Game-Two Uprising Lifts Softball to Saturday Split at Akron

Saturday, April 23

Akron, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

16-28, 4-11

Akron

26-18-1, 8-5-1

Bowling Green

Akron

Braiden Dillow spent a lot of time on third base in game 2, & came around to score 3 runs in the win

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

April 23, 2016 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Falcons pound out 13 hits en route to 9-5 win in nightcap

By: AKRON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University softball team bounced back from a shutout loss Saturday afternoon (April 23), pounding out 13 hits and defeating the University of Akron, 9-5. The Mid-American Conference doubleheader was held at UA's Lee Jackson Field.

The Zips posted a 5-0 win in the opener, but five Falcons had multiple-hit games in the nightcap, with four BG players driving in two runs apiece.

Senior Braiden Dillow got the complete-game win in the circle, allowing just two earned runs in her seven innings of work. Dillow walked one batter and struck out five in improving to 5-8 on the season. Dillow threw 81 of her 133 pitches for strikes.

GAME ONE STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
GAME TWO STATISTICS: HTML | PDF

At the plate, Dillow was one of those five Falcons to record two hits. She was 2-for-3 in the win, and scored three of the Falcons' nine runs.

Seniors Molly Holliday and Marisa Shook, junior Haley Schrock and sophomore Morgan Evangelista also had two hits apiece in game two. Shook scored twice, while Evangelista, Schrock, redshirt sophomore Chelsea Raker and freshman Hannah Giammarino each had two RBI in the victory.

"I thought we made some good adjustments from game one to game two offensively and defensively," said head coach Sarah Willis. "Offensively, our team did a better job of executing the game plan: adjusting and attacking early on pitches that we know we can do something with."

Erin Seiler threw a five-hit shutout in Saturday's first game, but the Falcons pounded out seven hits in the first three innings of game two against her. BG had a 3-1 lead when Seiler, the first of four Akron pitchers to see work in game two, was replaced by Paige McMenemy in the circle to begin the fourth.

"Seiler is a phenomenal pitcher," said Willis. "She hits her spots, works ahead and tries to get you to chase pitches. I thought, in the first inning of game one, we hit her hard, and we hit her pretty well in the late innings as well, but in the middle innings we took too many good pitches.

"Like I said, we did a nice job of making adjustments in game two."

Game two opened with Holliday beating out a slow roller to the right side for an infield hit, and sophomore Kayla Gregory's sacrifice bunt moved Holliday to second. She took third on a passed ball, but was stranded there, as Seiler got a grounder and a strikeout to retire the side.

Dillow, however, set down the Zips in order in the first, getting a pair of popups to shortstop Katee Hinkle, sandwiched around a strikeout of Alyssa Nicholas. Then, the Falcons broke on top in the second.

Dillow led off with a single up the middle, and advanced to second on Schrock's sac bunt. Evangelista put the Falcons in front when she lined a ball to centerfield. UA centerfielder Savannah Fruin initially broke in on the ball, then froze in her tracks momentarily. By the time Fruin reacted, it was too late as Evangelista's drive skimmed off the top of her glove and went all the way to the fence for a double. Dillow scored easily, and the Falcons had a 1-0 lead.

BG threatened to increase the lead, as Giammarino struck out but reached base when the third strike got away from the catcher and went to the backstop. Pinch-runner Alex Sorgi took third on the play, and Giammarino then stole second with Hinkle at the plate.

But, Seiler averted further second-inning damage, as a Hinkle grounder was gloved by second baseman Lilli Piper, who threw home to cut down Sorgi trying to score. Another grounder produced the third out.

The Zips answered in the bottom of the inning. Taylor Kirian, who scored three of UA's five runs in the game, led off with a double, and took third on a sac bunt. Then, she scored on a BG infield error. Dillow got Cassie Gillespie to fly out to right, and the BG senior then whiffed Gabrielle Fredericks for the third out.

The Falcons had seven two-out hits in Saturday's second game, and BG got four of those seven two-out hits in the third inning to retake the lead. After two batters grounded out to second, Shook singled up the middle, and Dillow's flare was just out of the reach of a leaping Piper near second base. Then, Schrock laced a single to right-center, and Shook rounded third and eluded catcher Nicholas with a nifty slide, giving BG a 2-1 lead.

The next hitter, Evangelista, singled to right to plate Dillow. Seiler got Giammarino to hit a fly ball to right for the third out, but the Falcons were ahead by two.

Akron got a runner as far as third in the bottom of the inning, and the Zips put two runners aboard on back-to-back two-out singles in the fourth. But, Dillow got Carley Childress to ground out to Hinkle at short to end the third, and the senior got Fredericks to hit a one-hopper back to the circle in the fourth, gloving the ball and throwing to Raker at first to retire the side.

BG sent eight batters to the plate in the fifth, scoring three times. Shook led off with a single up the middle, and Dillow laid down a sac bunt. McMenemy fielded the ball and attempted to get the lead runner, but Shook slid into second well ahead of the UA reliever's throw, and the Falcons had two runners on base with no outs.

Shook and Dillow moved up on a passed ball, and Shook scored on Schrock's roller to the right side of the infield. Evangelista reached base on a fielder's choice, hitting a grounder to Piper as Dillow took several steps toward home. Piper threw to third, but Dillow was able to scramble back to the bag in time to beat a tag attempt, and Evangelista advanced all the way to second on the play.

