BGSU softball (16-36, 7-19 MAC) ended their season off with a bang on Saturday, May 3, beating Robert Morris (27-16, 16-7 HL) 3-0 after rain postponed the first pitch by an hour and a half and canceled a game two that was originally scheduled as part of a Saturday doubleheader.
Pitchers Morgan Beckham and Mackenzie Krafcik capped off the season in style with the Falcons’ fourth shutout of the season and with BG’s pink uniforms that they wore in honor of Strike Out Cancer Day at Meserve Field, as Beckham made the start and threw 3.1 scoreless innings before Krafcik came in and threw 3.2 scoreless innings of her own in a relief appearance.
Junior second baseman Hannah Hunt’s stellar season couldn’t have ended in a better way, as the leadoff hitter went 3-3, registering her fourth home run of the season on top of two singles and her third multi-hit game in the past six.
“We came out and we found a way to win the last game of the season,” head coach Michelle Gardner said. “We had some good things happen, Hannah Hunt had a heck of a day, we turned two double plays, and we couldn’t have ended on a better note.”
After the first inning ended scoreless, the Falcons got on the board first in the bottom of the second after a walk by right fielder Peyton Steffes led to her advancement from first to third on a sacrifice bunt by left fielder Kendall Mathews, and Steffes scored on a suicide squeeze by catcher Ashley Chevalier.
As Beckham continued to knock Colonials down, Hunt hit a monster solo home run in the bottom of the third that soared well past the fence in left field and landed on the back end of the bullpen, securing a 2-0 through the first half of the game.
“I just felt like I was seeing the ball really well today,” Hunt said. “I knew it was my last game, and I said I was going to swing hard and go for it, and whatever happens happens.”
Third baseman Taylor Behrendt scored the game’s third run, sending a single up the middle to score designated player Delaney Davis after taking advantage of a Colonial pitching change. The three runs scored through the first five innings would be enough, thanks to an outstanding closeout of the game by Krafcik in an outing where she allowed only one hit in 12 batters faced.
The Falcons concluded the season with a 16-36 overall record, nearly tripling their 2024-win total, and a 7-17 record that was good for 10th place in the Mid-American Conference, one place above their last-place prediction in the 2025 MAC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll.
“We were playing to win the last game of the season,” Gardner said. A lot of teams don’t win the last game of their season, but we could. That’s what we played for, was to win the last game of the season, and we did that.”
