Durham's Homer Ignites BG Bats vs. Ohio

Friday, April 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

13-21, 4-7

Ohio

13-22, 5-4

Ohio

Bowling Green

Amanda Durham - April 17 2015 - Kia Tyus photo

Sophomore Amanda Durham's two-run homer broke a scoreless tie in Friday's second game

April 17, 2015 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Falcons post 7-3 win in Friday's nightcap for a doubleheader split

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Sophomore Amanda Durham's two-run homer in the fourth inning broke a scoreless tie and lifted the Bowling Green State University softball team to a 7-3 win over visiting Ohio University Friday afternoon (April 17). The game, the second half of a Mid-American Conference doubleheader, was held at Meserve Field.

The teams split Friday's twinbill, as the Bobcats posted a 7-2 win in game one.

SCHEDULE UPDATE: BGSU softball's series with Akron has been changed to a Saturday doubleheader. Game one will begin at 2 pm at Meserve Field

"We've been struggling with our confidence," said BGSU head coach Shannon Salsburg. "Confidence is a funny thing, because one kid gets a hit, and next thing you know, everybody feels good and you get on a roll.

"Durham was great, she was a catalyst for us. She's a kid that has high energy for us, and it was great to see her hit that homerun and get us going in game two."

Junior Braiden Dillow picked up the win for the Falcons (14-21, 5-7 MAC) in that second game, allowing three runs and five hits in five and two-thirds innings. Dillow kept the Bobcats, picked to win the MAC's East Division in the preseason coaches' poll, scoreless through five innings.

""Braiden threw a great game," said Salsburg. "She has had her challenges in the last month, and she has had to fight through. I'm very proud of the way she went out there and competed today. That's the Braiden that we know can help us win. She was willing to go in on the hands, she was willing to make her pitches break, and if she threw a ball she followed with a strike. Those are all important things; when we get behind (in the count) is when we get in trouble."

Ohio (13-23, 5-5 MAC) broke open a close game with three seventh-inning runs in the opener. Both teams scored twice in the first inning of the first game, before the Bobcats broke on top with a single run in the second. The visitors scored again in the fifth frame before that three-run seventh.

In the nightcap, Durham's two-run round-tripper opened the scoring in the fourth, and BGSU sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth, scoring four times for a 6-0 lead. The Bobcats cut that lead in half in the sixth, but the home team scored another run in the bottom of the inning, and sophomore Briana Combs shut down the Ohio bats in the seventh inning to give the Falcons the victory.

Durham's homer was the second of her career, and also was her second against Ohio. She hit a first-inning homer in one of last season's meetings with the Bobcats (April 13, 2014), with that shot coming against the same pitcher, Lauren McClary.

"I think the whole team had the mentality of just putting the ball in play," said Durham. "If you put the ball in play, good things happen. I was absolutely not going up to the plate thinking about hitting a home run. I was thinking, 'do your job, put the ball in play and make good things happen.'

"The best part of the homer was when I looked at home plate and saw my teammates waiting for me. It was great to see everyone amped up. We knew after losing the first game that we needed to come back out and get the split."

Sophomore Aspen Searle was 5-for-8 on the day to lead the BG bats, while freshman Morgan Evangelista had three hits and three runs batted in. Senior Chloe Giordano's two hits both went for extra bases, as she had doubles in back-to-back at-bats in the second game.

Sophomore Haley Schrock had one hit on the day, but had a .571 on-base percentage as she drew three walks in the twinbill.

For Ohio, Sloan Walker had a monster day, going 6-for-7 at the plate including a 4-for-4 performance in the opening game. Walker had three stolen bases and scored three runs in Friday's first game.

Both the Bobcats and Falcons scored twice in the first inning of game one, and the half-innings were near carbon copies of one another. Ohio got hits from Amanda Dalton and Walker to begin the game, with Dalton lacing a single to left field, just out of reach of leaping BG shortstop Katee Hinkle. Walker laid down a bunt and beat the throw to first.

A sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position, but Falcon starter Jamie Kertes got cleanup hitter Raven King to hit a popup that second baseman Searle grabbed behind the first-base bag for the second out. Adrienne Gebele drew a walk, however, and Madison Claytor lined a single to left to score both Dalton and Walker.

Back came the Falcons, however, as Searle led off with a sharp single through the left side of the infield, and junior Molly Holliday beat out a bunt to put two runners aboard. Another bunt, this one off the bat of junior Marina Cobbs, got past the Ohio third baseman, but Bobcat pitcher Mikayla Cooper fielded the ball and threw to first for the first out.

Cooper then got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but Evangelista lined a ball that fell just in front of the diving Ohio leftfielder, with both Searle and Holliday scoring on the play, and the game was tied.

In the second inning, Timmie Rappe was safe on a bunt single, and Dalton reached on an infield error to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Dalton stole second, and Rappe scored when the throw went into centerfield. BG centerfielder Holliday, however, threw out Dalton attempting to advance to third.

Walker singled and stole second, but Kertes got the next hitter to fly out to Schrock in left. King followed with a single up the middle, but Holliday recorded her second assist of the inning, firing the ball home where Evangelista applied the tag to Walker attempting to score.

The Falcons were retired in order in the second inning, but Kertes set down the Bobcats in order in both the third and fourth frames.

BG got a pair of baserunners in the fourth, as Schrock singled with one out, and pinch-hitter Marisa Shook drew a two-out walk. But, McClary came on to pitch for the 'Cats and got an inning-ending strikeout.

Ohio doubled the lead in the fifth. Walker reached on a bloop single to begin the inning, and Combs replaced Kertest in the circle. Walker stole second, and after Casie Hutchinson hit a foul pop to Giordano at third, Walker stole third base and came home after the throw to third hit her in the helmet and caromed into leftfield. Combs retired the next two hitters, but the Bobcats had a 4-2 lead.

In the BG fifth, Searle led off by hitting a ball deep in the hole at shortstop and beating it out for a base hit. Holliday laid down a perfect bunt, and -- having no chance to throw her out -- the Ohio fielders chose to attempt to let the spinning ball roll foul. It stopped dead in fair territory, however, and the Falcons had two runners aboard.

McClary got an out, as it was ruled Cobbs was out of the batter's box when she fouled off a pitch. But, Giordano was hit by a pitch to load the bases. McClary won a lengthy battle with Evangelista, though, getting the Falcon freshman to hit a foul pop to third, and a fly ball to left ended the inning.

BG put two more runners on base in the sixth, with Hinkle drawing a one-out walk, and Searle roping a single to left with two down, but McClary escaped the jam, and the Bobcats salted the game away in the seventh.

Dalton reached on an error to begin the inning, and a bunt by Walker resulted in a hit as well. Hutchison's single scored one run, and King followed with a run-scoring single of her own.

Dillow enterd the game and got Gebele to ground out, but another run crossed the plate on the play. Claytor hit a fly ball to right, but sophomore Sami Parave made the catch, and BG doubled the runner off second to end the inning. The Falcons, however, were set down in order in the bottom of the seventh, and the Bobcats had the win.

Searle had three hits and Holliday two in the game, while Evangelista drove in a pair of runs. BG, however, committed four errors, and the Falcons left nine runners on base.

Dalton began game two by reaching on a line drive that went off of Dillow's glove and into centerfield. Walker, however, hit a soft liner that was caught by Searle as she ranged to her right, and the sophomore second baseman fired the ball to first baseman Lauren Newmark, easily beating the diving Dalton to the bag for a double play. Then, Dillow got Hutchinson looking to end the inning.

Dillow worked a one-two-three second inning, helping herself by making a nice grab of a hard one-hopper back to the circle and throwing to first for the second out. BG had a baserunner in each of the first two innings, as Holliday reached on an error and Schrock drew a walk, but each runner was stranded at first as Bobcat starter McClary got inning-ending strikeouts in each case.

