Sosby, Searle Strike in Sunday Sweep

Sunday, March 6

Towson, MD

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-8

Towson

12-4

Bowling Green

Towson

Oct 18 2015 intrasquad - Mike Cihon photo

Kiley Sosby picked up the win & also hit a 2-run homer vs. Towson

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

March 06, 2016 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Raker continues her red-hot hitting as BGSU downs Towson & Morgan State to cap perfect 3-0 weekend in Maryland

By: TOWSON, Md. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Freshman Kiley Sosby and junior Aspen Searle each homered Sunday afternoon (March 6), propelling the Bowling Green State University softball team to a pair of wins. The Falcons downed Towson University, 7-3, and Morgan State, 6-4, to complete a perfect 3-0 weekend at TU's Tiger Clash.

With the wins, the Falcons are now 8-8 on the season.

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Sosby picked up the complete-game win in the opener, allowing only one earned run, and her two-run homer tied the contest at 3-3 in the third inning. BG took the lead over Towson on a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and the Falcons scored three times in the sixth.

In the nightcap, MSU took a one-run lead in each of three consecutive innings, only to see the Falcons tie the score in the bottom of each frame. Searle's three-run blast in the bottom of the sixth gave BG the lead for the first time in the game, and freshman Brooke Parker worked out of a jam in the seventh to pick up the win in relief. For Parker, the win was the first of her BGSU career.

Redshirt sophomore Chelsea Raker continued her red-hot hitting for the Brown and Orange. Raker, who reached base in all five plate appearances in Saturday's win over MSU, was 5-for-8 in Sunday's two games. Raker was 9-for-12 at the plate on the weekend, and is 11-for-14 over her last four games.

Raker singled in her first at-bat vs. Towson, then hit a fly ball to right field that was caught in her second plate appearance on Sunday. Believe it or not, that fly-ball out ended a streak of 11-straight plate appearances in which she had reached base, dating to the South Alabama game last weekend (Feb. 26).

"The team was locked in from the opening pitch against Towson today," said BGSU head coach Sarah Willis. "Offensively, defensively, on the mound and even on the basepaths, we were all on the same page. Kiley Sosby threw a great game and kept a strong offensive lineup off balance.

"In game two, we gave Morgan State a lot of opportunities with errors. We proved tough late in the game, getting some clutch hitting by Aspen Searle and smart pitching by Brooke Parker to secure the win."

The opening game saw the Falcons matched up against a Towson team that was 12-3 on the year, and the Tigers had scored 42 runs over the previous three games, including 17 in a Saturday win over MSU. But, Sosby allowed only four hits and a single earned run in improving to 5-3 on the year.

The Falcons pounded out 12 hits, and BGSU was 9-of-18 with runners on base. The BG bats were 4-of-9 with runners in scoring position, and the Brown and Orange went 5-of-12 with two outs.

Raker began her Sunday with a two-out single to right-center in the top of the first, but she was stranded there as TU starter Ambar Hickman got a grounder that resulted in a force play at second. Sosby, fresh off of a complete-game win in which she struck out a season-high eight batters on Friday, got both Olivia Yarbrough and Daria Edwards to begin Sunday's game, then induced Shelby Stracher to hit a popup to senior Marina Cobbs in shallow right.

The Falcons, with a little help from the Tigers, manufactured a run with two outs in the second. Sophomore Morgan Evangelista, who was 3-for-6 in Sunday's two games, reached on an error by the TU shortstop. Classmate Katee Hinkle hit a slow roller to short, and TU's Brook Miko had no chance to get Evangelista, who was running on the pitch with two outs. Miko fielded the ball and fired to first, but the throw was not in time to get Hinkle, and BG had two runners aboard.

Then, senior Molly Holliday lined an opposite-field single over the head of the TU third baseman to load the bases. Cobbs came to the plate and drew a walk on four pitches, with Evangelista trotting home to give BG a 1-0 lead. Hickman bounced back to get a strikeout for the third out.

In the bottom of the inning, though, the hosts took the lead, also with the benefit of a two-out error. Towson's first run came with no outs, as Holiday Cahill led off with a double, and came home when Miko followed with a two-base hit of her own. A bunt by Courtney Johnson moved Miko to third, and Nicole Stockinger walked on a 3-2 pitch to put runners at the corners. On a delayed double-steal attempt, Stockinger took second as the Falcons cut off the throw to keep Miko at third base. Sosby whiffed Bailey on three pitches, but Kendyl Scott's fly ball to left was dropped, scoring both runners to give TU a 3-1 lead. Sosby struck out Yarbrough for the second time in as many innings, but the hosts were ahead by two.

