The Falcon softball team went 3-1 on the weekend with a sweep against Akron and a split with Ohio.
BG started off this past weekend with a doubleheader on Friday against the Zips. BG won both games in shutouts with scores of 3-0, and 2-0.
Pitcher Jamie Kertes earned the win in game one allowing one hit and earning six strikeouts. Hannah Fulk, Paige Berger and Katie Yoho led the way offensively earning a run apiece. The trio as well as Erika Stratton were the only Falcons to gather hits in the game. All three runs occurred in the sixth inning.
Yoho continued her strong batting in game two as she earned two RBIs off a home run.
“I can’t even tell you what I was thinking,” Yoho said. “I was just thinking, ‘hey, get a base hit,’ and I got lucky and got something I could handle, and it just went away.”
Pitcher Paris Imholz earned the win in game two with a complete game shutout.
“I came out with a lot of confidence,” Imholz said. “[I was] just working on trusting all my pitches and the spin and staying really positive through everything knowing no matter what, the team behind me will get the balls and hits.”
BG picked up two runs in the first inning off of Yoho’s homer to put Akron in a deficit it couldn’t overcome.
“I think you could just see the confidence build,” coach Shannon Salsburg said. “Once we got that game it was like, ‘okay, take a deep breath. This is what we do and this is how we do it and we’re going to keep working at it.’”
The Falcons’ momentum would not continue into Saturday as the Falcons lost to Ohio, 5-1.
BG had two hits in the game which came from Berger and Yoho. Berger hit a double and scored the Falcons’ only run, causing Yoho to earn the RBI.
Kertes picked up the loss allowing five hits and two runs in four innings. Imholz came in to pitch three frames and allowed four hits and three runs.
The Bobcats came out swinging in the first inning when Lauren Gellerman hit a solo shot out of the park. Ohio would add its second run in the fourth inning which the Falcons would match in the frame. Gellerman wasn’t done, however, as she hit another homer in the seventh for two runs.
“Ohio is a good team and I’m not taking anything away from them, but I don’t think we gave them our best shot either,” said Salsburg. “Tomorrow [Sunday] we are going to make sure we are aggressive in all facets, and we’ll do everything in our power to get a W and split the series.”
BG would do just that Sunday as it rallied from behind to earn a 3-2 victory.
The Falcons would record a weekend-high eight hits including two from Fulk, Berger and Yoho. Fulk had two runs while Marisa Shook had two RBIs.
Ohio came out to set the pace in the first inning scoring two runs off an Adrienne Gebele home run.
Shook would match Gebele’s two RBIs in the bottom of the frame when she hit a single to bring home Berger and Fulk.
The winning run would come in the fifth inning when Yoho would hit a sacrifice fly in right field allowing Fulk to cross the plate. Imholz would pick up her 12th win of the season.
“I think we were back on our heels yesterday [Saturday],” Fulk said. “And today we came out full-throttle at them instead of letting them dictate the game, we decided we were going to run this game.”
BG moves to 18-12 with 4-4 in conference. The weekend moves the Falcons into third in the MAC East.
