Falcons Dig the Long Ball

Wednesday, March 13

Bowling Green, OH

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-11

Oakland

4-8

Oakland

Bowling Green

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

March 13, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 BGSU-Oakland Game 1 Box Score BGSU-Oakland Game 2 Box Score

Natham's walk-off blast propels BG to doubleheader sweep of Oakland

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Senior Kellie Natham hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the opener, propelling the Bowling Green State University softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Oakland University Wednesday (March 13). The Falcons downed the Golden Grizzlies by scores of 6-5 and 8-4 in non-conference action at Meserve Field.

Natham homered twice in the opener, as the Falcons hit a total of five round-trippers in the two games.Junior transfer Evelyn Loyola hit her first homer as a Falcon in game one, but the Golden Grizzlies took the lead on Jackie Reitmeyer's leadoff homer in the top of the seventh. The bottom of the inning, however, saw junior Taylor Blevins lead off with an infield single, before Natham's one-out, two-run blast.

In the second game, sophomore Nikki Sorgi homered to begin a two-run second inning that gave the Falcons the lead for good. Freshman Marissa Mullen hit her first collegiate homer in the fourth, as BG took leads of 4-1 and 7-2, then held the Grizzlies at bay.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• Last season, BGSU hitters had a total of three home runs in 16 home games. No Falcon hit more than one homer at Meserve Field during all of last spring.
• On Wednesday, the Falcons hit five round-trippers. Senior Kellie Natham hit her second homer of 2019 at Meserve Field during her fourth plate appearance of 2019 at Meserve Field.

BONUS NOTE OF THE DAY
• Kellie Natham is the first Falcon to hit two homers in a game in over three years, since Marisa Shook went deep twice against Morehead State on Feb. 20, 2016.

BGSU-OAKLAND GAME ONE – HOW IT HAPPENED
• Starting pitchers Meredith Miller and Chelsea Wiggins each worked a one-two-three first inning, and Miller also set the Golden Grizzlies down in order in the second.
• Senior Kellie Natham got the Falcons on the scoreboard with a homer to left. Sophomore Sarah Gonzalez followed by drawing a walk, but Wiggins retired the next three hitters.
• Lauren Pletscher became OU's first baserunner of the game, with a leadoff walk in the third. But, her time on base was brief, as on the very next pitch, catcher Evelyn Loyola fired the ball down to second baseman Nikki Sorgi covering first, and Sorgi applied the tag as Pletscher was picked off.
• But, the Grizzlies took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Jessie Munson reached on an infield error, and on Mikayela Marciniak's sac bunt, both runners were safe when the throw to first was dropped.
• With runners at the corners, Brittney Miller roped a ball to the wall in straightaway center for a run-scoring double, and another run scored on Shannon Carr's sacrifice fly.
• Meanwhile, BG put a runner on base in both the third and fourth innings, but could not bring them around to score. Junior Taylor Blevins singled up the middle with two down in the third. In the fourth, Natham walked, and pinch-runner Kathleen Shier took second on a perfect bunt by Gonzalez and third on freshman Marissa Mullen's fly ball to left, but the inning ended with the senior on third.
• OU added to the lead in the fifth, when Munson's two-out single scored pinch-runner Kayla Marburger after Hannah Chadwell had walked to begin the inning.
• But, Loyola led off the home half of the fifth with her first homer as a Falcon, depositing a ball over the fence just to the right of dead center. BG put two more runners aboard that inning, as senior Alex Sorgi reached on a bunt single and stole second, and junior Madi McCoy walked with two down. Natham gave one a ride, but her drive was caught at the wall in left-center.
• The visitors got a run in the sixth to retake a two-run lead. After freshman Hannah Davies retired the first two batters she faced, back-to-back doubles by Carr and Jamie Squires gave the Grizzlies a 4-2 advantage.
• But, in the BG sixth, the Falcons rallied to tie the score. Mullen singled up the middle with one out, and Loyola reached on a ground ball that was deflected by OU pitcher Wiggins, with pinch-runner Kendyl Wheeler taking third. Both runners would score when sophomore Payton Hamm's two-out looper was dropped just beyond the second-base bag.
• Miller returned to the circle for the seventh, but Jackie Reitmeyer led off the inning with a solo shot to center that gave the visitors the lead once again.
• Kelsie Swanson singled with one out, but leftfielder Hamm made a nice sliding catch of a Munson drive in foul ground near the tarp for out number two, and Miller then got Marciniak to pop up to McCoy at short.
• Blevins led off the BG seventh with a bunt single, and McCoy bunted her to second. With one down, the Grizzlies made a pitching change, and Haley Bartholomew entered the game to face Natham. Bartholomew's first pitch was a called strike. Her second pitch was a foul ball. The third pitch of the at-bat saw Natham turn and hammer it to left for a two-run, walk-off homer.

better watch out for @kellie_natham 👀 walk off two run hr!! pic.twitter.com/DiTzqasxm6
— Morgan Abbitt (@morgie_28) March 14, 2019

KELLIE NATHAM'S GAME-ONE AT-BATS
• Second inning – leadoff home run to left field
• Fourth inning – leadoff walk
• Fifth inning – fly ball that was caught at the fence in left-center
• Seventh inning – two-run walk-off homer to left

GAME ONE STATS & LEADERS
• The Falcons outhit the Grizzlies, 7-6, with Natham leading the way. The senior went 2-for-3, homering twice and drawing a walk in four plate appearances. She scored two runs and drove in three.
• Blevins also had two hits in the win, scoring a run.
• Loyola hit the first homer of her Falcon career with a solo shot in the fifth.
• Six different players had one hit apiece for the Golden Grizzlies. Four of the six hits went for extra bases, including the Reitmeyer homer.
• Miller picked up the win in the circle. She allowed just two earned runs and four hits in six innings, striking out six. Miller threw an even 100 pitches, including 64 strikes.
• Wiggins, the Oakland starter, pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs and six hits. Bartholomew took the loss in relief.

