Eagles Avoid Series Sweep

Saturday, April 2

Ypsilanti, MI

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

14-21, 2-4

Eastern Michigan

13-19, 3-3

Bowling Green

Eastern Michigan

Chelsea Raker reached base three times in four plate appearances Saturday

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

April 02, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

Falcons Fall, 8-2, on Snowy Saturday

By: YPSILANTI, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Host Eastern Michigan University scored in each of the first four innings Saturday afternoon (April 2), defeating the Bowling Green State University softball team, 8-2, in Mid-American Conference action at Varsity Field.

The win allowed the Eagles (13-19, 3-3 MAC) to avoid being swept in the teams' three-game weekend series. The Falcons (14-21, 2-4 MAC) had captured each of Friday's two games.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF

Brandice Olmos led Eastern at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Olivia Logan had two hits, including a solo home run that opened the game's scoring, while Michelle Kriegshauser helped break the game open with a three-run homer in the sixth. The Eagles scored at least one run in five of six innings.

"We were not sharp today," said BGSU head coach Sarah Willis. "We gave them too much in terms of physical errors and mental errors. We gave them opportunities to continue to get another 60 feet, and as a result, they continued to score nearly every single inning. We have to make those plays to make it tough on their offense. We certainly did not come out our sharpest.

"Our pitching was inconsistent today, and that consistency is something we're trying to work toward. Day one (Friday's sweep) was great, now how do we make sure we come out sharp on day two? When you make mistakes, whether it's on the plate as the pitcher, or when you're in the field and not thinking of the secondary play, that's when teams take advantage, and EMU certainly took advantage of us sleeping in a couple situations today. We need to come out sharper next week."

MAC STANDINGS
School (Overall)	MAC
East Division
Miami (20-13)	5-1
Kent State (21-10)	4-1
Buffalo (9-23)	3-2
Akron (18-16-1)	2-3-1
BGSU (14-21)	2-4
Ohio (20-13)	2-4

West Division
Northern Ill. (23-9)	4-1
Western Mich. (12-16)	3-2
Ball State (17-18)	3-3
Eastern Mich. (13-19)	3-3
Central Mich. (14-17-1)	1-4-1
Toledo (6-25)	1-5

After EMU starter Nicolle Miranda retired the Falcons in order in the first, Logan gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead with a one-out round-tripper in the bottom of the inning.

The Falcons, however, evened the score in the second. Senior Marisa Shook banged a single through the left side of the infield, and advanced to second when junior Haley Schrock was hit by a Miranda pitch. A grounder to the right side produced the first out, but advanced the runners, and senior Braiden Dillow hit a drive down the left-field line. Lucy Lopez grabbed the ball in foul territory, a few steps in front of the fence, but Shook was able to tag and score easily from third.

Sophomore Morgan Evangelista singled to left, but the ball was hit hard enough that Lopez was able to come up with it right away, and Schrock had to stop at third. Miranda retired the side by striking out the next batter.

EMU retook the lead in the bottom of the second. With one out, Abby Davidson's flare was just over the glove of leaping second baseman Kayla Gregory for a base hit. Olmos followed with a double to center that scored Davidson. Eastern would load the bases on a bloop single by Haley Hostetler and a two-out walk to Logan, but Dillow got Abi Clark to hit a liner back to the circle, and the senior pitcher grabbed the ball for the third out.

The hosts picked up two more runs in the third. After Amanda Akles led off with a walk, a one-out single by Aoife Duffy sent pinch-runner Angel Schilke to second. Freshman Brooke Parker replaced Dillow in the circle, and got Davidson to hit a roller up the middle. Shortstop Katee Hinkle made a diving stop, and from the ground, flipped the ball to Gregory to get an out at second, but Schilke was able to score on the play.

Olmos followed with her second double of the day, putting runners on second and third, and when a pitch trickled away, the runners moved up, with Davidson scoring to make it a 4-1 game. Parker got Haley Hostetler to hit a popup to first baseman Chelsea Raker, ending the inning.

BG got a run back as the snow started to fly in the fourth. With one out, Gregory lined a ball that was just out of reach of a diving EMU second baseman for a hit. Dillow followed with a sinking liner that dropped in front of the charging center fielder, sending Gregory to second.

Miranda got the next hitter to pop up, but Hinkle followed with a line-drive base hit to center. Gregory rounded third and scored just ahead of EMU catcher Duffy's tag attempt.

In the bottom of the inning, however, the Eagles got an unearned run after two batters had been retired. Clark doubled to right-center, and Akles singled up the middle. Clark momentarily held up rounding third, but came home when the ball was not cleanly fielded in the outfield, and the unearned run gave the hosts a 5-2- lead.

The Falcons hit the ball hard in the fifth. Raker lined a ball off of the fence in left-center. The ball, which never got more than 15 feet off the ground, was hit so hard that centerfielder Davidson was able to field it quickly and hold Raker to a long single. Then, Shook's drive was caught in center, and Schrock's offering was grabbed in right, ending the inning.

In the sixth, it was more of the same. The Falcons were retired in order, but not before Gregory lined a ball that happened to be hit directly at the second baseman. Then, Dillow's fly to right-center held up just long enough for Davidson to make a juggling basket catch.

Logan led off by reaching second on a fly ball to right in the bottom of the sixth. Parker jammed Clark, who hit a popup that third baseman Schrock caught in foul territory, but Akles was hit by a pitch, and Kriegshauser followed with a three-run homer to left. After an infield error, junior Briana Combs entered the game and got two outs on two pitches, with a grounder back to the circle and a two-hopper to third. But, the Eagles had extended their margin to six runs.

BG put two runners on with two outs in the seventh, as senior Molly Holliday reached on an error and Raker drew her second walk of the game. But, Miranda was able to get the final out to nail down a complete-game victory.

Miranda allowed two runs and six hits en route to the win, walking two and striking out four. Dillow, the first of three BGSU pitchers, took the loss.

At the plate, six different Falcons had one hit apiece. Raker reached base three times, with two walks in addition to her long single.

The Falcons conclude a seven-game road swing on Tuesday (April 5), heading to Oxford for a MAC doubleheader against Miami. Then, the Orange and Brown will face Central Michigan in a three-game series at Meserve Field on Friday and Saturday (April 8-9).