Falcons Fall in a Pair of One-Run Games in Dayton

Wednesday, March 20

Dayton, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-12

Dayton

10-14

Bowling Green

University of Dayton

Payton Hamm tied the school record with 2 triples in the WSU game

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

March 20, 2019 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 BGSU-Dayton Box Score BGSU-WSU Box Score

BG loses by identical 5-4 scores to UD, Wright State

By: DAYTON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University softball team dropped a pair of games by identical 5-4 scores on Wednesday (March 20). The Falcons fell to the University of Dayton in an afternoon contest, then came up just short against host Wright State University under the lights. Both non-conference games were held at the WSU Softball Field.

While the final score of each game was the same, the two contests unfolded much differently. In the opener, all five Dayton runs came in the second inning, and BG scored single runs in the fourth and sixth to get back within one, but could not plate the tying run.

The nightcap saw the Falcons outhit Wright State by an 8-3 count, and five of BG's eight hits were for extra bases. But, all five of the Raiders' runs scored on Falcon wild pitches (four) or passed balls (one). WSU tied the game in the sixth and won it in the seventh without benefit of a hit in either inning.

Junior Madi McCoy and freshman Sidney Cook homered in the opener, while sophomore Payton Hamm tripled in back-to-back at-bats in BG's second game.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• Sophomore Payton Hamm, as mentioned, had triples in back-to-back at-bats vs. Wright State on Wednesday night. Hamm tied the school record for triples in a game.
• BGSU single-game records from the program's early years are incomplete, but Hamm is just the fourth player since 2002 to triple twice in the same game, joining Melissa West (2009), Jeanine Baca (2005) and Crystal Wilson (2002).
• The NCAA Division-I record for triples in a game is three, achieved 15 times. According to the 2019 NCAA Record Book, no Mid-American Conference player has ever had three triples in a game.

BGSU-UD – HOW IT HAPPENED
• The teams battled through two scoreless innings, as BGSU starter Meredith Miller and her counterpart, UD's Jessica Weaver, each threw a pair of goose eggs.
• The Falcons got a pair of second-inning baserunners, as freshman Marissa Mullen walked, while sophomore Sarah Gonzalez singled. Meanwhile, Miller retired six-straight Flyers to begin the game.
• In the top of the third, junior Taylor Blevins singled with two outs, and promptly stole second. Then, classmate Madi McCoy stepped to the plate and put the Falcons on top with a two-run homer. The round-tripper was McCoy's fourth of the season, tying her for the team lead.
• But, the Flyers would score all five of their runs in the bottom of the inning. Alyssa Cacini led off with a single, but Miller got the next two batters to strike out and pop up to first base, respectively.
• Kyle Davidson, though, followed with a double that scored Cacini, and Lisa Tassi's single tied the game. Then, after a stolen base, a two-out error scored Tassi and opened the door for three unearned runs in the inning.
• Abby Ehrenborg singled, and Hannah Heraty doubled, with each hit driving in a run. Senior Brooke Parker entered the game and got a popup to Gonzalez at third for the third out.
• BG got a run right back in the fourth. Sophomore Nikki Sorgi singled, and Mullen drew another walk. Then, Gonzalez singled to plate Sorgi and make it a 5-3 game. Gonzalez took second and pinch-runner Madeline Dyer third on the throw. However, Weaver avoided further damage by retiring the next three batters with Dyer just 60 feet from the plate.
• Then, after Parker set down the Flyers in the home fourth, McCoy and senior Kellie Natham had back-to-back one-out singles in the fifth, and after a fielder's-choice grounder produced the second out, Mullen walked for the third time in as many at-bats to load the bases. But, another ground ball resulted in an inning-ending force play.
• Parker allowed a pair of hits in the bottom of the fifth, but one runner was cut down trying to take an extra base, and freshman catcher Emily Kepple sent a would-be base-stealer back to the dugout.
• In the sixth, freshman Sidney Cook blasted a one-out, pinch-hit home run to get the Falcons within a single run. But, BG would draw no closer. In the seventh, Jessica Gilliam got three fly-ball outs. Nikki Sorgi reached on a two-out error, but Gilliam responded by getting a foul fly that was caught by leftfielder Kelly Fitzgerald to end the game.

BGSU-UD STATS & LEADERS
• Dayton outhit the Falcons by a narrow 9-8 margin. BGSU left eight runners on base to the Flyers' four.
• McCoy went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI, while Gonzalez also had two hits. She was 2-for-3 and drove in one run.
• Blevins and Nikki Sorgi each had a single and scored a run, while Cook had a pinch-hit homer run in her lone plate appearance. Natham also had a hit for the Falcons.
• Mullen drew three walks in the game.
• Miller took the loss, allowing five runs (just two earned) on five hits. She struck out two batters.
• Parker pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless, four-hit relief, with one strikeout. Neither Miller nor Parker issued a walk.
• Cacini and Ehrenborg each went 2-for-3 for the Flyers, while Heraty's lone hit was a two-run double.
• Weaver picked up the win, surrendering four runs and eight hits in six innings. She walked three and struck out three. Gilliam earned the save with an inning of no-hit relief.

