Sometimes all you need is a little intensity.
The softball team showed a great deal of it as they split a double header with Michigan yesterday at the BGSU softball field. Coach Leigh Ross-Shaw said she was happy with the way the Falcons played.
“We had such intensity today that we could have lost both of those games and I would have been proud of them,” Ross-Shaw said. “This is our team.”
The Falcons were stifled in the first game by All-American pitcher Marissa Young. Young pitched a complete seven innings, allowing no runs and four hits, as the Wolverines prevailed 4-0. Ross-Shaw was impressed with Young, and didn’t fault the BG hitters for struggling offensively against her.
“She threw really well,” Ross-Shaw said. “She’s so smart, and I can’t blame my hitters, she did everything right.”
McKenna Houle started for the Falcons, and like her counterpart, pitched a complete game. She gave up four runs on seven hits, but also walked seven.
“She did a fantastic job,” Ross-Shaw said. “She got a little shaky for a couple innings and [Michigan] really didn’t hit the ball that well. She started to pick up more confidence as the game moved along.”
In the second game, BG was held scoreless through the first five innings, and heading into the bottom of the sixth, were trailing Michigan 1-0.
Liz Vrabel helped keep the Falcons in the game with a dazzling performance, giving up only five hits in seven innings.
Ross-Shaw said that Vrabel is continuing to develop.
“Liz, as a freshman, she’s gonna be fantastic here,” Ross-Shaw said. “She’s just so strong today my assistant called pitches, and I think that helped her too.”
In the bottom of the sixth, the Falcons got to Michigan’s Nicole Motyka. The Falcons rallied for three runs, two of them coming on Libby Voshell’s fourth home run of the season.
Vrabel pitched a scoreless seventh, and Bowling Green got the win.
The win improved BG’s overall record to 9-12-1.
By Chris Willig
Sports Reporter
The Michigan Wolverines, currently 15th in the nation, attempted to continue their winning streak yesterday against the Falcons. The Wolverines had won nine in a row going into yesterday’s game in Bowling Green.
The Wolverines, who depend heavily on their pitching, threw their number one and two starter against the Falcons yesterday afternoon.
All American, Marissa Young pitched the first game of the double-header and stifled the Falcons’ bats. Young, who bettered her record to 10-0 yesterday, shut the Falcons out in the first game and, as a team, the Falcons were only able to squeak out four hits in their 4-0 loss.
Falcons’ coach Ross-Shaw understands how tough the pitching is for Michigan’s team, “They have great pitchers. The first girl [Young] is an all-American, and for us to get four hits off of her is good,” said Ross-Shaw. “We didn’t have many strikeouts, but we just couldn’t get the ball out of the infield. Overall we did O.K. with our at bats and I think we were a little nervous at the beginning of the game.”
The only hits of the first game came from three players. Crystal Wilson and Libby Voshell each had one hit, while Gina Rango did her best to rally the Falcons with two hits of her own.
The second game yesterday also looked as though it was going to be much of the same. Nicole Motycka, Michigan’s second starter, came in with a 5-4 record and a 1.17 ERA. Motycka also brought a winning streak into yesterday’s game, having won her last five straight starts.
Motycka held the Falcons’ bats in check for the first five innings in game two. Motycka struck out three and protected the Wolverines’ one run lead. That is, until the sixth inning.
In the sixth inning the Falcons had their lead runner on, and finally seemed to be putting something together. Kandice Machain drove in the first team run of the day when she lined a shot down the left field line. The Falcons, however, were not done yet.
Shortstop Libby Voshell hit, what proved to be the winning homerun. Voshell took Motycka’s pitch deep over the right field wall, the two-run homer was Voshell’s fourth of the season. This sixth inning surge gave the Falcons their first lead of the game, and proved to be enough to win the game.
Ross-Shaw believes patience was the key to the team’s big inning. “In time every pitcher is going to crack. You just have to wait for your time and wait for that pitch to hit.”
The Falcons hope to take their momentum into their other games this week. They are scheduled to take on the University of Detroit Mercy today in a doubleheader. Starting the game for the Falcons will be Kristen Anderson, and the lineup could also be shaken up for this non-conference game. With their intensity back, the team hopes to improve on their 9-12-1 record before returning to conference play this weekend.
