Falcons Take Two on Friday in Florida

Friday, March 6

Clearwater, FL

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-6, 0

Providence

3-8, 0

Providence

Bowling Green

March 06, 2020 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 BGSU-Providence Box Score BGSU-Penn State Box Score

BG fires back-to-back shutouts; Dees goes 5-for-6 at the plate

By: by Mike Cihon, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

The Bowling Green softball team got 14 innings worth of goose eggs from the pitching staff and timely hitting at the plate on Friday (March 6). It all added up to a pair of wins in Florida as the Falcons downed Providence, 1-0, in the afternoon, before posting a 4-0 win over Penn State in the evening.

Friday's games were part of first-day action for the Falcons at the Clearwater Spring Break Invitational.

Junior Madison French and freshman Payton Gottshall got the job done in the circle. French pitched the first five innings vs. the Friars before Gottshall picked up the win in relief.

Gottshall struck out six batters in her two innings of work in the opener, then fired a complete-game shutout vs. the Nittany Lions.

The duo combined to allow just eight hits in their 14 innings of work.

NOTEWORTHY
• Redshirt sophomore Sammy Dees was red-hot at the plate on Friday, going 5-for-6 with a walk in the two games. She had a double vs. both the Friars and the Nittany Lions.
• Senior Madi McCoy had a three-hit day. Like Dees, she had two hits against Providence, and McCoy added another hit in the Penn State game.
• French allowed just three hits in five shutout innings vs. Providence. She walked one batter and struck out two.
• Gottshall picked up the win in relief vs. the Friars. She faced seven batters, walking one and striking out six.
• Against the Nittany Lions, Gottshall scattered five hits in her complete-game win. She walked two batters and whiffed five in improving her record to 8-5 on the year.
• Freshman Montana Jones recorded the first hit of her young BGSU career with a single to right in the fifth inning of the Providence game.
• Dees and McCoy combined for the other four hits vs. the Friars, as Dees was 2-for-2 with a walk and McCoy went 2-for-3 and scored the game's only run.
• In the nightcap, Dees was 3-for-4, while junior Nikki Sorgi went 2-for-4 as the Falcons pounded out 11 hits. Both Dees and Sorgi had a run and an RBI in the win.
• Junior Sarah Gonzalez went 2-for-3 vs. the Nittany Lions, driving in a run in the victory.

BGSU-PROVIDENCE – HOW IT HAPPENED
• Starting pitchers Madison French and Daniela Alvarez kept the opponents off of the scoreboard for the first five innings. The Friars got a two-out single from Jessica Tomaso in the top of the first and a pair of baserunners in the second, but French induced a popup to first and a grounder to second, respectively.
• Sammy Dees walked with one down in the first, but a double-play ball ended that would-be threat. In the second, Logan Everett was hit by a pitch with one down, but that runner was stranded at first.
• French worked around another Tomaso two-out hit in the third, and BG threatened in the home half of the fourth. Dees led off with her second hit of the day, and Madi McCoy followed with a single. The next batter, however, was called out for hitting the ball when her foot was out of the batter's box. Everett hit a scorcher, but the ball was lined directly to the centerfielder.
• The only hit for either team in the fifth inning was a Montana Jones single – the first collegiate hit for the Falcon freshman – with two down, but each of the other six batters in the inning grounded out.
• Payton Gottshall replaced French in the circle for the sixth, and proceeded to strike out the side.
• In the bottom of the inning, the Falcons broke on top with what would prove to be the only run of the game. With one out, McCoy singled through the left side. A liner to left produced the second out before chaos ensued in Clearwater.
• Everett hit a ball to the left side, and the shortstop's throw was wild. McCoy hit second and headed for third, and the throw in that direction was off target as McCoy continued on home. A lengthy discussion ensued, but when the smoke finally cleared, the Falcons had a 1-0 lead.
• And, Gottshall made that lead hold up. She allowed a leadoff walk to Crista San Antonio, but after pinch-runner Izzy Mendez stole second, Gottshall struck out Gianna Magrino, Tiana Wren and Annie Flego to end the game.
• With the tying run at second base, the Gottshall-Flego battle took 12 pitches before the first-year Falcon came away with the strikeout.

BGSU-PSU – HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Nittany Lions threatened against Gottshall in the home half of the first, as Kennedy Legg doubled and Maggie Finnegan singled to put runners at the corners with one out. But, Finnegan was caught stealing for the second out, and Gottshall struck out Destiny Weber to retire the side.
• The Orange and Brown took the lead in the top of the second. Nikki Sorgi led off with a single, and Everett's sacrifice bunt sent her to second. Sophie Weber reached on an infield error that put runners at the corners, and a single by Sarah Gonzalez plated Sorgi with what would prove to be the winning run.
• Penn State looked to respond, putting two runners in scoring position with none out. A walk to Melina Livingston, an infield error and a double steal put runners on second and third. But, Gottshall got a pair of infield grounders with the runners forced to hold, then struck out Dani Fey to end the inning.
• Dees continued her red-hot Friday at the plate, leading off the third inning wit a double, but she was stranded there. Evelyn Loyola singled with one down in the fourth, but again, BG could not move the runner along.
• But, Gottshall retired the side in order in both the third and the fourth frames, and BG added to the lead in the fifth.
• That frame saw Dees and Taylor Blevins hit back-to-back singles with one out, signaling a pitching change for the Nittany Lions. Reliever Kylee Lingenfelter, however, promptly threw a wild pitch, and McCoy's sac fly to left plated Dees. Then, Sorgi singled to drive Blevins home to give BG a 3-0 lead.
• Claire Swedberg was hit by a pitch to lead off the PSU fifth, and Fey's bunt single put a pair of runners aboard with one out. But, Gottshall got Kaitlyn Morrison to pop up to short, and on a single by Legg, a Nittany Lion runner was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
• BG added to the lead in the sixth. Weber singled, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a bad-hop single by Gonzalez, and scored on a two-out hit by Dees.
• Finnegan doubled to lead off the PSU sixth, and Swedberg walked to begin the seventh, but in both cases, Gottshall retired the next three hitters. When Morrison fouled out to McCoy in the seventh, the Falcons had the win.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return to the diamond for two more games in the Clearwater Spring Break Invitational on Saturday (March 7). BGSU will meet Army West Point at 9:00 a.m. before turning around to face Chattanooga at approximately 11:30 a.m.
• BG wraps up weekend play with a Sunday morning (March 8) matchup with Seton Hall.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
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