It’s always exciting for a pitcher to get to throw in a pitcher’s duel. But throwing two in one day can be just downright exhausting.

That is what Liz Vrabel did for the Bowling Green (8-16, 1-1) softball team this past weekend against Toledo (15-13, 1-3) as she dropped the opener 2-1 before winning the nightcap by a 6-2 margin.

The junior hurled 14 innings on the weekend, allowing just eight hits and four earned runs while striking out 15.

It was made all the more impressive because of the 35 degree weather the Falcons were playing in.

“We had a couple of other pitchers,” BG head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw said. “But Liz was warm so we left her in there.”

The first game of the double header was a pitcher’s duel in the truest of forms as Toledo’s Stephanie Moore went the distance against Vrabel, allowing just five hits against a struggling BG offense.

This has been a trend for the Falcons against Moore. Last season, the UT ace allowed just four earned runs in 13.2 innings of work against BG.

“It’s frustrating when you’ve got a team that can score runs, but you allow a pitcher to control you,” Ross-Shaw said.

Vrabel allowed just three hits in the opening game, but two of them resulted in home runs by UT’s Leslie Stong and Jennifer Susman, giving the Rockets their only two runs of the game.

While the Rockets were circling the base paths, the Falcons weren’t taking advantage of being on them. By the end of the game, BG had left eight players stranded on the base paths.

“We couldn’t pull it together,” Ross-Shaw said. “It seemed like if we got a good hit, we couldn’t get our bunts down.”

The second game of the day started out looking a lot like the first one as Stong led off for Toledo with a homer. The Falcons managed to bring home a run, but the Rockets responded with their fourth solo home run of the day — this time from leftfielder Valerie Moxim.

That was the last time a Rocket would cross the plate on the day. Vrabel pitched perfect ball through the next 12 batters and gave the BG offense time to get warmed up.

In the third inning, Kristen Anderson hit an RBI single to left field.

The fifth inning saw Gina Rango start the inning off with a bunt before advancing for the go ahead run on an Allison Vallas single.

And the sixth inning saw Rango put the game out of reach with a two-run homer, giving her a school record 15 home runs on her career while giving the Falcons a 6-2 lead they would finish the game with.

For the Falcons, it was almost a break playing MAC competition after playing the likes of East Carolina and Arizona.

“It’s all a matter of confidence,” Ross-Shaw said. “We played a lot of strong teams before conference play started and we’ve taken a knock on our confidence.”

That confidence will be tested the rest of this week. The Falcons have a double header scheduled against Detroit this afternoon before hosting another double header tomorrow against Michigan. The Wolverines bring a 31-1 record and a No. 1 ranking into tomorrow’s game.