Raker's Blast Lifts BG to Game-Two Win, Split of WKU Twinbill

Wednesday, March 8

Bowling Green, KY

4:00 PM CT

Bowling Green State University

9-11

Western Kentucky

12-8

Bowling Green

Western Kentucky

Chelsea Raker v Tiffin - Oct 2016 - Paul Duncan photo

March 08, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Miller picks up her fifth win of the season

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Redshirt junior Chelsea Raker homered to lead off the seventh inning of a tie game, lifting the Bowling Green State University to a 6-4 win over Western Kentucky University Wednesday night in Bowling Green, Ky. The game, the second half of a doubleheader, was held at the WKU Softball Complex.

In the opener, the Hilltoppers picked up a 7-2 win. BGSU led that contest until the hosts scored five times in the fourth inning to take the lead for good.

"We left way too many runners on base in both games tonight, and let a lot of scoring opportunities slip away in the first game and part of the second," said BGSU head coach Sarah Willis. "But, I'm pleased with the way we came back and got the win after falling behind in game two."

Senior Haley Schrock hit a two-run homer for the Falcons, now 10-11 on the year, in Wednesday's first game. Schrock was 2-for-3, while redshirt junior Aspen Searle and sophomore Alex Sorgi each went 2-for-4 in that contest.

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

But, four WKU players had two hits apiece as the Hilltoppers held a 9-7 advantage in that category. One of those four, Taylor Proctor, had a pair of extra-base hits, with a double and a homer.

Haylee Towers picked up the win with a complete-game effort in the circle.

Sorgi led off the game with a base hit, but was forced at second on a fielder's choice. The bottom of the inning saw a pair of WKU batters reach base against sophomore Brooke Parker, as Tommi Stowers walked with one out, and Brittany Vaughn pushed a bunt into no-man's land. But, Parker responded by getting Proctor to hit a fielder's choice grounder.

Several Falcons hit the ball hard off of Towers in the third, but sophomore Hannah Giammarino's line drive was caught by leaping first baseman Kathryn Downing, and junior Katee Hinkle's looping liner was grabbed by second baseman Vaughn behind the bag on the edge of the outfield grass. Sorgi, the next batter, reached on an error, but Towers struck out the next batter.

The hosts got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Kara Brewer and Stowers singled, and Jordan Mauch reached on a BG error to load the bases with no outs. Vaughn lifted a fly ball to center for the first out, but Brewer was able to tag and score. Parker recovered to get Proctor to pop up to Searle at short, and Towers grounded out to Schrock at third.

In the fourth, Searle roped a double to right-center on the first pitch of the inning, and one out later, Schrock lined a ball over the fence in left-center. The homer was Schrock's second of the year, and the Falcons had a 2-1 lead.

But, in the home half of the fourth, the hosts took control. With one out, Kelsey McGuffin walked, and Adarian Gray's bunt single saw McGuffin continue to third after a BG error. The Toppers tied the game on a double steal, and after a ground ball produced the second out, a Stowers single plated Gray to give WKU the lead for good.

Mauch walked, and Vaughn singled to score Stowers. Proctor followed with a double that scored another run, and Kiley Sosby entered the circle for the Brown and Orange. A walk to Morgan McElroy forced home another run before the BG sophomore got McGuffin to swing and miss for strike three.

BG threatened, but would not score again. Giammarino led off the fifth with a base hit to right, and Hinkle's hard-hit ball ate up McElroy, catching the shortstop between hops and bouncing over her and into leftfield. But, Towers got a fly ball to left, a strikeout and a ground ball to end the inning.

The sixth inning saw Raker's fly ball caught on the warning track in left. Schrock singled, and junior Kayla Gregory walked to put a pair of Falcons aboard, but each of the next two batters hit ground balls that resulted in force plays at third.

Sosby got out of a first-and-second, no-outs jam in the fifth, ending the inning with back-to-back swinging strikeouts. But, Proctor homered to lead off the WKU sixth. Sorgi and Searle each singled in the seventh, but Towers got a popup to second to close out the win.

Towers walked one batter and struck out six in her complete-game win. Parker suffered the loss, pitching three-and-two-thirds innings and throwing 45 strikes among her 72 pitches. Sosby threw two-and-a-third innings of one-run, two-hit relief.