In the third, however, the Falcons tied the score. Again, an error was involved. Senior Marisa Shook reached on a one-out error as her fly ball hit the ground in shallow center. Hickman got a popup for the second out, but Sosby crushed an 0-1 pitch well over the left-field fence. The homer, the first of Sosby's young collegiate career, tied the score at 3-3.

Sosby struck out the first two batters of the home half of the third, giving her six K's among the first eight outs. Cahill's fly ball landed just in front of the charging Holliday in center, but Sosby got Miko to hit a fly ball to Shook in left for the third out.

Both teams went in order in the fourth, with Sosby getting Johnson to strike out on three pitches to begin the bottom of the frame. Hinkle charged a slow roller by Stockinger and quickly whipped the ball to junior Haley Schrock at first base for the second out, and Raker gloved Boyd's foul pop on the left side of the infield.

In the Falcon fifth, TU second baseman Boyd made a nice running catch of a Searle popup in foul ground. But, Raker ripped a single through the left side of the infield, and went to third when Shook smashed a ball past third baseman Edwards and down the left-field line for a double. Schrock lifted a fly ball to center, which was caught for the second out of the inning, but Raker tagged and scored what would prove to be the winning run.

In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers went down in order. Sosby got two lazy popups, sandwiched around a grounder to the left side of the circle in which the freshman hurler went to her right, backhanded the ball and fired to first to get Yarbrough by a whisker.

BG broke the game open in the sixth, with six hits in that half-inning alone. Evangelista lined a ball right back up the middle and into center field, and pinch-runner Alex Sorgi advanced on a bunt by Hinkle. Stracher fielded that bunt, but Hinkle reached when the Tigers' catcher was bumped by a charging infielder and could not get a throw away. Meanwhile, Sorgi alertly took an extra base when she noticed that no one was covering third, and in the Tigers' unsuccessful scramble to get Sorgi, Hinkle advanced to second.

Believe it or not, after Hinkle reached second after a bunt, Holliday laid down a bunt and wound up at third base on the play. A squeeze play resulted in Sorgi beating the throw home, while Hinkle took third. Holliday rounded first and continued toward second in an attempt to draw a throw. The Tigers indeed did throw down to second, and the ball was cut off, but Hinkle beat the return throw home. And, Holliday just kept running, making it all the way to third as she beat the throw to the hot corner. Two runs scored on the play, and the Falcons' lead was 6-3.

Hickman got a foul pop for the inning's first out, but Searle blooped a ball to shallow right that landed between three fielders as Holliday came home with the Falcons' seventh run.

Searle's hit chased Hickman from the game, and reliever Megan Dejter faced BG's hottest hitter. Raker worked the count to 3-0, saw the TU sophomoer throw two striket to make the count full, then lined a base hit that put Searle at second. Shook's grounder to the left side saw Searle tagged out, leaving runners at first and second with two down, but Schrock lined a single to left. The ball was hit so hard, however, that Raker was forced to stop at third as the leftfielder quickly came up with the ball. With the bases loaded, Dejter was able to get a grounder to second that retired the side.

Sosby retired the side in order in the home half of the sixth, and BG sent just three batters to the plate in the top of the seventh. That inning, however, saw Evangelista hit by a pitch, before Hinkle hit a ball to deep right-center, forcing centerfielder Scott to make a nice running catch at the wall. Holliday then lined a ball to third, but Edwards was able to grab it and double Evangelista off first.

In the bottom of the inning, Stockinger doubled with one out, ending a string of 11 consecutive batters retired by Sosby, but Boyd popped up to Raker on the next pitch, and Scott hit a grounder to Raker, who fired to Schrock for the final out.

Raker was 3-for-4 at the plate, leading a BG attack that saw eight different Falcons record at least one hit. The bottom two hitters in the batting order, Hinkle and Holliday, each went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Cahill had two of Towson's four hits.

Sosby, as mentioned, allowed four hits and just one earned run. She threw 52 of her 83 pitches for strikes, walking one batter and striking out seven.

Hickman, who entered the game with a 5-0 record, took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) and 10 hits in five-plus innings. She walked one batter and struck out two. Dejter got the final five outs, allowing two hits.

