Falcons Earn Saturday Split in Nashville

Saturday, March 17

Nashville, TN

12:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

14-9

IUPUI

4-12

IUPUI

Bowling Green

Congratulations - Brooke Parker Gonzalez Kaylee Parker Holcomb Simmons

March 17, 2018 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BGSU homers five times in the two games

By: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University used four home runs to rally past IUPUI, 7-3, in Saturday's (March 17) first game, but a three-run homer accounted for all of host Lipscomb's scoring as the Falcons dropped a 3-2 decision in the second game of the day. Both contests were held at Draper Diamond.

LINKS
BGSU-IUPUI STATISTICS: PDF
BGSU-LIPSCOMB STATISTICS: PDF

In the IUPUI game, the Falcons took advantage of a fourth-inning error to score three times, capped by junior Kellie Natham's first home run in a BG uniform. Natham's round-tripper tied the game at 3-3, and BGSU homered three more times in the next inning, with a Laine Simmons leadoff shot giving the Falcons the lead for good.

After outhitting IUPUI by a 7-4 count, the Falcons outhit Lipscomb, 7-3, in the nightcap. But, one of those three hits for the Lady Bisons was a three-run homer that accounted for all of the LU scoring in the game. Lipscomb, receiving votes in one national top-25 poll, scored those three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning after BGSU had touched the plate twice in the top of the inning.

BGSU hit a total of five homers in Saturday's two games.

QUOTING COACH WILLIS
"Meredith and Brooke each threw well today, although we need to work on limiting the amount of walks we allow. At the plate, we hit the ball well, and we rallied well against IUPUI after falling behind. In the second game, though, we left too many runners on base, and we can't afford to do that against any team, let alone a very good Lipscomb team. We look forward to getting back out on the field tomorrow to play two more games before returning to Ohio."

HOMER HAPPY

BGSU, as mentioned, hit a total of five home runs in Saturday's two games, giving the Falcons 22 on the season. BG hit 16 homers as a team during all of last year.
Junior Kellie Natham hit her first homer as a Falcon on Saturday, becoming the eighth different BG player to hit a round-tripper this season. A total of six different Falcons homered during the 2017 campaign.
Four of BGSU's homers came in the win over IUPUI. It marked BG's highest single-game total in over two years (since the Falcons hit four homers in a win over Morgan State on March 5, 2016).

BGSU-IUPUI – HOW IT HAPPENED

While BGSU hit four homers in the game and five on the day, it was IUPUI striking first via the long ball. Mandy Dallas homered with two outs in the first to give the Jags a 1-0 lead.
After BGSU starting pitcher Meredith Miller retired the side in order in both the second and third innings, IUPUI increased the lead in the fourth. Maddie Keeley led off with a walk, and Dallas immediately brought her home with a double to right-center. Dallas took third base on a grounder to the right side, then scored on Kristin London's single to make it a 3-0 game.
BG was held hitless over the first three innings, with only two baserunners (both of whom were hit by a pitch) during that time. But, in the home half of the fourth, the Falcons tied the game. Freshman Sammy Dees led off with a single against IUPUI hurler Megan Overton, and Dees took second on a one-out wild pitch. Overton got a strikeout for the second out, but junior Kaylee Parker reached on an outfield error, allowing Dees to score. Then, junior Kellie Natham homered to left field to tie the game at 3-3.
Meredith quickly retired the Jags in the fifth, and just as quickly, BG took the lead in the bottom of the inning. In fact, the Falcons had three homers in the fifth inning alone, scoring four times.
Senior Laine Simmons led off the Falcon fifth with a solo shot to left, giving BG the lead for good. Overton retired the next two hitters, but Dees singled, and senior Aspen Searle hit a two-run homer down the left-field line. Junior Kali Holcomb followed with a round-tripper of her own, giving BG a 7-3 lead and chasing Overton. Kaylee Parker walked, and Natham singled, but Amanda Melzoni got the final ouf of the inning.
Miller walked a batter in the sixth, and allowed another walk followed by an infield single in the seventh, but the junior retired the side without allowing a run in each inning.