BGSU-WSU – HOW IT HAPPENED
• The game marked the first collegiate starts for Hannah Davies, Madeline Dyer and Kathleen Shier. Each of BGSU's non-pitchers has started at least one game this season.
• Wright State scored all five runs via BG wild pitches or passed balls, but in the first inning, it looked as if BG might get WSU's help to get on the board. With two outs, Nikki Sorgi reached on an error, then got to third via back-to-back wild pitches from Raider starting pitcher Olivia Otani. Natham, who was at the plate for those two wild pitches, drew a walk, but Otani recovered to get a ground ball to second that retired the side.
• Davies, in her first BG start, allowed a first-inning run. The freshman walked leadoff hitter Rebekah Lenos, and Lauren Deitrick singled to put runners at the corners with one down. A wild pitch scored Lenos, but Davies then got a pair of ground balls to the left side of the infield for the final two outs.
• In the third inning, Shier led off with a single. For the BG senior, it was her first collegiate hit, and it came in just her second career at-bat. Shier is in her first season on the BGSU softball team.
• Shier then stole second, and one out later, sophomore Payton Hamm's first triple of the night tied the score. Nikki Sorgi followed with a single to left that scored Hamm and gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
• The Raiders tied the score in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Lenos singled, then took second on a Meredith Keel sacrifice bunt. Deitrick reached on a BG error, with Lenos taking third, and a wild pitch would allow Lenos to score the tying run.
• Again, however, BG answered right away. Gonzalez singled with one out in the fourth, and Cook followed with a double to left-center, putting runners at second and third. Dyer's ground ball to the right side plated Gonzalez – for Dyer's first RBI as a Falcon – and Shier reached base for the second-straight plate appearance, as she was hit by a pitch. But, Otani was able to retire the next hitter.
• Sophomore Madison French entered the circle for the Falcons, and worked around a one-out error to keep the Raiders off of the board in the fourth. Then, Hamm tripled to lead off the fifth, and she would score easily on Nikki Sorgi's double. However, the Falcons missed an opportunity to further increase the lead, as despite a Natham double and a Gonzalez walk later in the inning, several outs on the bases enabled the Raiders to keep the deficit at two runs.
• And, that would prove to be crucial, although not right away. In the WSU fifth, Lenos singled and Keel walked with one down, but after a Deitrick grounder put runners at second and third, French got Madison Nunez to hit a grounder back toward the circle to retire the side.
• In the sixth, though, senior Kiley Sosby walked three batters to load the bases with one out, and French returned to the circle. A passed ball allowed a run to score, and a hit batter reloaded the bases.
• French got Lenos to hit a grounder to Gonzalez at shortstop, and the soph threw home for the second out. But, a wild pitch scored the tying run, before French got Keel to ground out to Gonzalez for out number three.
• WSU pitcher Lexie Hilling retired the Falcons in order in the seventh, and Deitrick was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the inning. Both runners were safe on a Nunez fielder's choice, and an infield error loaded the bases. French responded by striking out Macy McCall, but with Madison Mills at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Deitrick to come home with the game-winning run.

BGSU-WSU STATS & LEADERS
• The Falcons, as mentioned, outhit the Raiders, 8-3. Five of BG's eight hits went for extra bases. But, BG walked five WSU hitters and hit two more.
• Hamm and Nikki Sorgi each went 2-for-4. Hamm tied the school record with two triples, and she scored twice and drove in a run.
• Sorgi had a double and a pair of RBI on the evening. She is tied for the BG lead with 15 RBI on the year.
• Shier, in her first collegiate start, was 1-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch, a stolen base and a run scored. Gonzalez also went 1-for-2, and she drew a walk and scored a run.
• Dyer, making her first collegiate start as well, had her first RBI. Natham and Cook each doubled in the game, with Natham drawing a walk as well.
• Lenos was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored for the Raiders. Deitrick had WSU's only other hit in the game.
• Otani, the WSU starter, allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. She walked one batter and struck out two.
• Hilling picked up the win in relief, with 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball. She faced the minimum seven hitters, striking out three.
• Davies, in her first collegiate start, allowed just one earned run and two hits in three innings of work. She walked one and struck out one.
• French gave up just one run and one hit in three innings, but suffered the loss. She issued one walk and whiffed two Raiders. Sosby allowed two runs in her relief stint.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons begin Mid-American Conference action this weekend, with a three-game series at Ohio. BG battles the Bobcats at the Ohio Softball Field, with a single game on Friday (March 22) and a doubleheader on Saturday (March 23).
• Friday's game begins at 3:00 p.m., and the first pitch of Saturday's first game is set for 1:00 p.m.

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