BGSU Breaks Out the Bats, Busts Broncos in Back End of DH

Saturday, March 21

Kalamazoo, Mich.

1 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

Alyvia Roth (24) allowed just three hits in her complete-game effort in Saturday's opener

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

March 21, 2026 | Softball

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Falcons get two more solid pitching performances in Saturday split

By: by Mike Cihon, BGSU Strategic Communications

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University softball team snapped out of a brief hitting slump with a four-run first inning in Saturday's (March 21) second game, and the Falcons went on to a 7-1 victory over host Western Michigan University at Ebert Field.

The Broncos had captured the opening game of Saturday's Mid-American Conference doubleheader by a 1-0 final.

Redshirt sophomore Addie Martin was 4-for-4 with three extra-base hits in game two for the Falcons (14-12, 2-4 MAC). Martin had two doubles and a homer, driving in a pair of runs.

Freshman Hannah Simko was 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the win, while senior Ashley Chevalier had two hits, including a double, and three RBI.

Sophomore Morgan Beckham scattered eight hits in her complete-game victory, and the only run she allowed was unearned.

In the opener, junior Alivia Roth pitched a gem, allowing only three hits in her complete-game effort. Two of those three hits were bunt singles. But, Hannah Potts spun a one-hit shutout for the Broncos (12-13, 3-3 MAC).

Roth faced just three batters over the minimum, striking out two batters without issuing a walk in one of the top performances of her career. She threw 44 of her 68 pitches for strikes.

In game two, BGSU hit .500 with two outs (7-for-14), with runners on base (also 7-for-14) and with runners in scoring position (5-of-10).

NOTE OF THE DAY
• BGSU pitching had a combined earned-run average of just 0.74 in the Western Michigan series. Three pitchers – Mackenzie Krafcik, Alyvia Roth and Morgan Beckham – each threw a complete game and each allowed one run.
• The trio allowed a combined 16 hits in 19 innings, and the Broncos had a team batting average of just .219 on the weekend.
• BG outscored the Broncos, 7-3, on the weekend, with a 20-16 advantage in hits.

BGSU-WMU GAME ONE – HOW IT HAPPENED
• The only baserunner for either team in the first two innings came when Bella Duncan was hit by an Alyvia Roth pitch to begin the bottom of the first. But, Roth would then set down the next eight Broncos, until Duncan's next at-bat.
• In the third, Duncan homered with two outs to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
• Meanwhile, WMU starter Hannah Potts retired the first eight Falcons before walking Peyton Steffes with two outs in the third. Steffes would steal second before Hannah Simko walked as well, but Potts got an inning-ending strikeout.
• Ashley Chevalier walked with two down in the fourth, and Steffes doubled with two away in the fifth – BGSU's first hit of the game – but in each case, Potts retired the next batter.
• The Broncos got a bunt single in the bottom of the fifth, but Roth responded by throwing a third strike past Megan Malartisk.
• But, other than a seventh-inning walk to Ava McKee, Potts would not allow another baserunner, as the Broncos picked up the one-run win.
• Potts walked four Falcons, but had nine strikeouts, in her complete-game victory.

BGSU-WMU GAME TWO – HOW IT HAPPENED
• After getting just one hit in the first game, the Falcons had five in the first inning alone in game two. Hannah Simko led off the game with a single and promptly stole second. She took third on Taylor Behrendt's one-out bunt single, with Behrendt alertly advancing to second on the play.
• Then, Cameron Kaufman singled to plate Simko with the Falcons' first run of the weekend. Kaufman stole second, but WMU starter Jadeyn Merrill got a strikeout for the second out. Ashley Chevalier came through, however, with a two-run double to left-center, and after a pitching change for the Broncos, Addie Martin greeted Ava Geyer with a double of her own, scoring Chevalier to give BGSU a 4-0 lead.
• The Broncos got an unearned run in the second inning. After Morgan Beckham had retired the first two hitters, an outfield error put a runner on second, and Tristen Head's double cut the Falcons' lead to 4-1.
• The Falcons responded with a two-out rally of their own in the third. Hannah Hunt drove a ball to left-center, and it hit the NCAA logo on the fence on one hop as Hunt pulled into second. Then, Chevalier lined a ball between the third baseman and the third-base bag for a run-scoring single. Martin put a ball in nearly the same spot for a double, but with runners at second and third, Geyer got a popup for the third out.
• In the Bronco third, after a one-out single, centerfielder Peyton Steffes made a tremendous catch of a drive by Caitlin Tighe, tracking the ball down in right-center and making the grab just before she hit the fence. Beckham then struck out Geyer to end the inning.
• In the fourth, the hosts got a pair of hits to put runners at second and third with no outs. But, Beckham worked out of the jam, getting a fly ball to shallow center and a ground ball back to the circle, before striking out Megan Malartisk to end the inning.
• Martin added to the Falcons' lead in the fifth, with a two-out solo homer to left. It was her third extra-base hit of the game.
• And, BGSU capped the scoring in the sixth, as Simko singled with one out and came all the way around to score on a triple by Steffes.

UP NEXT
• The Falcons return home for the next four games. BGSU will face Buffalo in a three-game series next weekend, beginning with a single game on Friday (March 27). First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. at Meserve Field.
• Then, the Orange and Brown will face the Bulls in a doubleheader next Saturday (March 28), starting at 1:00 p.m. Following the UB series, the Falcons will step outside of MAC play when Ohio State comes to Meserve Field on Tuesday, March 31.
• All four games on the upcoming homestand are scheduled to have a web stream on YouTube, courtesy of WBGU-TV.

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