It was a rain-out on Saturday for the Falcon softball team as they were preparing to play at Mid-American conference foe Ohio University in a double-header.
The two games were going to be against a Bobcat team that came into the games last in the MAC East Division with only three wins in conference play. But Mother Nature had other plans for the day and ruined the Falcons opportunity to steal two more conference wins after a 5-3 win at Marshall on Friday.
“I think it was probably the worst thing that could’ve happened to us as far as the standings go,” head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw said. “We really needed those games against OU — I think we would’ve had a good chance to hopefully improve to 10-8 and give us a little more of a cushion towards making that MAC Tournament going into the last two weekends.”
Bowling Green will have to wait till this weekend when they host Buffalo to help solidify their spot in the six-team tournament as they will travel to Ohio State today for a non-conference double-header against the Buckeyes. BG will come in 23-24 overall with the host Buckeyes coming in 22-14 on the year.
BG comes in after a strong performance against the Thundering Herd which saw them turn a 4-0 first inning lead into a 5-3 win. A win which ended a three-game losing skid — the team’s longest since a nine game losing streak to start the season.
“I think we’re a different team when we play with the lead right away,” Ross-Shaw said. “We play with confidence and I feel if we don’t make a threat early on we start to worry and when we do jump out and get that lead early on we just play a lot more relaxed.”
Lindsay Heimrich got the win in the game, pitching five innings and only giving up three runs on five hits. It was Heimrich’s first appearance on the mound since April 6 in a 4-0 loss to Miami, as she has been hampered by back problems this season.
“We decided to give her a go — it’s been a few weeks since she’d thrown with her back,” Ross-Shaw said of Heimrich. “She did an awesome job. She ran out of steam sooner than she use to, but she did really well while she was out there and feeling strong.”
Heimrich is now 4-8 on the year with an ERA of 2.79 and 40 strikeouts. She was replaced by Emily Gouge, who came in and allowed only one hit in two scoreless innings for the Thundering Herd.
Megan McPherson led off the game with a single and scored the first run of the game for the Falcons on a two RBI single by Jeanine Baca. McPherson went on to lead the Falcons on the day going 2-for-4 and scoring two runs.
The Buckeyes will come into the contests having won three of their last four and off two wins over Wright State. Two games where they out-scored WSU 21-5 with a 14-2 and 7-3 win last Tuesday in a double-header.
BG has had strong hitting this season as they have 10 batters with a .300 average or better at the plate. Ashley Cutcliff leads them with a .481 average with four home runs and 14 RBIs.
“I’m glad we have them mid-week because we have to stay sharp for this weekend,” Ross-Shaw said of the OSU match-up. “We’re definitely going to go after the wins, but I also want to mix it up one more time with a couple different lineups and give some kids the opportunity to get some time before the conference weekend.”
It’ll be the first meeting for these two teams since the 2001 season when they split a pair of games in Columbus.
BG will play the Buckeyes today at Buckeye Field with the first pitch of the double-header coming at 5 p.m. with the second game following the first game’s conclusion.
