Falcons Down MAC-Leading Ohio on Walk-Off Walk

Friday, May 4

Bowling Green, OH

3:00 PM ET

Bowling Green State University

26-24, 8-12

Ohio

32-15, 18-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Ohio	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	6	2
Bowling Green	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	6	3

Sarah Willis talks to the team - BGSU Ohio May 4 2018 - huddle postgame

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

May 04, 2018 | Softball

Box Score

BGSU picks up 3-2 win to keep MAC Tournament hopes alive

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Freshman Sammy Dees drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting the Bowling Green State University softball team to a 3-2 win over Ohio University Friday afternoon (May 4). The Mid-American Conference game was held at Meserve Field.

LINKS
BGSU-OHIO STATISTICS: PDF

With the win over the league-leading Bobcats, the Falcons (26-24, 8-12 MAC) keep their MAC Tournament hopes alive. Despite the loss, Ohio (32-15, 18-3 MAC) clinched the conference's overall regular-season title by virtue of Toledo's loss to Ball State on Friday afternoon.

After Ohio scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning, BGSU tied the game in the sixth and won it in the seventh. Junior Alex Sorgi scored a pair of BGSU runs, including the tying run on a double by senior Aspen Searle in the bottom of the sixth, and the only earned run of the game came in the bottom of the seventh.

Junior Kaylee Parker led off with a single and wound up at third with one out. An intentional walk to sophomore Taylor Blevins loaded the bases, but a sharp grounder back to the circle resulted in a force play at the plate for the second out.

Dees came to the plate, however, and took four-straight pitches out of the strike zone, giving the Brown and Orange the walk-off win as fellow freshman Sarah Gonzalez trotted home.

HIGHLIGHTS

The walk-off win was the Falcons' first at Meserve Field (non-run-rule division) in over a year, since a 1-0, eight-inning victory over Buffalo on April 14, 2017.
The winning run was the lone earned run of the game.
Both teams had six hits on the day, but BGSU had the only three extra-base hits, as senior Aspen Searle and juniors Kali Holcomb and Kaylee Parker each doubled.
Searle's RBI double was the 49th two-base hit of her career. She is two doubles shy of tying the BGSU career record in that category.

BGSU AND THE MAC TOURNAMENT RACE

Following the conclusion of Friday's games, the Falcons are ninth in the overall standings. BGSU is 8-12 in the MAC, one-half game behind Miami (9-12) and two games behind Northern Illinois (10-10).
Miami lost at Buffalo, 7-3, on Friday, while NIU defeated Central Michigan, 4-1, Friday night.
To qualify for the MAC Tournament, BGSU needs to win one more game than Miami wins on Saturday, OR two more games than Northern Illinois.
If BGSU wins two games on Saturday, the Falcons are in the tourney if Miami loses one game OR if NIU loses both games.
If the Falcons go 1-1 on Saturday, BGSU can't catch NIU, but the Falcons could qualify for the tourney if Miami loses both Saturday games.

QUOTING COACH WILLIS
"The energy today was spot on. The team was ready to go from pitch one and at-bat one, and we did well with our execution and 'small ball.' It was great to see a lot of players have quality at-bats against a very good pitcher today. Meredith (Miller) was just stellar in the circle for us; she was very consistent for us, and did a great job of offsetting their very talented hitters, especially at the top of their lineup."

"It wasn't the cleanest performance on defense, and we will certainly address that. But, overall, we showed a lot of good discipline, and the energy … I can't say enough about how much the energy can impact a game."

QUOTING KAYLEE PARKER
"We were talking before the game about the fact that we have nothing to lose. Ohio is number one in the conference, and they are a great team. But, we have to win some games this weekend, and all we can do is come out and play hard. And, that's exactly what we did today. Even though we had a couple mishaps, it still worked out for us. Our hitting came through when we needed it, which is something that we haven't been doing all the time lately."

