BGSU Blanks Butler, 5-0

Sunday, February 13

Rosemont, Ill.

10:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

4-1

Butler

4-2

Bowling Green

Butler

For Payton Gottshall, Sunday marked her eighth career complete game in which she allowed one hit or fewer

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

February 13, 2022 | Softball

Box Score BGSU-BU Stats

Gottshall Gem Gives Falcons a 4-1 record at the DePaul Dome Tournament

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Payton Gottshall fired a complete-game one-hitter as the Bowling Green State University softball team wrapped up the season's opening weekend with a shutout win. The Falcons downed Butler University, 5-0, on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 13) at the DePaul Dome Tournament.

Payton Hamm's two-run double in the second inning broke a scoreless tie and gave the Falcons (4-1) the lead for good. Lexi Carver, Reagan Williamson and Bailey Sample all drove in runs as BG added some insurance with a three-run sixth inning.

The Bulldogs drop to 4-2 on the season, with both losses coming at the hands of the Falcons.

Gottshall allowed an infield single to BU's Lauren Fey to lead off the first inning, then proceeded to retire 13 consecutive batters before an error allowed a Bulldog to reach base in the fourth.

The only other Butler baserunner came via another Falcon error in the sixth, but after that one-out miscue put a runner at third, Gottshall got a strikeout, then induced a fly ball to left to keep BU off of the scoreboard.

Gottshall moved to 3-0 on the young season, throwing 98 pitches in the complete-game win. She struck out nine and did not walk a batter.

NOTEWORTHY
• Payton Gottshall's shutout was her second of the young season, and the 12th of her career.
• With 13 overall shutouts (12 complete games and one combined shutout), Gottshall now ranks ninth on that BGSU career list. She picked up her 34th career win on Sunday, and is 10th in school history in career victories.
• Additionally, Gottshall now has 443 career strikeouts, good for sixth in BG history. She is just 13 K's shy of fifth place on that chart.
• She has now thrown six complete-game one-hitters – along with two no-hitters – in her stellar BGSU career.

BGSU-BU – HOW IT HAPPENED
• Lauren Fey, as mentioned, reached on an infield hit to begin the bottom of the first. But, Payton Gottshall set down the next three hitters to strand Fey at first. Gottshall would retire the Bulldogs in order in the second, third and fourth frames.
• Reagan Williamson drew a walk against BU starter Karli Ricketts to start the second inning, and Bailey Sample doubled to send pinch-runner Kerrigan Williams to third. Payton Hamm followed with a two-base hit of her own, scoring both runners and giving the Falcons the lead for good.
• For her part, Ricketts retired eight BGSU batters in a row, and Alyssa Graves came on to begin the fifth, retiring two more Falcons. She hit Ally Bezjak with a pitch, but then got the third out of the inning.
• In the sixth, though, Greta L'Esperance led off with an infield hit and immediately stole second. Peyton Dolejs drew a walk before both runners moved up on a wild pitch.
• Madison Seigworth entered the circle for the Bulldogs, but Lexi Carver greeted her with a base hit that plated L'Esperance and put runners at the corners. After a wild pitch advanced Carver to second, Dolejs came home on a Williamson grounder to the right side. Another ground ball, this time off the bat of Sample, scored Carver with the Falcons' fifth run.
• The bottom of the sixth saw Fey reach on a one-out infield error, and the Butler senior advanced all the way to third on the errant throw. But, Gottshall kept Fey at third, striking out pinch-hitter Kinley Longest before getting Ella White to hit a fly ball to Marlie McNulty in left.
• BG got a pair of two-out baserunners in the seventh, on a base hit by Bre Cooper and a walk to L'Esperance, but Siegworth was able to retire the next hitter.
Gottshall battled three consecutive batters to 2-2 counts in the home half of the seventh, and the Falcon phenom wound up striking out all three to secure the victory.

STATS, LEADERS & NOTES
• The Falcons had a 5-1 lead in the hits department. L'Esperance reached base twice, with a hit and a walk in four plate appearances.
• Gottshall, as mentioned, struck out nine batters and did not issue a walk. She wrapped up the first weekend of the season with a 3-0 record, an ERA of just 0.74 and 33 strikeouts (with just one walk) in 19 innings.
• L'Esperance's stolen base on Sunday was her fourth in as many attempts this season. She has moved into 10th place on the BGSU career steals list, with 33.
• Bailey Sample hit .462 and Peyton Dolejs .429 on the weekend. Both players, along with L'Esperance (.353), had six hits in the five games.

UP NEXT
• BGSU heads to Raleigh, N.C., in two weeks, and will play five games in the NC State Invitational (Feb. 25-27). The Falcons are scheduled to play two games each against Central Connecticut State and Delaware and one vs. the host school, North Carolina State.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
For more information on BGSU softball, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @BGSUSoftball) and Instagram (@bgsu_softball) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.