From there, Dillow scored on a Giammarino grounder, and Evangelista came home on Hinkle's bloop single to right, giving BG a 6-1 lead. Holliday greeted new pitcher Kelly Hysong with an infield single, before the Zips got a strikeout to end the inning.

The bottom of the fifth saw Kayla Schlosser reach on a leadoff bunt single. But, Schlosser was caught stealing on the very next pitch, as Evangelista fired a strike to Hinkle, who applied the tag to erase the baserunner. Nicholas singled with two down, and stole both second and third, but Childress hit a fly ball to Holliday in center, and the teams headed to the sixth inning.

The Falcons were retired in order, and the Zips cut into BG's five-run lead in the bottom of the sixth. Kirian reached on a line drive back to the circle. Dillow knocked it down, and it trickled toward first, but the Falcon hurler could not pick it up in time to prevent Kirian from reaching.

Kirian scored on Caitin Gambone's double, and Gambone took third on a groundout. She scored on a single by Gillespie, and suddenly, it was a 6-3 game. When Fredericks' grounder was just out of Hinkle's reach, the Zips had two runners on base with one out.

The runners moved up on a sac bunt by Schlosser, and Fruin came to the plate representing the tying run. But, Dillow won the batter, striking out Fruin to retire the side. And, Dillow's teammates added some insurance in the top of the seventh.

Eight hitters -- everyone in the lineup except Dillow -- batted in that seventh inning, and BG scored three times to take a six-run lead. Schrock lined a single off the glove of Gambone at third, and took second on a sac bunt by Evangelista. She moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored when Giammarino's blooper landed in no-man's land in shallow right-center, just out of reach of second baseman Piper and in front of the UA outfielders.

Hysong got a strikeout for the second out, but walked Holliday on four pitches, and also walked Gregory to load the bases.

Nicole Best, Akron's fourth pitcher of the game, entered the circle, but Raker greeted her by lining her first pitch up the middle for a single that scored both Giammarino and Holliday for a 9-3 lead.

The Zips cut into the lead in the bottom of the inning, as a single, a walk and a BG error on a double-steal attempt scored one run and put a runner on third with one out. Dillow got Gambone to hit a foul pop to Raker, though, and after Piper singled to plate the Zips' fifth run, Gillespie hit a fly ball that Giammarino tracked down in right field to end the game.

Seiler, who picked up the win in the opener, took the loss in game two. She allowed three runs and seven hits in three innings of that second game, and is now 22-14 on the season. McMenemy and Hysong each allowed three runs as well.

Kirian was 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored for UA, while Gillespie, Nicolas and Piper all went 2-for-4 in the nightcap.

For BG, eight of the nine players who made a plate appearance had at least one hit.

"Braiden Dillow did a great job on the mound today," said Willis. "She started getting a little flat, but made some adjustments and came right back. She battled all game and gave us a chance to take the lead and keep that lead."

The Falcons had threatened to take an early lead in Saturday's opening game. Holliday led off with a liner to center, but the charging Fruin made a diving catch. Gregory reached on a single up the middle, but a smash by Raker was speared by Gambone, who fired to first to double up Gregory and end the inning.

BG starter Briana Combs worked a scoreless first inning. She struck out Fruin before Nicholas singled. Nicholas took second on a groundout, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. A walk to Kirian put runners at the corners, but on a first-and-third, delayed-double-steal trickeration play, Kirian was cut down at second before Nicholas had a chance to break for home, and the side was retired.

BG went in order in the second, however, and the Zips then broke on top. Gambone was hit by a pitch, took second on a bunt and stole third. After a walk to Gillespie, pinch-runner Lena Richards stole second, and Fredericks doubled to the gap in left-center to score both runners.

UA got another run in the third, as Gambone was hit by a pitch with one down. She was forced at second on a Piper grounder, but Gillespie doubled to score Piper for a 3-0 Akron lead.

The Zips loaded the bases in the fourth, but Combs got Gambone to ground out to Hinkle at short.

Schrock singled with one out in the fifth, and continued on to second when the ball got past rightfielder Kirian. Schrock advanced to third on a groundout, but another ground ball retired the side.

Akron took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, on a bases-loaded sac fly by Fruin, and the Zips got out of a bases-loaded jame in the sixth. Hinkle beat out a bunt for a leadoff single, and Holliday's flare landed in front of a diving UA outfielder. A strikeout and a fielder's choice produced two outs, but Shook walked to load the bases. Seiler, however, induced the next Falcon batter to hit a grounder to Gillespie at first, and she stepped on the bag to retire the side.

A BG error and a Kirian single resulted in an unearned run in the Akron sixth, and Seiler worked a one-two-three seventh to close out the win.

Schlosser was 3-for-3 to lead the Zips in the opener, while Kirian,Piper and Fredericks each had two hits.

Combs threw a complete game for the Falcons, allowing four earned runs. At the plate, five different Falcons had one hit apiece.

Holliday and Schrock each had three hits in the doubleheader, while five other Falcons had two hits apiece on Saturday.

"We need everyone to step up on offense, whether it's a double off the fence or a sneaky drag down the first-base line," said Willis. "We did a nice job of getting hits and creating momentum in the second game. It's one of those 'If I can do it, you can do it' sort of things. We peppered a lot of singles today, and hitting is contagious, so everybody kind of built a little confidence off of that."

The Falcons and Zips will conclude their three-game weekend series on Sunday (April 24), with a single game beginning at noon at Lee Jackson Field.