Western Hangs on for 3-2 Win over Falcons

Sunday, April 5

Kalamazoo, Mich.

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

12-16, 3-3

Western Michigan

12-16, 4-2

Bowling Green

Western Michigan

Kayla Koch - March 29 2015 - BGSU Softball

Freshman 1B Kayla Koch homered at WMU on Sunday afternoon

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

April 05, 2015 | Softball

Box Score

BG gets homers from Searle & Koch in Sunday's setback

By: KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Despite home runs from sophomore Aspen Searle and freshman Kayla Koch, the Bowling Green State University softball team fell just short Sunday afternoon (April 5), as host Western Michigan University hung on for a 3-2 win over the Falcons. The Mid-American Conference game was held at WMU's Fran Ebert Field.

"This was a tough loss today," said BGSU head coach Shannon Salsburg. "We played well enough to win. We need to continue to work on pushing runs across when we get into scoring position, especially with less than two outs."

Searle gave the Falcons an early lead, belting the second pitch of the game over the fence to give the Brown and Orange an early 1-0 advantage. The homer was her eighth of the season, and her fourth in the last week.

The Broncos, however, evened the score in the bottom of the inning, on three singles and a BG error. Western took the lead on a two-run homer by Jenny Rohn in the third inning.

Koch's homer cut the Broncos' lead in half with one out in the fifth inning. BG put two more runners aboard in that inning, before WMU reliever Allyson Kus got out of the jam. In the seventh, the Falcons got a runner to second base, but Kus struck out a pair of hitters, then got a game-ending ground ball to shortstop.

Searle led the Falcon attack, going 2-for-4 on Sunday. Rohn was 3-for-3 for the Broncos, as the hosts had a narrow 7-6 advantage in hits.

Searle, as mentioned, homered on just the second pitch of Sunday's game, taking WMU starter Erin Binkowski deep to straightaway center field to give the Brown and Orange a 1-0 lead. Binkowski got the next two outs before sophomore Trista Mokienko doubled to left-center. But, Mokienko was stranded there as Binkowski got an inning-ending strikeout.

In the bottom of the first, three singles led to a WMU run. Falcon starter Briana Combs got an infield popup, but Taylor Sanicki and Rohn followed with back-to-back singles. Melissa Palmer's liner to third produced the second out, but Kelsea Cichocki singled to plate Sanicki and tie the game. Combs threw a called third strike past Binkowski to end the frame.

Koch walked with two outs in the top of the second, but advanced no further. Then, Combs retired the side in order, with strikeouts of Aspen Williams and Marlee Wilson for the first two outs, and a grounder to short by Sabrina Gamboa for the third.

Kus entered the circle to begin the third inning for the Broncos, and retired the Falcons in order. In the bottom of the inning, Ivy Schaaf led off with a double to the wall in left-center field, and she continued to third after an error. Senior Jamie Kertes replaced Combs in the circle and retired the next batter, but Rohn homered to give the home team a 3-1 lead.

Western got two more baserunners in the third, when Palmer singled and Binkowski reached on catcher's interference, but Kertes struck out Williams for the third out.

Mokienko was hit by a pitch to start the fourth inning, but after a strikeout, the Broncos got a double play when shortstop Gamboa made an acrobatic catch of a liner by sophomore Haley Schrock, then threw to first to double up pinch-runner Emily McClelland.

Kertes responded by working a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the fourth, striking out Wilson to begin the half-inning and Schaaf to end it.

Koch cut Western's lead in half in the fifth, blasting her fourth homer of the year to right. With two outs, Searle lined a single past a diving Gamboa at short, and junior Molly Holliday beat out an infield grounder, but Kus got the next batter to pop up to third base for the third out.

WMU put two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth, when Rohn singled and Palmer reached on an error with one out. But, Cichocki's grounder was grabbed by third baseman Chloe Giordano, and the senior stepped on the base and fired over to first for an inning-ending double play.

BG went down in order in the sixth, but Kertes struck out the side in the home half, getting Binkowski, pinch-hitter Caity Pixley and Wilson all to swing and miss.

Freshman Morgan Evangelista led off the seventh inning with a single up the middle, and sophomore Sami Parave, inserted as a pinch runner, promptly advanced to second on a passed ball. But, Kus struck out the next two batters, and Searle hit a grounder to short, with the throw just beating the BG sophomore to the bag for the final out.

Kus picked up the win with five innings of one-run, four-hit relief. She struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. Kertes threw four innings of one-run, three-hit relief of her own, with six strikeouts and no bases on balls.

The Falcons now return home to prepare for a Friday (April 10) doubleheader vs. Miami University. BGSU is scheduled to play 16 of the next 17 games at Meserve Field.