BG Bats Explode in Doubleheader Sweep of Buffalo

Friday, April 13

Buffalo, NY

1:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

20-19, 3-9

Buffalo

14-21, 6-7

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Sammy Dees was 5-of-6 at the plate on Friday

April 13, 2018 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Falcons pound out 24 hits, including five homers, in the two wins

By: BUFFALO, N.Y. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University softball team caught fire at the plate Friday afternoon (April 13), as the Falcons scored 18 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the University at Buffalo. BGSU topped the Bulls by scores of 7-3 and 11-1, posting a run-rule win in the second game at Nan Harvey Field.

Five different Falcons hit a home run in the sweep, while six different BG players scored at least two runs and seven Falcons drove in two or more runs on Friday.

LINKS
BGSU-BUFFALO STATISTICS: Game 1 | Game 2

The Falcons hit .444 as a team in the twinbill, pounding out 11 hits in the opening game and 13 in the five-inning nightcap. Four different players had at least four hits on the day.

HITTING HEROES

Freshman Sammy Dees led the hit parade, going 5-for-6 with a double and a homer in the two wins. Senior Aspen Searle and juniors Kali Holcomb and Kaylee Parker all went 4-for-6 in the DH.
Dees, Holcomb and Searle each scored three runs on Friday, while Parker crossed the plate twice. Parker, like Dees, had a double and a homer, while Holcomb, Searle and senior Laine Simmons all homered as well.

QUOTING COACH WILLIS
"Our offense did a great job today in their approach and execution at the plate. Hitting is contagious, and it is great to see the bats coming to life."

"Our defense was solid behind our pitching staff today. Both (Meredith) Miller and (Brooke) Parker threw their game and gave us consistent results. Both games were solid team wins."

FALCON NOTES

The Falcons' total of 11 runs in Friday's second game was BG's highest in a MAC contest in over a year, since an 11-5 victory at Northern Illinois on April 1, 2017.
Friday's second contest also marked BGSU's first run-rule win in MAC play in nearly six years, since a 15-2, five-inning victory against Northern Illinois on April 27, 2012.
BG's last run-rule win on the road vs. a MAC team came just over seven years ago. BGSU topped Toledo, 10-2 in five innings, on April 17, 2011.
The Falcons' total of 18 runs in the doubleheader was BG's highest in four years, since another twinbill at UB. On April 18, 2014, the Falcons topped the Bulls by scores of 6-1 and 12-11 at Nan Harvey Field.
Junior Kali Holcomb drove in four runs in BGSU's game-two victory. It marked Holcomb's fourth four-RBI game of the season.
Holcomb now has 38 RBI on the year, tying her for sixth on the BGSU single-season list. The school record is 42 RBI by Gina Rango in 2004.
Senior Aspen Searle's home run on Friday was the 25th of her career. She is sixth on that BGSU career list, just one behind fifth-place Rango (26 from 2003-06).
With five homers on Friday, the Falcons now have hit 34 on the season. That marks the highest total since the 2014 team also hit 34 dingers. The school record for homers in a season is 47, set by the 2007 club.

BGSU-UB GAME ONE – HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons jumped on top early against UB starter Ally Power. With one out, freshman Sammy Dees turned on a pitch and lined a ball over the left-field fence for a solo home run. Junior Kali Holcomb beat out a roller to shortstop for a two-out single, before Power got the third out.
The Bulls responded quickly against BG junior Meredith Miller. Jess Goldyn led off with a single and took second on a sacrifice bunt. Jenelle Martinez singled with two outs to score Goldyn, and Martinez would come around to score on an opposite-field double by Danielle Lallos.
But, after allowing three hits in the opening inning, Miller would surrender just three more hits the rest of the way, shutting out the Bulls over the final six frames.
And, the Falcons would score the game's final six runs. After Power allowed just one hit over the next two innings, BGSU tied the contest in the fourth. Holcomb reached on a leadoff single, then took second on a sac bunt by senior Laine Simmons. Junior Kaylee Parker walked, but a ground ball by freshman Sarah Gonzalez resulted in a force play at second, as UB shortstop Alis Karjel made a diving stop behind the second-base bag and flipped the ball to second baseman Martinez.
With runners at the corners and two outs, junior Kellie Natham came through, hitting a flare to right-center for an RBI single. Holcomb scored from third to tie the game.
Miller set down the Bulls in the bottom of the inning, and BG took the lead in the fifth. Junior Alex Sorgi reached on an error, and Dees bunted her to second. Then, senior Aspen Searle homered to left, giving the Falcons a 4-2 lead.
And, the Brown and Orange broke the game open with a three-run sixth. Kaylee Parker led off by reaching base for the third time in as many at-bats, with a double to left-center. Parker took third on a wild pitch, and after Gonzalez walked, Natham hit a fly ball to deep left. The ball was caught, but both runners tagged and advanced, with Parker scoring the Falcons' fifth run.
Gonzalez took third on a ground ball to the right side, and the freshman scored when Alex Sorgi was safe on another UB error. Dees followed with an infield single, and a delayed steal by Sorgi put runners at the corners. Searle's single scored Sorgi and prompted a UB pitching change. Holcomb greeted reliever Lace Smith with a towering fly ball, but the drive was caught on the warning track in straightaway center field.
The Bulls got a run back in the sixth, on a catcher's interference call, a groundout and a Lallos single, but a double play ended that inning, and Miller worked a 1-2-3 seventh frame to lock down the victory.