BGSU-OAKLAND GAME TWO – HOW IT HAPPENED
• Both teams had a walk and a single, not necessarily in that order, in the first inning. Marciniak had a bloop single off of BG starter Brooke Parker with two outs, and Miller drew a walk, but a fly ball ended the threat.
• The home half of the inning saw Alex Sorgi draw a leadoff walk, and McCoy single with two down, but Natham's fly ball to left was caught by an outfielder who – after witnessing the BG senior's game-one exploits – was standing just in front of the warning track when the ball was pitched.
• Oakland took the lead in the second inning. Lauren Griffith reached on a one-out error, and after Parker struck out Reitmeyer, Rayba was hit by a pitch, and Munson's bloop double to left scored Griffith with an unearned run.
• That lead was short lived, as Nikki Sorgi led off the second inning with a homer to left off of OU starter Lauryn DeBono. Mullen followed by drawing a walk, and a Gonzalez bunt moved pinch-runner Shier to second. DeBono got a foul pop to the first baseman for the second out, but senior Kali Holcomb frozen rope to right center resulted in a triple, with Shier scoring easily.
• Emily Karas entered the game for the Grizzlies, and Alex Sorgi greeted her with a line drive, but it was caught by the leftfielder for the third out.
• In the fourth, Parker set down the visitors in order, and Mullen hit a drive down the right-field line that landed on the netting above the Oakland bullpen for her first collegiate homer.
• The next batter, Gonzalez drew a walk, and junior Logan Everett's sac bunt resulted in runners at second and third when the throw to first was high. Holcomb reached on a fielder's choice, as OU shortstop Munson threw to third, but the throw was too late as Gonzalez scrambled back to the bag.
• A ground ball resulted in a force play at home, but another grounder scored a run. Pinch-hitter Loyola's ground ball up the middle was grabbed by a diving Munson near the second-base bag, and her only play was at second as Everett scored to make it a 4-1 game.
• In the fifth, Alex Sorgi made a nifty diving catch in right-center to take a hit away from Rachel Zerona, but Marciniak followed with a solo homer that cut the BG lead to two.
• But, BG answered with a crooked number in the bottom of the inning. Natham beat out a single up the middle, and Nikki Sorgi pushed a bunt past the pitcher for another infield hit.
• Pinch-runner Madeline Dyer moved to second on Sorgi's hit, and both Dyer and Sorgi would score when Mullen's hard-hit grounder caromed off of the glove of a charging OU second baseman and into shallow right. Then, on a Gonzalez grounder to the circle, a Karas throw to third in attempt to get Mullen was off line. BG had runners as the corners, and freshman Emily Kepple followed with a single that scored Mullen to make it a 7-2 game.
• The Grizzlies rallied in the sixth. Carr and Squires singled, and after a wild pitch, Griffith singled to center to score both runners. Griffith was cut down trying to advance to second on the play, but Reitmeyer reached on an infield single, and Munson blooped a ball down the right-field line for a double that put two runners in scoring position. Parker, however, ended the inning by inducing Zerona to hit a tapper back to the circle.
• McCoy and the Falcons added some insurance in the bottom of the inning. The junior scorched a ball to the wall in left-center for a one-out double, and she would score when Wheeler singled up the middle with two outs.
• In the bottom of the inning, Miller singled with one down, and Carr hit a ball to center that landed in front of the charging Alex Sorgi in center. But, Sorgi grabbed the ball on one bounce and fired it to second baseman Wheeler in time to force Miller at second. The next hitter, Squires hit a foul pop that Natham grabbed in front of the Oakland dugout, and the Falcons had the win and the doubleheader sweep.

GAME TWO STATS & LEADERS
• Nikki Sorgi went 2-for-3 as the Falcons pounded out nine hits, including four for extra bases, in the nightcap. Sorgi had a homer and scored two runs.
• McCoy was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while Mullen was 1-for-3 with a walk, a homer and a pair of runs.
• Holcomb had an RBI triple, while both Kepple and Wheeler were 1-for-1 and drove in a run.
• For the second-straight game, Gonzalez had both a walk and a sac bunt.
• Carr, Marciniak and Munson all went 2-for-4 for the Grizzlies, while Griffith drove in two of her team's four runs.
• Parker picked up the complete-game win. She allowed nine hits, but only three earned runs, walking two hitters and striking out four.
• DeBono, the first of three OU pitchers, took the loss.

UP NEXT
• BGSU heads to Kentucky this weekend, for four games in the Morehead State Classic on Saturday and Sunday (March 16-17). The Falcons are scheduled to play two games against St. Bonaventure and two vs. host MSU.

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