BGSU-OHIO – HOW IT HAPPENED

On a day that was windy – even by Bowling Green standards – the Falcons jumped on top early. Junior Meredith Miller set down the Bobcats in order in the top of the first, and junior Alex Sorgi led off the home half of the inning with an infield hit. After a passed ball, freshman Sammy Dees laid down a bunt, and Ohio starting pitcher Danielle Steine threw wildly to first. Dees advanced to second as Sorgi came around to score.
After a one-out passed ball, junior Kali Holcomb hit a fly ball to left, and Dees was called out at the plate as she attempted to tag and score on the play.
Ohio's first baserunner came in the form of a BG error to begin the second inning, but a fielder's choice was followed by a double play, as second baseman Dees caught a line drive and threw to first to easily double up the Bobcats' Katie Yun.
Junior Kaylee Parker reached on a double down the right-field line in the bottom of the inning, but pinch-runner Payton Hamm was stranded at second after a strikeout and a foul pop.
The 'Cats threatened in the third, loading the bases with no outs, but Miller and the Falcons worked out of the jam. Alexa Holland was hit by a pitch, Allie Englant singled and Taylor Saxton reached on an infield error after she laid down a bunt.
But, Miller struck out Mikayla Cooper on three pitches, got Alex Day to hit a popup that Dees grabbed behind first base, then induced Morgan Geno to hit a grounder to third baseman Sarah Gonzalez, who fired to first for the third out.
Holcomb drilled a ball over the Ohio leftfielder's head and off the wall with one out in the fourth, but Steine retired the next two Falcons, and the Bobcats took the lead in the top of the fifth.
That wacky fifth frame saw Englant reach on an error, advancing to second on the play. Saxton bunted Englant to third, and Cooper's bunt single allowed Englant to cross the plate and tie the game.
On the play, Cooper was caught in a rundown between first and second base and was tagged out, but after a lengthy meeting by the umpires, she was ruled safe at first due to an obstruction call on a BG infielder.
A sac bunt sent Cooper to second, and after Geno walked, Natalie Alvarez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Then, Yun singled up the middle to score Cooper with the go-ahead run. Geno was out attempting to score from second as a throw from centerfielder Alex Sorgi reached catcher Laine Simmons in plenty of time to make the tag.
Steine retired the Falcons in the bottom of the fifth, but Miller worked around a two-out infield hit in the top of the sixth, before BG tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
Alex Sorgi reached on an infield error to begin that sixth frame, and Dees' sac bunt moved her to second. Then, senior Aspen Searle lined a ball to the gap in left-center for an RBI double that tied the game at 2-2. Steine bounced back to retire the next two BG batters, sending the game to the seventh inning.
Day singled with one out in the top of the seventh, but Miller got Geno to pop up to short, and an Alvarez grounder to Searle resulted in a force play at second.
Kaylee Parker led off the BG seventh by lining a ball past Ohio shortstop Yun for a leadoff single. Junior Kellie Natham's sac bunt moved Parker to second, and Gonzalez placed a ball just over the outstretched glove of Steine. It landed in front of second baseman Saxton for a single, as Parker advanced to third.
The Bobcats elected to intentionally walk sophomore Taylor Blevins to load the bases, and Ohio got the second out when a bouncer back to the circle resulted in a force play at home for the second out. But, Dees came to the plate and watched four-straight pitches miss the strike zone, giving BG the walk-off win.

BGSU-OHIO – STATS & LEADERS

Both teams had six hits. Junior Kaylee Parker went 2-for-3 for the Falcons, while Allie Englant was 2-for-3 with a run scored for the 'Cats.
Junior Alex Sorgi had a hit and scored two of BGSU's three runs, while senior Aspen Searle and freshman Sammy Dees each drove in a run.
Dees was officially 0-for-1 at the plate, but had a pair of sacrifice bunts and drew the walk that plated the winning run.
Fellow freshman Sarah Gonzalez singled and scored that game-winning run, while junior Kali Holcomb also had a hit.
In the circle, junior Meredith Miller allowed six hits and no earned runs in her complete-game win. She walked one batter and struck out three in improving to 14-14 on the year. Miller threw 77 strikes among her 117 pitches.
Danielle Stiene took the loss for Ohio, despite allowing just one earned run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Steine dropped to 22-6 on the year and 11-1 in MAC play. She walked two batters and struck out seven.

UP NEXT

BGSU and Ohio wrap up their three-game weekend series with a Saturday (May 5) doubleheader. First pitch of game one is set for 1:00 p.m. at Meserve Field, and it will be Senior Day, with Alivia Forshey, Aspen Searle and Laine Simmons recognized in an on-field ceremony that will begin shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Saturday's DH ends the regular season for the Falcons, who are still in the running to capture a spot in next week's MAC Tournament. The league tourney begins on Wednesday (May 10) at Firestone Stadium in Akron.

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