Falcons Top UB in Extras, 1-0, Friday Afternoon

Friday, April 14

Bowling Green, OH

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

21-23, 7-6

Buffalo

8-33, 3-10

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Laine Simmons slides home with the only run of Friday's win (Larry Clapper photo)

Photo by: Larry Clapper

April 14, 2017 | Softball

Box Score

Simmons scores to give Miller a complete-game shutout win

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Junior Laine Simmons doubled and came around to score in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting the Bowling Green State University softball team to a 1-0 win over the University at Buffalo Friday afternoon (April 14). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Meserve Field.

Sophomore Meredith Miller fired a complete-game, four-hit shutout to pick up the win. Miller did not walk a batter, and did not allow a Buffalo runner to reach third base in the game. In fact, the Bulls got a runner as far as second base only two times on Friday.

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Three of UB's four hits in the game led off an inning, while BGSU saw the leadoff batter reach via a base hit four times in the first five innings. But, Miller and her counterpart, Buffalo starter Charlotte Miller, kept the opponents off of the scoreboard until the game's very end.

BGSU outhit Buffalo, 8-4, but neither team had an extra-base hit until Simmons drilled a ball off of the wall in left-center field to begin the home half of the eighth. Junior Katee Hinkle followed with a single past the UB shortstop. Simmons, who had to wait to make sure the ball got through the infield, then took off and reached third safely. It marked only the second time in the game that BG had a runner advance as far as third.

"In my last few at-bats, (Charlotte Miller) had followed the same pattern, and I had taken several pitches and fallen behind in the count," said Simmons. "In that last at-bat, I had the mindset that I wasn't going to let her throw strikes without making her pay for it. In that at-bat, I kind of learned from the first seven innings, and took the eighth a little differently."

Charlotte Miller got the first out of the inning, on a popup to short. But, the next batter, sophomore Kiley Sosby, hit a ball up the middle. UB shortstop Jenelle Martinez, moving to her left, got to the ball but could not field it cleanly, and Simmons took off from third and scored without a throw.

Friday's win marked BGSU's first extra-inning game of the season.

"A game like today's is never a comfortable from a coaching perspective," said BGSU coach Sarah Willis. "We struggled to string hits together today, so it was nice to see Laine have a consistent approach, and we put together some good at-bats in the eighth. Kiley did what she needed to do, putting the ball in play and getting the run across. We made some adjustments to their pitcher, and we just need to make those adjustments sooner tomorrow."

Meredith Miller improved to 12-6 on the year. The shutout was her fourth of the season, and her second in MAC play. She has allowed just one run in her last three starts -- all complete-game wins -- at Meserve Field. She faced just three batters over the minimum, throwing 95 pitches, including 68 strikes, on Friday. The sophomore struck out five without walking a batter.

"I'm proud of Meredith and the adjustments she made after having one bad inning at Miami on Wednesday," said Willis. "We always talk about the fact that one bad inning or one bad moment does not define you. She did a great job of staying mentally tough, as we focused on in the bullpen yesterday and in our approach to today's game."

"I was not pleased with my performance at Miami," said Miller. "I felt like I let the team down. Today I came out here with the mindset of hitting my spots, attacking early and giving our offense a chance to win the game. I felt like, after the way we hit at Miami, I just needed to execute that plan and our offense would win the game today."

For her part, Charlotte Miller allowed just one run, and that run was unearned, in a complete-game effort of her own. The UB junior walked just one batter and struck out four, and her total of 135 pitches included 95 strikes. She dropped to 3-4 on the spring.

BGSU is now 5-1 at home this season after going 3-11 at Meserve Field last year. Falcon pitchers have an earned-run average of 0.65 in home games, having allowed just six runs (four earned) in 43 innings.

Simmons went 2-for-4 at the plate on Friday, while Falcon freshman Kendyl Wheeler posted her second-straight two-hit game, and her third in the last four contests. Wheeler went 2-for-3 against UB, and is 7-for-11 over the last four games.

Meredith Miller threw 11 of 13 pitches for strikes in the first inning on Friday She allowed a leadoff single to Jessica Goldyn, and a Leandra Jew sacrifice bunt moved Goldyn to second. But, Miller struck out both UB's number-three hitter, Martinez, and the Bulls' cleanup hitter, Catrell Robertson, to end the inning.

Junior Alex Sorgi began the home half of the first with a single, and senior Haley Schrock bunted her to second. Redshirt junior Aspen Searle, who reached base three times on Friday, was hit by a pitch, but Charlotte Miller got a strikeout and a fielder's-choice grounder to retire the side.

Both pitchers worked 1-2-3 innings in the second, getting a called third strike to end each half-inning. In the third, Ufoma Ogagan reached on a bloop single, despite the efforts of BGSU senior leftfielder Sami Parave. Parave made a long run and nearly caught the ball with a headlong dive in shallow left-center, but it popped out of her glove as she hit the ground. Meredith Miller, however, got Goldyn to hit a fly ball to Sorgi in center, before Jew grounded out to Hinkle at second.

Wheeler singled to begin the BG third, and Schrock's pool-cue single put two runners aboard. Schrock hit a ball off the end of her bat, and the spinning ball bounced past UB second baseman Gabby Keller. But, a strikeout was followed by a groundout, and the teams headed to the fourth inning.

In that fourth frame, each team got a baserunner, as UB's Martinez reached on a leadoff bunt single and took second on a sac bunt, while Simmons hit a ball that landed just inside the left-field line for a leadoff single of her own. But, neither team could capitalize, and the game remained scoreless.

Meredith Miller allowed a leadoff hit to Karlie Fernandez in the fifth, but got the next batter, Essence Savinon, to hit into a double play. UB would not have another baserunner on the day, as Miller got Ogagan to ground out, then set down the Bulls in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

"We talk about the fact that every inning is a brand-new game, and we want to win every time," said Simmons. "The longer it stayed scoreless, we could have gotten frustrated and a little worried. But every time, Meredith was relaxed, and our defense was, too. Everyone was working together, no one was trying to do too much. We all have faith in the person standing next to us."

Wheeler singled to begin the BG fifth, and Searle walked with two outs. But, Charlotte Miller got an inning-ending strikeout, and the UB hurler worked around a two-out error in the sixth.

In the BG seventh, Schrock was hit by a pitch with two outs, and Searle lined a single to left on the 10th pitch of an at-bat that included six foul balls. But, a grounder to third ended the inning and set the stage for the decisive eighth frame.

"Meredith really kept us in it today," said Schrock. "She pitched a great game. At the plate, obviously, we weren't making the adjustments as fast as we wanted to, but in conference play, wins are all that matter, and any time you can pull out a win when you're not hitting your best, it's a good thing."

Friday's game marked BG's first walk-off win in extra innings since a 7-6 win over Fairfield early in the 2016 campaign.

The Falcons and Bulls will return to Meserve Field on Saturday (April 15) to complete the three-game weekend series with a doubleheader. The first pitch of the first game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.