BGSU-IUPUI STATS & LEADERS

The Falcons had seven hits to the Jags' four. Both Dees and Natham went 2-for-3 for the Brown and Orange. Dees was hit by a pitch and scored a run, while Natham also scored once and drove in two.
Holcomb, Searle and Simmons each had one hit, and in all three cases, that hit was a home run. Simmons also drew a walk, while. Kaylee Parker was 0-for-1, but walked, was hit by a pitch, reached on an error that scored a run, and wound up coming around to score herself.
Dallas had half of the Jags' hits, going 2-for-2 with a walk, a double and a homer. She scored two runs and drove in two.
Miller picked up the win in the circle to improve to 7-4 on the year. She allowed three runs and four hits in her complete-game effort, striking out seven.
Overton took the loss for the Jags, allowing all seven runs (four earned) and six hits in four innings.

BGSU-LIPSCOMB – HOW IT HAPPENED

LU starter Mandy Jordan entered the game with a 10-0 record and an ERA of 0.75, and she had thrown a no-hitter in her most recent outing, vs. Bradley on Wednesday.
But, on Saturday, junior Alex Sorgi led off the game by working Jordan for a walk, and one out later, Searle's infield hit put runners on first and second. Jordan, however, struck out the next Falcon, then got a grounder back to the circle for the third out.
BG starter Brooke Parker allowed a walk in the first inning, and a single in the second, but emerged unscathed and unscored upon each time.
Sorgi singled to begin the third inning, and Dees moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Searle's infield single put runners at the corners, and a two-out walk to Kaylee Parker loaded the bases, but again, Jordan got out of the jam, inducing a popup to short.
Brooke Parker allowed back-to-back two-out walks in the bottom of the inning, but responded by getting the next batter to hit a grounder to shortstop Searle, who flipped the ball to third for the third out.
In the fourth, freshman Sarah Gonzalez led off with a home run to center, and the Falcons had the lead. Simmons reached on an error, and freshman Payton Hamm's sac bunt moved pinch-runner Taylor Blevins to second base. Another single by Alex Sorgi sent Blevins to third, and after Sorgi stole second, Dees' ground ball to the right side scored Blevins and gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
But, Lipscomb answered quickly in the bottom of the inning. Sarah Higgins led off with a double, Khayla Green drew a one-out walk and Peyton Ward followed with a three-run homer to left. Brooke Parker would retire the next two batters, but that homer would prove to be the difference.
The BG fifth saw Holcomb walk and take second on Kaylee Parker's sac bunt, while Alex Sorgi reached on a two-out bunt single – her third hit of the game – in the sixth, but Jordan did not let the Falcons score the tying run.
Brooke Parker worked a one-two-three fifth frame, and worked around a pair of sixth-inning walks to keep the Brown and Orange within a single run.
In the seventh, Searle led off with a double to left-center, for her third hit of the contest. But, back-to-back popups produced a pair of outs. Searle took third base on a wild pitch by Jordan, but the Lipscomb hurler improved to 11-0 on the year by getting a game-ending ground ball to second base.

BGSU-LIPSCOMB STATS & LEADERS

The Falcons held a 7-3 advantage in hits, but BG left 10 runners to Lipscomb's six.
Alex Sorgi was 3-for-3 with a walk in the game, while Searle was 3-for-4 with a double. Gonzalez had BG's only other hit, a solo homer in the fourth.
Three different Lipscomb players had one hit apiece, with Ward providing the big blow with a three-run homer.
Jordan got the win, allowing two runs (one earned) and seven hits. She walked four batters and struck out two.
Brooke Parker suffered the loss despite allowing only three hits. She walked six hitters and struck out a pair.

UP NEXT

BGSU remains in Nashville for a pair of Sunday (March 18) contests vs. these same foes. BG faces IUPUI in a game scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. locally (12:00 p.m. ET), then turns around to meet Lipscomb at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. ET).
Then, the Falcons will play a doubleheader at Wright State on Wednesday (March 21), before opening both the home and the Mid-American Conference portions of the schedule next weekend, with a three-game series vs. Ball State (March 23-24) at Meserve Field. That Friday's single game begins a seven-game homestand for the Orange and Brown.

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