Falcons Drop a Pair on Day One at Upstate Classic

Friday, February 15

Spartanburg, SC

11:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

0-1

Boston University

4-3

Bowling Green

Boston

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

February 15, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 BGSU-Boston U. Box Score BGSU-USC Upstate Box Score Upstate Classic - Tournament Central

BU, Upstate get past BG

By: SPARTANBURG, S.C. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University softball team opened the 2019 season on Friday (Feb. 15), dropping a pair of games at the Upstate Classic in Spartanburg, S.C. Boston University broke open a tie game with a big sixth inning en route to a 9-3 win over the Falcons, and host USC Upstate doubled up the Brown and Orange, 4-2, in the day's second contest. Both games were held at Cyrill Stadium.

Junior Madi McCoy homered in her BGSU debut, while senior Kellie Natham hit a round-tripper in the nightcap. Sophomore Sammy Dees had a hit in each game, and freshman Emily Kepple had an RBI single in her first collegiate at-bat.

HOW IT HAPPENED – BGSU vs. BOSTON U.
• The Falcons got on the board early against BU starter Emily Gant, with a run in the first inning. Senior Alex Sorgi led off the game with a walk, and one out later, McCoy walked on four pitches. Sorgi was erased on a Natham fielder's choice, but McCoy stole third and came around to score on a BU error.
• BG senior Meredith Miller, who started both of Friday's games in the circle, hit a batter and issued a walk in the first inning, but induced a double-play grounder to end the frame.
• The second inning saw BG double the lead as Dees led off with a double, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by fellow sophomore Sarah Gonzalez. Gant got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but Kepple singled through the right side to plate Dees with the Falcons' second run. Alex Sorgi worked her second walk in as many innings, but Gant got the third out of the inning on a grounder back to the circle.
• BU took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Alexa Ponce singled and stole second, and a single by Marina Sylvestri plated Ponce to put the Terriers on the board. A single and a walk loaded the bases, and Emily Morrow's two-out single plated a pair of runs.
• That lead did not last for long. BU, playing a second-straight game, made a pitching change, and McCoy homered to greet reliever Kali Magane in the third. Natham walked, and Ali DuBois replaced Magane in the circle. DuBois was able to retire the next three hitters.
• The Terriers put runners at the corners in the bottom of the inning on a hit-by-pitch, a sac bunt and a walk, but Miller got Amodio to hit a liner to Gonzalez at third.
• Gonzalez led off the fourth with a walk and took second on Payton Hamm's sac bunt. Alex Sorgi walked with two outs – her third base on balls in as many plate appearances – but DuBois struck out the next hitter to end the threat.
• Senior Brooke Parker entered the game for the Falcons, and each team's pitcher worked perfect one-two-three innings in their next two trips to the circle. Parker set down the Terriers in order in both the fourth and fifth frames, while DuBois retired the Brown and Orange in the fifth and sixth.
• BU broke the tie in the sixth inning, and the Terriers went on to score six runs in the frame. Gant drew a walk, and Sylvestri singled. Amodio doubled to score both runners before Parker got Jen Horita to hit a ground ball back toward the circle for the first out.
• Aliyah Huerta-Liepner, though, homered to give BU a 7-3 lead. After Morrow singled, Alex Heinen walked, and a Madi Killebrew base hit scored another run.
• Freshman Hannah Davies made her collegiate debut, replacing senior Kiley Sosby in the circle. Davies, who came into the game with the bases loaded and just one out, sandwiched a pair of fly-ball outs around a hit batter.
• DuBois retired the side in order in the top of the seventh to close out the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED – USC UPSTATE
• Christina Biggerstaff had a solid outing for the Spartans in the circle on Friday. She struck out the side in the first inning, and had at least two strikeouts in each of the next three.
• Upstate got a baserunner on a two-out error in the bottom of the first, and after a stolen base, a walk and a passed ball, the hosts had runners at the corners. But, Miller whiffed Brittany Case to retire the side.
• The BG second inning saw Dees work Biggerstaff for a leadoff walk, and the soph took second on a sac bunt by junior Evelyn Loyola. But, a pair of strikeouts got the Spartans out of the inning.
• And, Upstate got on the board in the bottom of the frame. A pair of singles and a sac bunt, not necessarily in that order, put runners at the corners. Another sacrifce loaded the bases when the baserunner beat the throw to second, and after Miller fanned the next batter to produce the second out, Sarah Price singled to score two teammates.
• Miller retired the side in order in the third, and junior Kathryn Wheeler led off the fourth with a single through the left side. McCoy reached base when her bunt resulted in an error, and the runners wound up at second and third on the play. Biggerstaff struck out the next two Falcons, but a passed ball plated Wheeler to get the Brown and Orange on the board.
• Miller worked around a two-out hit in the home half of the fourth, and BG put runners in scoring position in the fifth. Gonzalez walked, and Alex Sorgi singled with two outs. An error on the latter play sent Sorgi to second and Gonzalez to third, but Erin Hill replaced Biggerstaff in the circle and induced a grounder to the right side that produced the third out.
• The home side scored two more runs in the bottom of the third, on doubles by Alyssa Oakes and Case and a wild pitch.
• Dees singled in the sixth, but Loyola's liner was caught by the first baseman to end the inning.
• In the seventh, Natham clubbed a pinch-hit homer with one down, cutting BG's deficit to 4-2. With two outs, Hamm singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but Hill got a game-ending ground ball that forced Hamm at second.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons wrap up the Upstate Classic with a pair of games on Saturday (Feb. 16). The Brown and Orange will face Boston University in an 11:00 a.m. start, and BG then faces Connecticut in a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.

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