Falcons Frustrate Furman for Opening-Day Win

Saturday, February 24

Conway, S.C.

12:30 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

1-0

Furman

8-4

Bowling Green

Furman

Reagan Williamson drove in 3 runs in the win over Furman

Photo by: Daniel Carlson

February 24, 2024 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BGSU goes 1-1 on Saturday after setback to CCU

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

CONWAY, S.C. – The Bowling Green State University softball team scored seven times in the first four innings of the 2024 season opener, going on to a 7-3 victory over Furman University Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24). The game, part of opening-day action at the Battle at the Beach, was held at St. John Stadium.

In the second game of the day, the Falcons fell to host Coastal Carolina University by an 11-3 outcome.

Reagan Williamson doubled and drove in three runs for the Falcons (1-1 after Saturday's two games) in the opener, while Hannah Hunt and Lexi Carver each had two-hit games. Hunt, Makailah Dees and Peyton Steffes each scored two runs, while Peyton Dolejs had a pair of RBI in the win.

Taylor Turner, making her BGSU debut, picked up the complete-game win in the circle against the Paladins (8-4). The Miami transfer allowed only four hits in her seven innings of work, walking three and striking out four.

The nightcap saw CCU (6-5) benefit from a pair of Falcon errors to score seven unearned runs with two outs. Dees had an RBI for the second-straight game, while Steffes walked and scored.

BGSU-FURMAN – HOW IT HAPPENED
• Furman had scored 13 runs in the first game of the day, a win over Louisville, but could manage just four hits against Taylor Turner and the Falcons.
• The Falcons jumped on top in the first inning. Peyton Steffes, in her first collegiate at-bat, reached on an error and went to third on Hannah Hunt's single. Reagan Williamson's sacrifice fly allowed Steffes to tag and score the game's first run.
• Makailah Dees then reached on a fielder's choice, and Lexi Carver followed with a single before Peyton Dolejs came through with a base hit that plated Dees.
• The Paladins took the lead in the second inning, with Grayson Snead driving home a run with a double, before back-to-back hit batters followed by a walk allowed two more runs to score.
• Trailing, 3-2, the Falcons responded quickly. Hunt led off the third inning with her second single of the game, and a Williamson walk chased Furman starting pitcher Lauralee Scott. But, Dees worked relief hurler Taylor Miller for a walk, and Carver singled to score Hunt with the tying run. A Dolejs grounder would plate Dees with what would prove to be the winning run.
• BG got three fourth-inning runs to seize control. Wynnie Reid drew a one-out walk, and Steffes reached on a bunt single. After a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Hunt, Williamson laced a two-run double to left, and Williamson then came around to score on a Dees single to center.
• The Falcons would not add to that lead, but Turner made sure those runs would hold up. Beginning with the final out of the second inning, she retired 13 consecutive batters before allowing a leadoff single to Christina McCoy in the seventh. But, she then set down the next three hitters to seal the win.

BGSU-CCU – HOW IT HAPPENED
• BGSU again took an early lead. For the second time in as many career games, Steffes began the game by reaching base – this time on a four-pitch walk. She took second on a wild pitch, and came home to score when Dees crushed a liner to left for a two-out double.
• Turner started her second-straight game in the circle, and retired the side in order, aided by a spectacular catch by shortstop Cameron Kaufman in left field near the line.
• Kaufman would pick up her first collegiate hit on a second-inning bunt single, and Williamson had a third-inning hit, but BG could not add to the lead.
• Turner did not allow a hit until the bottom of the third, but after a one-out error, a single and a two-out walk would load the bases, and Iyania De Jesus followed with a double that cleared them. The three unearned runs gave the Chanticleers a 3-1 lead.
• BG responded in the fourth. Carver led off with a hit, and Dolejs walked. The runners moved up on Kaufman's sac bunt, and a wild pitch scored pinch-runner Kaylee Cole. After Ashley Chevalier walked, Reid's grounder to the left side plated Dolejs with the tying run.
• But, the hosts seized control in the home half of the fourth. After a leadoff single, second baseman Reid made a nifty diving catch of a popup in foul ground. Turner got a strikeout for the second out, but a base hit put runners at the corners. The Falcons thought they might be out of the inning on a 3-2 pitch to Delaney Keith, but it was ball four and the bases were loaded. Then, Riley Zana followed with a line drive over the wall in left for a grand slam.
• Madi Young replaced Turner in the circle, but several hitters later, Hampton reached on a bases-loaded throwing error that allowed three runs to score, and a single plated another run.
• Leading by eight, the hosts retired the Falcons in order in the fifth to seal the win.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons will conclude weekend action with a pair of games on Sunday (Feb. 25). BGSU will face Louisville at 9:30 a.m. before meeting Furman in a game scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m.