In the second game, BGSU battled back from a one-run deficit three times. After both starters, BG junior Briana Combs and MSU's Amy Begg, retired the side in order in the first, the Bears drew first blood in the top of the second.

Kimber Salvas reached on an error, stole second and scored on a double by Audrianna Alvarez. Combs struck out Kimberly Fontaine, but allowed a hit to Danielle Pitpit. On the play, however, centerfielder Holliday cut down Alvarez attempting to score from second. Stormy Zyzyk popped up to third base to end the inning.

BG answered in the bottom of the second, aided by an error. Shook reached base on that error to begin the half-inning, and after a popup produced the first out, the senior took second on a grounder, third on a wild pitch and scored on Evangelista's single.

In the third, Damali Young singled with one out, then stole second, and scored another unearned run when Nicole VanDenBerg reached on a throwing error.

Cobbs and Searle drew back-to-back walks with one down in the home half of the third, and Raker's single plated Cobbs and sent Searle to second. Searle would advance to third on a fielder's choice, but she was stranded there as a fly ball ended the inning.

Alvarez gave the Bears the lead once again in the fourth, leading off with a single, moving up on a grounder and scoring on Pitpit's single to center.

But, Evangelista singled to left with one down in the BG half of the inning. The sophomore took second on a passed ball, and after Hinkle walked, Sorgi – inserted as a pinch-runner for Evangelista – and Hinkle executed a double steal. Sorgi would score on Holliday's sacrifice fly to center, and Hinkle moved to third on the play, but a grounder to third base ended the inning.

Parker entered the game to start the fifth inning, and worked around a one-out walk to VanDenBerg. Parker got a foul pop to third for the second out, and after VanDenBerg stole second, the freshman pitcher induced Salvas to hit a grounder to second.

Raker reached base yet again, on a one-out single to left, and Schrock got aboard on an error with two down, but a popup ended the inning, and the teams remained deadlocked at 3-3 after five complete.

Alvarez, who was 3-for-3 with a walk on Sunday, began the sixth with a base hit, and stole second one out later. But, Pitpit hit a fly ball to center that Holliday gloved, and Parker struck out Zyzyk on three pitches.

Hinkle walked on four pitches with one out in the home half of the sixth, and Holliday's single put runners at first and second. Holliday was erased on a fielder's choice grounder by Cobbs, and the Falcons had runners at the corners with one down. That brought Searle to the plate.

The BG junior, who had hit two fly balls that were caught earlier in the game, made sure to hit Begg's 2-1 pitch where no one could catch it. Searle deposited the ball over the wall in left-center, and the Falcons led for the first time all game.

The Bears mounted a rally in the seventh, after the first two hitters were retired. VanDenBerg reached on an error, and Korynna Lara singled to put runners at the corners. Salvas singled, advancing pinch-runner Nicole Holquin to second while another pinch-runner, Alyssa Blanco, scored. When Alvarez walked on a 3-2 pitch, the potential winning run was suddenly at first base. But, Parker got Fontaine to hit a foul pop to the right side, and when first baseman Schrock snared it, the Falcons had a 6-4 win and a perfect 3-0 weekend.

Parker picked up the win, her first collegiate victory, with three innings of one-run, three-hit ball. The lone run she allowed was unearned. Parker walked a pair of batters and struck out one, throwing 20 of her 35 pitches for strikes.

Combs, the BG starter, needed just 30 pitches to get through four innings. She gave up three runs (only one earned) and five hits, striking out two without walking a batter.

Begg suffered the loss for MSU, surrendering six hits in her six innings of work. She issued four walks and had a pair of strikeouts.

At the plate, both Raker and Evangelista had two hits for the Falcons. Hinkle walked twice and scored a run. Cobbs crossed the plate twice, while Searle drove in three runs in the win.

"Chelsea had an incredible weekend at the plate," said Willis. "She did a great job, with nine hits in the three wins. Morgan Evangelista also had a strong impact at the plate in the two games today. Chelsea and Morgan were just two of the many players who contributed to our two wins today and our three victories on the weekend."

Alvarez, as mentioned, had three of the Bears' eight hits, while Pitpit was 2-for-3.

The Falcons head to Tampa, Fla, next weekend, to play five games in the USF Under Armour Showcase. BGSU's scheduled opponents next weekend include North Dakota, East Carolina, Hartford, Fairfield and South Dakota.