After many schedule changes due to some rainy weather in Conway, South Carolina the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) softball team opened up their season against the Furman Paladins on Saturday, Feb. 24.
Taylor Turner got the opening day start in the circle for the Falcons, going up against the Paladins who came into the game with a 7-3 record on the season.
In the opening day lineup, freshman Peyton Steffes and Cameron Kaufman made their debuts as Falcons.
GAME ONE
In game one against Furman, the Falcon bats woke up right away. In the first inning, team captain Reagan Williamson hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Steffes to give the Falcons their first RBI of the season. With two outs in the first, team captain Peyton Dolejs lined one up the middle to score Makailah Dees and put the Falcons up 2-0.
The Falcon hitting was backed by some great defense and pitching. Furman scored all three of their runs in the second inning only holding a 3-2 lead for a half inning.
After going down, the Falcons answered right back, scoring two more runs in the third inning to grab a 4-3 lead. Hannah Hunt scored on a single hit by Lexi Carver for the first run of the inning. Dolejs grounded out to second which advanced Dees home to put the Falcons up 4-3.
The scoring wasn’t over yet for the Falcons after Williamson doubled to score Hunt and Steffes to put the Falcons up 6-3. With the runner on second, Dees singled up the middle to score Williamson and give the Falcons a 7-3 lead.
Turner was dominant on the circle for the Falcons, after giving three runs in the second, Turner pitched five consecutive scoreless innings to secure the 7-3 victory for the Falcons.
GAME TWO
BGSU took on Coastal Carolina University in game two of the Saturday double header. The Chanticleers entered the game with a 5-5 record on the season.
In the first inning, Dees came up clutch with a two-out RBI double that scored Steffes to score the first run of the game.
The Falcons took the lead to the bottom of the third inning, but an error made in the field opened up an opportunity for the Chanticleers to score. With two outs and the bases-loaded, Iyanla De Jesus hit a three-run double to give Coastal Carolina a 3-1. All three of those runs were unearned.
After Coastal scored three unearned runs, the Falcons answered back scoring two runs of their own to tie the game at three in third. Kaylee Cole scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead down to one, then Wynnie Reid grounded out to score Dolejs from third.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Chanticleers bats came alive in the fourth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Riley Zana hit a grand slam to put Coastal Carolina up 7-3. Later in the inning, another error in the field allowed Coastal to score four more runs in the inning giving Costal a 11-3 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Falcons went down in order and the game finished due to run rule.
Seven of the 11 runs scored by the Chanticleers were unearned as they defeated the Falcons 11-3.
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