BGSU softball (12-20, 4-4 MAC) fell to Ball State in both games of a Saturday doubleheader, snapping a five-game winning streak for the Orange and Brown.
With the back-to-back losses, Bowling Green drops to 12-20 on the season, with a record of 6-3 at home and a 4-4 record vs the MAC.
Here’s how both games went down:
Game One
Bowling Green junior pitcher Mackenzie Krafcik began the game on the mound for the Falcons in game one. Junior right-handed pitcher Ella Whitney took the mound for Ball State in game one.
The Cardinals loaded the bases right away in the top of the first inning. Krafcik escaped the deficit and worked her way out of the loaded bases, striking out Kaityln Gibson to end the top of the first inning with, a score remaining 0-0.
Ball State’s Hayley Urban connected on a deep shot over left field to score herself and Maddie Weaver, the Cardinals striking first up 2-0 in the top of the second inning.
Ball State kept the momentum going. McKayla Timmons connected on a pitch, sending it over center field for another home run, putting Ball State up 3-0 over the Falcons as the top of the second came to a close.
Through four innings, Bowling Green still had no runs or hits, still down 3-0 to Ball State.
At the top of the fifth inning, Krafcik’s day was over with sophomore Alyvia Roth taking the mound for the Falcons. Whitney hit a deep shot to left-center field for a three-run homer, Ball State now up 6-0 over the Falcons.
Kendall Matthews finally recorded a hit for the Orange and Brown, doubling to left center and sending Hanna Massaro home for BG’s first run of the day, now down 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Ball State scored eight runs in the seventh inning, going up 14-1 over the Falcons in game one.
Despite a late rally by Bowling Green after scoring four runs, Ball State held on and put BG away, taking game one by a final score of 14-5.
“In the first game, we had one hit going into the sixth inning,” head coach Michelle Gardner said. “We just didn’t do the things we needed to do.”
The loss to Ball State snaps a five-game winning streak for the Falcons and drops BG to a 6-2 record at home. The Falcons had 13 baserunners, meaning they would not have enough runners to win over Ball State if all 13 runners were counted as runs.
Game Two
Bowling Green freshman pitcher Morgan Beckham started the second game of the doubleheader on the mound for the Orange and Brown. Ball State freshman pitcher Breanna Severino took the mound for the Cardinals.
Ball State got the bases loaded early in the top of the first, Kara Gunter hit a single to center field, Bowling Green’s Matthews misread the play and could not recover the ball, resulting in all three Cardinals runners scoring, already up over BG 3-0.
Gunter wound up crossing home plate a little later on a wild pitch from Beckham, putting Ball State up 4-0 in the first inning.
Bowling Green redshirt freshman Addie Martin hit her 11th home run of the season to score the Falcon’s first run of the second game, down 4-1 in the bottom of the first inning.
“Addie is Addie and she’s a competitor,” said Gardner. “She gives us great opportunities to do things, [I] love watching her compete.”
In the second inning, Gunter hit a single up left field, scoring both Timmons and Pietrzak from second and third base with Ball State now up 6-1.
BG scored two runs in the bottom of the second off a Martin single, Bowling Green is now down only 6-3. Ball State scored two more runs in the third inning to make it an 8-3 deficit for BG once more.
The Cardinals started off the fourth inning with Gunter hitting a double to left field which scored one runner, Ball State up 9-3 at the top of the fourth.
Bowling Green scored one run off a walk by Massaro, sending Peyton Steffie’s home, now down 10-4 in the bottom of the fifth.
Ball State remained in the driver’s seat for the rest of the game, defeating Bowling Green 10-4 and sweeping the weekend series.
Bowling Green’s next series is a Tuesday doubleheader at Akron (16-17, 3-5 MAC), with the first pitch slated for 1:00 p.m.
“We go to Akron and we played them earlier and they beat us, we go there for a doubleheader and quite frankly I think it’s a winnable game,” Gardner said. “But we have to show up and compete.”
