for the complete game one-hit shutout.

Game one was not as promising as the Falcons picked up just two hits and Kent State won 8-0 in six innings. The Golden Flashes went up 1-0 after one, added three more in the third, and then posted a pair of runs in both the fourth and sixth innings. Kent State was helped by five Bowling Green errors which accounted for four unearned runs.

Bowling Green completes the regular season with a record of 13-27 overall and 9-13 in MAC play while Kent State wins the MAC Championship at 30-20 overall and 17-5 in league action. The two teams will face each other Wednesday at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio for the opening game of the MAC Tournament. More information will be available in the coming days.