The nightcap did not begin well for the Falcons, to say the least. After Downing retired the Falcons in the top of the first, allowing only a Sami Parave single, the Hilltoppers scored four times in the bottom of the inning.

A BG error opened the door for a big inning. That error came with Brewer on first after a leadoff walk. Stowers reached when her popup was dropped in shallow right. BGSU starter Meredith Miller got Mauch to hit a soft liner to Schrock at third, but Vaughn walked to load the bases, and Proctor singled to left to score Brewer.

On the play, Proctor rounded first and advanced nearly all the way to second, only to find Vaughn standing there. As BG rank Proctor back toward first and tagged her out, Stowers took off from third base and slid home just under a tag attempt. Then, Towers homered to double the Hilltoppers' lead. Only one of the four runs was earned, but the Falcons found themselves in a hole.

But, BGSU would climb out of that hole, beginning in the third inning. The first two batters were retired, but Parave walked, and Searle lined a double down the left-field line, sending Parave to third. The next hitter, Raker, hit a sharp grounder to third, but everyone was safe when Gray's throw skipped away from Towers at first base. Both Parave and Searle came around to score on the error.

The Falcons threatened to draw even closer in the fifth, but a bang-bang play at the start of the inning proved costly. Sorgi led off the inning by hitting a ball back to Downing in the circle. The speedy sophomore was called out on an excruciatingly close play at first, and despite three Falcons reaching base later in the inning, BG did not score.

The next batter, Parave, was hit by a pitch, and Searle lofted a ball deep, but not quite deep enough to left. It was caught on the warning track for out number two. Raker singled through the left side of the WKU infield, and Schrock walked, but Downing induced the next hitter to slap a grounder to third that retired the side.

Miller set down the home team in order in the bottom of the fifth, though, and in the sixth, the Falcons tied the game. With one out, Hinkle pinch-hit and drew a walk – one of eight for BG in the game. A popup to the right side of the infield resulted in the second out, but Sorgi beat out a chopper to third, and Parave followed by lining a ball to right for a single. Hinkle came around to score on the play, and when the ball got past Stowers and rolled all the way to the right-field fence, Sorgi scored the tying run and Parave advanced all the way to third. But, Kelsey Aikey came on in relief for the Hilltoppers, and got the third out on a grounder.

Miller again set down the Toppers in order in the sixth. After Searle gobbled up a Proctor grounder near the second-base bag and firing to first for the second out, a fired-up Miller followed by striking out Towers for the third out. Then, on the next pitch of the game, Raker blasted a ball that easily cleared the fence in left-center. The Falcons had the lead for good.

And, BG added another run without benefit of a hit. Gregory walked with one out, and freshman Taylor Blevins and Giammarino each walked with two down. With the bases loaded, Downing returned to the circle, but Sorgi drew a base on balls, and Gregory trotted home to give BG a two-run lead. The next hitter, Parave, lined a ball back up the middle, but Downing was able to stab the ball on one hop and fire to first in time to retire the side.

Raker's homer was her team-leading third of the season, and the 15th of her BGSU career.

In the seventh, Miller struck out the side, getting all three batters to swing and miss for strike three. Miller retired pinch-hitters Paige Carter and Rebekah Engelhardt before getting Katie Johnson to end the game.

Miller earned the complete-game win, improving to 5-1 on the year. She allowed just three hits and one earned run. After surrendering two hits in the first inning, Miller gave up just one base hit over the final six frames.

Parave went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run and an RBI in the win, while Raker was 2-of-4 with what proved to be the game-winning homer. All 10 BGSU players who made a plate appearance reached base at least once via hit or walk in the game.

Downing suffered the loss for WKU (12-9), allowing six hits and four runs (just one earned) in six innings. She struck out seven, but walked five. Aikey gave up two runs, allowing only one hit but issuing three walks.

"Raker had a big hit to break the tie, but we showed good patience at the plate to get an insurance run," said Willis. "We were sloppy at times tonight, but at other times, we hit the ball hard but directly at one of their fielders.

"In all, these games and this extended trip will help us continue to grow and get better. We look forward to seeing how we stack up against a nationally-ranked Ole Miss team on the road tomorrow night."

The Falcons continue a stretch of seven games in five days Thursday night (March 9), as BG will begin the Ole Miss Classic by taking on the nationally-ranked host school. The Falcons and the No. 22 Rebels will meet at 6:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. ET) at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.