French, Holcomb (& Others) Help Falcons Run-Rule Detroit Mercy

Monday, April 23

Bowling Green, OH

5:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

25-19

Detroit Mercy

11-24

Detroit Mercy

Bowling Green

April 23, 2018 | Softball

Box Score

BGSU increases win streak to seven with 8-0 victory

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Freshman Madison French fired a one-hit shutout in her first collegiate start, and junior Kali Holcomb broke a school record as the Bowling Green State University softball team posted a run-rule win over the University of Detroit Mercy Monday (April 23). The Falcons topped the Titans, 8-0 in five innings, in non-conference action at Meserve Field.

LINKS
BGSU-UDM STATISTICS: PDF

For the Falcons (25-19), the win was the seventh in a row, and BGSU has topped the overall win total for all of last season.

Holcomb had three runs batted in against the Titans, increasing her season total to a school-record 44.

Senior Aspen Searle was a perfect 3-for-3 in the win, while freshman Sammy Dees had two hits in as many at-bats.

SCHEDULE NOTE

The Falcons have (re-)added a non-conference game to the schedule. BGSU will head to Dayton next Tuesday, May 1, for a single game against Wright State. That game will begin at 11:00 a.m.

SEVEN IN A ROW …

The Falcons have won seven consecutive games, the program's longest streak in 11 years. Prior to Monday, no BG team had won more than six games in a row since the 2007 team put together a 10-game winning streak.

… AND 25 IN ALL

The Falcons are now 25-19 on the season, and BGSU has topped the win total for all of last year. The 2017 team finished with a 24-32 overall record.
The current team's win total is the highest since the 2013 club finished with a 27-24 mark.

LET'S GET IT STARTED (HA)

The Falcons have scored in the first inning in each of the last six games, and BG has put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the last five contests. BGSU has 17 first-inning runs in the last six games – all wins – and the Falcons have scored 16 runs in the first frame over the last five games.

HOLCOMB HITS 'EM HOME

Junior Kali Holcomb drove in three runs on Monday, and now has a school-record 44 RBI on the season. She matched the old record of 42, set by Gina Rango in 2004, with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and her two-run double in the fifth inning moved her into sole possession of first place on that BGSU single-season list.

MADISON MOWS 'EM DOWN

Freshman Madison French, a native of Waterford, Mich., threw a complete-game one-hit shutout in her first collegiate start. French had made nine appearances this season, all in relief, prior to Monday. She allowed a first-inning double, but worked out of a jam, and French then faced just one batter over the minimum in the final four innings.

SEARLE'S STREAK IS OVER; LONG LIVE SEARLE'S STREAK

Senior Aspen Searle entered Monday's game having had two hits in each of BGSU's previous six games. Regarding that streak, we have good news and bad news.
First, the bad news: Searle did not have a two-hit game on Monday.
Now, the good news: That's because she had three hits vs. the Titans. Searle was a perfect 3-for-3, with a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBI.
Searle is batting .600 over the last seven games – all wins – having gone 15-for-25 in that time. She has a slugging percentage of .880 and has scored eight runs during BG's seven-game winning streak.

SORGI STEALS AGAIN (AND AGAIN)

Junior Alex Sorgi had a pair of stolen bases on Monday, and now has 20 on the season. She is just the third player in BGSU history – and the first in over two decades – to steal as many as 20 bases in a year. BGSU Hall-of-Famer Amy Lienhardt did so on three occasions, including a school-record 53 thefts in 1988, while Jenny Ranz stole 29 bases in 1997.

QUOTING MADISON FRENCH
"I was excited to get the start today. I've come into a lot of games in relief, and I just tried to come out hard and set the tone. It's actually less stressful, I think, than coming in in relief, because you have more control over the situation from the beginning. The defense did a great job behind me, and our hitters obviously had a great day as well."

QUOTING KALI HOLCOMB
"It's pretty exciting (to set the single-season RBI record). I knew I had a lot, but I didn't know how close I was to a record or anything like that. My teammates have done a great job of getting on base and making things happen."

"Everyone has been hitting the ball well lately. We've been jumping out in front, but over the weekend at Akron, we didn't always keep going and keep our foot on the gas when we had a chance to put them away. Today, with our pitcher shutting them out inning after inning, we kept on them. We'd like to see some numbers (on the scoreboard) in a few more innings, but we can't be mad about the outcome."

QUOTING COACH WILLIS
"We were able to get on top early in all three games at Akron over the weekend, and it looked like momentum was in our favor. And then, to be honest, our offense kind of sat back a little bit, and didn't have that killer instinct that we're trying to get them to have. I would still like to see us score runs in a few more innings, but it was great to see us score five in the fifth inning."

"We executed very well at the plate in that fifth inning, but I attribute a lot of our success in that inning to Taylor Blevins, coming off the bench and pinch-running. She forced some errors, made things happen and helped get a few more runs on the board for us. We talk about executing at the plate, but we also talk about playing hard on the bases as well. Certainly, the efforts of Taylor and others helped lead to our run total today."

"Madison (French) did a great job in her first start. She didn't go out there and overthrow or anything; she stuck with her game plan and with what we've been working on. She attacked the hitters, but didn't try to do too much. She kept the free passes down, and got her defense a lot of gettable outs, and that's all I can really ask for. It was great to see a freshman come out there and not really throw like a freshman."

