Williamson Homers in Each Game of Tuesday DH

Tuesday, April 16

Bowling Green, Ohio

1 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

5-26, 2-13

Central Michigan

11-24, 8-5

Central Michigan

Bowling Green

Reagan Williamson homered in each game Tuesday, & reached base in 6 of 7 trips to the plate

Photo by: Joel Beachum

April 16, 2024 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

But, Falcons Fall in a Game-Two Heartbreaker as CMU Sweeps the Twinbill

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Reagan Williamson homered in each game of Tuesday's (April 16) doubleheader, but the Bowling Green State University softball team dropped a pair of contests to Central Michigan University. After winning the opener, 9-1, the Chippewas rallied for an 8-7 victory in the nightcap of the Mid-American Conference twinbill at Meserve Field.

Williamson reached base in six of her seven trips to the plate on Tuesday. She went 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits and a pair of walks. Her homer in the opener was a no-doubter that easily cleared the wall in left field. In game two, she hit a line drive that whizzed over the wall in left-center, along with a double that landed at the base of the fence.

Williamson had four runs batted in on the afternoon.

Along with Williamson, fellow senior Peyton Dolejs also had a pair of multiple-hit games on Tuesday. Dolejs was 2-for-4 in each contest, with a walk, a run and an RBI in the second game.

In the first game, starter Mackenzie Krafcik took the loss, but pitched much better than her final stat line might indicate. Krafcik and the Falcons trailed by just a single run, 2-1, entering the fifth inning. But, errors proved to be BG's undoing, as the Chippewas scored four runs on just one hit in that fifth frame.

After scoring runs in each of the final three innings of the first game, the visitors put runs on the board in both the first and second innings of game two, taking a 3-0 lead. Williamson's two-run shot in the BGSU second made it a 3-2 game, and the Falcons then sent 10 batters to the plate – with six getting hits – in a four-run fifth frame.

But, CMU rallied for five runs in the seventh inning to take an 8-6 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Grace Lehto – who had picked up the complete-game win in the opener – came on in relief for the Chippewas. Lehto, Central's fourth pitcher of the game, retired the first two batters, but the next four Falcons proceeded to reach base.

Williamson drew a walk, and Ashley Chevalier singled to send pinch-runner Katie Hutter to second. Marti Henkel reached on an error that loaded the bases, and Aaralyn Nogay was hit by a pitch as Hutter trotted home. Lehto, however, recovered to record a game-ending strikeout as CMU hung on for the victory.

NOTE OF THE DAY
• With her two homers on Tuesday, Reagan Williamson now has 13 in her BGSU career. She has moved into a tie for 15th place on that school career list.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY
• Six of BGSU's 10 starters in the first game were either freshmen or sophomores. In game two, the Falcons' starters included four frosh, three sophs, two juniors and a senior.

BGSU-CMU GAME ONE – HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Chippewas put the leadoff runner aboard in five of the seven innings, including on an Abbey Tolmie walk to begin the game. After a fly-ball out, Carly Sleeman reached on a fielder's choice, with Tolmie retired at second. When the ball was thrown back to BGSU pitcher Mackenzie Krafcik, Sleeman took off for second. Krafcik fired the ball to centerfielder Peyton Dolejs, who had backed up the initial fielder's choice play. Sleeman, nearly two-thirds of the way to second, turned to go back to first base, but fell down midway between first and second, and Dolejs applied the tag for the 1-8 putout.
• The Falcons got hits by Aaralyn Nogay, Dolejs and Cameron Kaufman, along with a Taylor Behrendt walk, in the first inning, but could not get on the board. CMU starter Grace Lehto was helped out when a BGSU runner was picked off second base during the inning. The Falcons had the bases loaded when a line-drive was caught in left for the third out.
• Central took the lead in the second after a Skylar Coberley single, a sacrifice bunt, a passed ball and an Allyssa Hollo single. Then, Hollo scored on a double by Grace Koenig for a 2-0 CMU advantage.
• Reagan Williamson cut the Falcons' deficit in half with one out in the fourth, turning on a Lehto pitch and hitting a mammoth homer to left. The round-tripper was her third of the season and the Falcons' first at Meserve Field this season.
• But, errors were BGSU's undoing as Central responded with a four-run fifth. The Chippewas had only one hit in the inning.
• That fifth frame began with a walk and a sac bunt. An infield error put runners at the corners, and after a stolen base, Keira Tolmie's double scored both runners to give the visitors a 4-1 lead.
• Another error put runners at the corners once again, but a ground ball to Behrendt at third produced the second out of the inning. An error allowed Michaleigh Villimont to reach base, with two of her teammates scoring to make it a 6-1 game.
• Koenig homered to begin the fifth, and the Chippewas added two more runs in the seventh on a Coberley double and a sac fly from Hollo.
• Dolejs doubled in the fifth, Williamson had a two-base hit in the sixth, and Nogay singled in the seventh, but the Falcons could not push those runners across the plate. The game ended when Scarlet Anderson hit an absolute scorcher directly at first baseman Hollo.
• CMU had a narrow 10-9 advantage in the hits department, with Coberley, Koenig and Sleeman each picking up two hits. Four Falcons – Dolejs, Kaufman, Nogay and Williamson – had two-hit games for the Falcons.
• Lehto picked up the complete-game win for the Chippewas. She allowed nine hits, but just the one run, walking one Falcon and striking out seven.
• Krafcik, as mentioned, pitched much better than her stat line might indicate. She allowed four earned runs and seven hits before leaving with one out in the sixth. Ellie Price came on in relief and threw 16 of her 20 total pitches for strikes.