BGSU-UB GAME ONE – STATS & LEADERS

BGSU held an 11-6 advantage in hits, and four Falcons had multiple-hit games.
Kaylee Parker led the way, reaching base in all four of her plate appearances. The junior was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk, and she scored a run.
Dees was 2-for-3 with a solo homer, while both Holcomb and Searle went 2-for-4 at the plate. Searle had a game-high three RBI.
Natham had a hit and drove in a pair of runs, while Alex Sorgi scored twice and Gonzalez added a walk and a run.
Miller allowed two earned runs and six hits in her complete-game win. She improved to 11-11 on the season, walking one batter and striking out five. The junior threw 63 of her 94 pitches for strikes.
Lallos led the Bulls with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, and she drove in two of UB's three runs.
Power took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) and nine hits. She walked two Falcons and struck out three before leaving with two outs in the sixth. Smith got the final four outs, allowing two hits.

BGSU-UB GAME TWO – HOW IT HAPPENED

BGSU struck early against Smith, with a four-run first frame. Dees lined a ball between the third baseman and the third-base line, and the ball went down the line for a one-out double. Searle then beat out a slow roller to short, putting runners at the corners, before Holcomb homered to straightaway center, giving the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
Simmons followed with a homer of her own, crushing a ball to left-center for a four-run Falcon advantage. The UB outfielders barely moved as Simmons' drive left the park in a hurry.
Goldyn doubled and Leandra Jew walked to put two runners on base with no outs in the bottom of the first, but BG starter Brooke Parker proceeded to retire the next three Bulls on a fly ball to shallow right, a strikeout and a fly to left.
BG threatened in the third, with singled by Dees and Searle and a walk to Holcomb. But, an out on the bases helped quell that rally, and Smith escaped the inning without any damage. She would not be so lucky in the following inning.
The Bulls cut into the BG lead with a third-inning run. Jew singled, Anna Aguon walked and Catrell Robertson doubled to plate a run and get the hosts on the board. With runners at second and third, Brooke Parker got an inning-ending fly ball to right.
BG exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning, sending 10 batters to the plate. One of BG's outs in the inning came on a sacrifice bunt, and another came on a sac fly that scored a run.
The inning began with a Gonzalez single up the middle and an infield hit by Natham. Sophomore Taylor Blevins, making her first start of the season, advanced the runners with a perfectly-placed bunt, and Alex Sorgi's single scored Gonzalez and pinch-runner Payton Hamm.
Sorgi took second on the UB throw to the plate, and she scored easily on a Dees single to right-center. The Bulls made a pitching change, but reliever Marlee Shaffer's first pitch was a wild pitch that sent Dees to second, and she walked Searle to put two runners on.
Holcomb followed with a single that scored Dees, and Searle scored on a sacrifice fly by Simmons. BG's lead was 9-1, and the Falcons increased the advantage to 11-1 when Kaylee Parker homered to dead center.
Sophomore Logan Everett came off the bench to pinch-hit in the fifth, and lined the only pitch she saw up the middle for a two-out base hit, but UB's third pitcher of the game got the third out.
In the bottom of the inning, UB loaded the bases on a hit batter and a pair of walks, but Brooke Parker got Karjel to strike out to end the game.

BGSU-UB GAME TWO – STATS & LEADERS

BG had 13 hits in just five innings, with Dees leading the way. The freshman went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI in the game-two win.
Searle was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. Holcomb also went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs, and she drove in four runs, including three on her first-inning homer.
No fewer than six other Falcon had a hit. Three of those six – Alex Sorgi, Kaylee Parker and Simmons – had two RBI apiece.
Meanwhile, in the circle, Brooke Parker allowed one run and four hits en route to the victory. She walked four batters and struck out three, improving to 9-6.
Smith, the first of three UB hurlers, took the loss. She allowed eight runs and 10 hits, leaving with one out in the fourth.
Shaffer gave up three runs and two hits in two-thirds of an inning, while Brieanna Baker pitched a scoreless fifth inning, allowing one hit.
At the plate, four different UB players had one hit apiece. Jew and Robertson each had a hit and a walk, while Aguon walked twice.

UP NEXT

The Falcons and Bulls are scheduled to complete their three-game weekend series on Saturday morning (April 14), with first pitch scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at Nan Harvey Field.
Then, the Brown and Orange will prepare for a three-game set at Akron next weekend. The Falcons and Zips are slated to play a Friday (April 20) single game and a Saturday (April 21) doubleheader.

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