Dillow worked around a one-out single in the third, getting back-to-back fielder's choice grounders. After a Searle single in the bottom of the inning, Holliday reached on a fielder's choice, with Searle forced at second. Holliday stole second, but McClary got a strikeout to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.

The top of the fourth saw Walker reach third with just one out, as she singled, then moved up on a sacrifice bunt and a passed ball. But, Dillow got King to strike out, then induced Gebele to hit a popup to Searle at second.

Giordano ripped the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth to left, but Walker robbed her of a hit with an acrobatic catch in the gap. McClary retired the next batter, but Schrock walked, and Durham followed by lining a ball to left. Walker had no chance to catch Durham's drive, as it disappeared over the fence for a two-run homer. It marked Durham's first round-tripper -- and her first hit -- of the season.

Dillow retired the 'Cats in order in the fifth, and BG scored four times in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Searle blooped a ball down the right-field line, and it landed just beyond the reach of three Bobcat fielders. Searle made it all the way to second base on the play.

Searle advanced to third base on Holliday's hard-hit ball to the circle, and she scored when Cobbs singled to center. Then, Giordano doubled into the gap in right-center, with Cobbs coming all the way around to score.

Sydney Compston came on to pitch for the visitors, but Evangelista greeted her with a single that scored pinch-runner Emily McClelland. Schrock reached on an error, and Durham walked to load the bases. McClary re-entered the game, but issued a walk to Newmark, and pinch-runner Parave trotted home with the Falcons' sixth run. Finally, the Falcons' 10th batter of the inning was retired for the third out.

Ohio looked to rally in the sixth. Rappe was hit by a pitch, and after Dillow struck out Dalton, Walker singled to left. BG got the second out of the inning on a fielder's choice, but King homered to center, and the Falcons' lead was cut in half.

Combs entered the game, and after allowing a single to Bebele, the sophomore got Claytor to fly out to Holliday in center.

BG got a run back in the seventh. After the first two hitters were retired, Cobbs was hit by a pitch, and Giordano doubled to left-center, with Cobbs scoring from first on the play. BG loaded the bases as Evangelista singled and Schrock walked, but Cooper entered the circle and got an inning-ending strikeout.

Giordano's back-to-back doubles in the second game increase her seasonal total to nine, just one behind Searle's team-leading total.

"Coach Shannon talked to me (after the first game) and told me just to relax, to trust in myself," said Giordano, who is hitting .400 with a team-leading eight doubles in MAC play. "She said I've been hitting well all year, and I just needed to keep it simple.

"We knew we had to bounce back in game two. Ohio is a good team, but we knew we had to do everything in our power to push some runs across and get the win."

Combs allowed a leadoff single in the seventh, and another runner reached on a two-out error, but the BG sophomore hurler struck out Sam Bowlsbey on three pitches to give the Falcons the win.

Searle, Giordano and Evangelista each had two hits in the victory, while Giordano and Durham drove in a pair of runs apiece. Schrock was 0-for-1, but walked three times and scored a run in the nightcap.

Dillow allowed just three hits and no runs through the first five innings, and after she allowed the homer to King in the sixth, Combs worked the final inning-and-a-third, allowing two hits but no runs. Dillow and Combs combined to strike out five batters without issuing a walk.

"I'm pleased with the fact that once we got rolling, it was top to bottom throughout the lineup, it was with two outs, and it was manufacturing big runs," said Salsburg. "We weren't trying to take the big hack and maybe swing and miss, but to push a ball through the middle like Morgan did, and make the simple things happen. We did that very well in preseason, but we've gotten away from it a little bit. Now the challenge it to continue to do that."

BGSU will return to Meserve Field on Saturday (April 18) to take on the University of Akron, with first pitch of game one set for 2:00 p.m. As mentioned, the BGSU-Akron series has been changed to a Saturday doubleheader due to the chance of rain on Sunday.