BGSU-CMU GAME TWO – HOW IT HAPPENED
• After scoring seven runs over the final three innings in game one, CMU started fast in the second game. Abbey Tolmie began the game with an infield hit, and Sleeman's one-out single was folloed by a Coberley walk. Hollo's sac fly produced the game's first run, and Koenig singled through the right side to double the lead.
• And, Central added to the lead in the second. A walk, a bunt single and a sac bunt put two runners in scoring position before Keira Tolmie's sac fly scored Emma Lotus.
• But, in the bottom of the second, Delaney Davis reached on an outfield error by the Chippewas, and Williamson followed with a line drive to left-center that cleared the fence for a two-run homer. Williamson's fourth round-tripper of the year – and second of the day – cut the CMU lead to a single run.
• CMU threatened in the third. After a leadoff walk, Taylor Turner came on in relief for the Falcons. A sac bunt was followed by two more walks that loaded the bases, but Turner got Maddie Springer to hit a soft liner to shallow left. Nogay came in to make the catch and prevent the CMU runner at third from tagging up. Turner followed by striking out Tailynn Knapp to end the inning.
• BGSU got a Nogay single in the third and a Williamson walk in the fourth, but the score remained the same. Turner retired the Chippewas in order in both the fourth and the fifth, with three strikeouts among the six total outs.
• Then, after picking up three total hits in the first four innings, the Falcons had six in the fifth inning alone. Mackenzie Langan had allowed two runs (one earned) and three hits in the game, but Madelyn Wallace came on in relief and was promptly greeted by a Mackenna Fry single. Nogay's sac bunt moved pinch-runner Peyton Steffes to second, and Steffes came around to score on a Dolejs single up the middle.
• Anderson singled, and after she was forced out at second on a fielder's choice, Kaufman (the batter) rounded first and advanced to second to put two Falcons in scoring position. Behrendt singled to shortstop, with Dolejs scoring, and a Davis infield single plated Kaufman.
• Williamson laced a ball past the first baseman for BGSU's third-straight run-scoring single, and Ashley Chevalier then greeted new CMU pitcher Cierra Laska with a walk. But, Laska was able to get a fly ball to right for the final out of the inning.
• Turner set down the Chippewas in order, ending the inning with a swinging strikeout for the fourth consecutive frame. Dolejs walked with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but on an Anderson ground ball into the hole, shortstop Springer threw to second. Initially, Dolejs was ruled safe on the play, but after the umpires conferred for several moments, the call was reversed and Dolejs was ruled out. Instead of two runners on base with one out, it was a runner on first and two down. And, a ground ball to third ended the inning.
• Turner did not allow a hit in her first four innings of relief work, and she retired 11-straight batters through the end of the sixth. But, Abbey Tolmie ended that streak when she walked to begin the seventh, and after Sleeman's one-out single, a walk to Coberley loaded the bases, and a base on balls to Hollo scored a run.
• Madi Young entered the game and struck out Koenig for the second out. But, a hard-hit ball by Lotus went back through the box and up the middle for a two-run single that tied the game. Then, Springer doubled to the gap in left-center, plating two more Chippewas to give the visitors an 8-6 lead.
• Lehto, CMU's fourth pitcher of the game, came on to begin the BG seventh, and retired the first two batters she faced. But, Williamson drew a walk, and Chevalier singled to center to send pinch-runner Katie Hutter to second.
• Pinch-hitter Marti Henkel followed, and Henkel reached base on an infield error by the Chippewas. Lehto's very next pitch hit Nogay, with Hutter trotting home to make it a one-run game. But, Lehto was able to get a game-ending strikeout as the visitors hung on for the win.
• BGSU had 10 hits to Central's seven. Williamson reached base in all four trips to the plate, going 2-for-2 with two walks, a run and three RBI. Dolejs also had a two-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a walk, a run and an RBI. Six other Falcons had one hit apiece.
• Sleeman and Springer each had two hits for the Chippewas, while Abbey Tolmie and Coberley each walked three times. Lotus went 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs and two RBI.
• Laske picked up the win in relief, with 1 1/3 innings of hitless work. She walked two batters in the process of getting four outs. Lehto had the save, allowing an unearned run and one hit in the seventh.
• Turner suffered the loss despite allowing just one hit in 4 1/3 innings of relief. She allowed four runs, walking five and striking out five.
• The game took two hours and 46 minutes to play, marking BGSU's second-longest game of the season and the Falcons' longest seven-inning contest of the year.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons go on the road for the next five contests, beginning with a three-game weekend series at Kent State. BGSU meets the Golden Flashes in a Saturday (April 20) doubleheader, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
• Then, the Falcons and KSU play a Sunday (April 21) single game that starts at 12:00 pm.
• After stepping outside of MAC action for a doubleheader at Youngstown State next Wednesday (April 24), the Orange and Brown will return home for a three-game series vs. Northern Illinois on Friday and Saturday, April 26-27.

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.