"(Kali) Holcomb has done a great job for us all year. She's been very solid for us in the four spot, and she's very calm in a lot of high-pressure situations. We can trust her to hit the ball hard, put it in play somewhere and get some RBIs on the board. Kali is one of our go-to players, and she's been very consistent at the plate for us all season long."

BGSU-UDM – HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons, after scoring nine first-inning runs during the three-game series sweep at Akron over the weekend, again jumped on the board quickly. BGSU scored three times in the first inning on Monday.
First, though, freshman Madison French worked out of a jam in the top of the inning. Kori Keyes doubled with two outs – UDM's lone hit of the game, as it turned out – and a walk to Alyssa Lang was followed by a double steal that put two runners in scoring position. But, French got Maddy Scarsella to hit a popup to BG first baseman Kellie Natham, and the Titans would not threaten again.
Junior Alex Sorgi walked to begin the bottom of the inning, and stole second before freshman Sammy Dees drew a base on balls as well. Another Sorgi steal put her at third base, and Dees swiped second just two pitches later.
Then, senior Aspen Searle scorched a ball between UDM third baseman Keyes and the bag, and the ball went down the line and rattled around in the left-field corner. Sorgi and Dees scored easily, and Searle wound up on third base.
Then, junior Kali Holcomb lofted a ball down the left-field line. Her drive was caught in foul territory, but Searle tagged and scored easily. The sacrifice fly gave Holcomb her school record-tying 42nd RBI of the season, and also gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
French retired the Titans in order in both the second and fourth innings, with a pair of strikeouts in the second. In the third, Sydney Pollack led off with a walk, but leadoff hitter Jordan Manno hit a soft liner to the left side. Shortstop Searle made the catch as she headed to her right, then fired a strike to Natham at first, doubling Pollack off the bag. French then got a routine popup to Searle to end the inning.
BG had a baserunner in every inning, as sophomore Kendyl Wheeler was hit by a pitch in the second, and Dees and Searle had back-to-back singles to begin the third. Holcomb's hard-hit ball, however, was tagged directly at Keyes, who stepped on the third-base bag and fired to first for a double play. Junior Kaylee Parker then was hit by a pitch, but Titan starter Regan Glenn got an inning-ending strikeout.
In the fourth, Natham singled with one down, but a pair of ground balls produced the second and third outs.
French worked around a one-out walk in the fifth, with a strikeout and a tapper to first, and the BG bats went to work in the bottom of the inning.
Dees led off with a single, and Searle lined a ball past Keyes and down the left-field line for a double. Holcomb followed with a double of her own, as her drive went all the way to the wall in left-center. Both Dees and Searle scored on the play, giving Holcomb the single-season RBI record.
The Titans made a pitching change, but Kaylee Parker was plunked by a pitch for the second time in as many plate appearances. Sophomore Logan Everett's grounder produced the first out, but after UDM first baseman Cami Sinclair stepped on the bag, she threw wildly to second in an attempt to cut down pinch-runner Taylor Blevins. Blevins was safe at second, while the errant throw enabled Holcomb to score.
Then, freshman Sarah Gonzalez singled, and UDM center fielder Lang's throw toward third was off the mark. Blevins scored on the play, giving BGSU a seven-run lead, and Gonzalez wound up at third.
Natham stepped into the batter's box, took two strikes, then proceeded to foul off seven-straight pitches. The junior took a pitch for a ball, then fouled off yet another pitch before another ball worked the count to 2-2. On the 13th pitch of the at-bat, Natham lifted a ball to left field, medium deep. The ball was caught, but Gonzalez tagged and scored easily, and the Falcons had the run-rule win.

BGSU-UDM – STATS & LEADERS

Searle led BG's eight-hit attack on Monday. The senior shortstop was a perfect 3-for-3, with a single, a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBI.
Dees went 2-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored.
Holcomb was 1-for-2 on the day, scoring a run and driving in three. She had a sacrifice fly and a two-run double.
Alex Sorgi walked, stole two bases and scored a run, while Gonzalez and Natham had one hit apiece. Natham was 1-for-2 with a sac fly and an RBI, while Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Kaylee Parker was hit by a pitch in two-straight plate appearances, and pinch-runner Blevins wound up scoring after the second HBP.
French, as mentioned, allowed just one hit and no runs in her first collegiate start, picking up her first collegiate win in the process. She walked three batters and struck out four.
Keyes had UDM's lone hit, a first-inning double. The Titans were 1-for-15 as a team on Monday.
Glenn took the loss, allowing six runs and seven hits before leaving the circle after facing three batters in the fifth. Glenn walked two batters and struck out one.
Murphy allowed two runs (both unearned) and one hit in two-thirds of an inning of relief.

UP NEXT

The Falcons will hit the road to face Notre Dame on Tuesday evening (April 24). BGSU will meet the Fighting Irish in a 5:00 p.m. start at Melissa Cook Stadium.
Then, BGSU returns home for a three-game weekend series vs. Kent State at Meserve Field. The Falcons and Flashes are scheduled to play a single game Friday (April 27), followed by a Saturday (April 28) doubleheader.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

For more information on all things BGSU softball, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUSoftball) and Instagram (@bgsu_softball) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.