With a 2-2 split on the weekend, the Bowling Green softball team lost its Mid-American Conference tournament contention and ended its season against Central Michigan.
To have made the tournament, the Falcons would have had to at least win three out of their four games on the weekend.
The team started the weekend strong with a doubleheader against Eastern Michigan, going off for eight runs in a game one win.
However, in game two the Eagles rallied for three runs in the seventh inning to defeat the Falcons 4-3, who had been leading all game up to that point.
“Any time you give somebody free outs when they’re itching to score, you put yourself in a tough situation,” said head coach Shannon Salsburg. “They capitalized on it. A lot of different things kind of came together, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to close the game out and we didn’t.”
Despite the loss, the Falcons hit the ball well in both games. In total there were 15 hits in both games, which is more than they had in their previous four.
The pitching was also solid for the team, as they threw eight strikeouts compared to the Central Michigan three. Three different pitchers took the circle in the loss, as senior Jamie Kertes took the loss.
“Overall, I thought we hit the ball pretty well today,” Salsburg said. “Our pitchers pitched pretty well. We got a couple clutch hits; Mo [Evangelista] got a clutch hit on a changeup to push across what could have been an insurance run in the second game. But, again, you’ve got to close it out, and if you don’t, that’s what happens.”
That put the Falcons in a must win situation against Central Michigan, who is ranked fourth overall in the MAC and second in the west division.
The team came out slow and allowed the Chippewas to build a five run lead by the seventh inning.
Central started off with a run in the first inning off of senior pitcher Jamie Kertes. Chippewa hitter Trista Cox hit a double to center right before a single and got herself into scoring position on third base. The next play would be an outfield error that allowed Cox to get in the first run of the game.
CMU pitcher Taylor Weaver stayed perfect through the first three innings, and after she ended the Falcon offense in the third, the Chippewas scored another three runs in the inning to go up 3-0.
Two more runs in the fifth inning would push the score to 5-0 going into the seventh.
Three of the Bowling Green hits came in the final inning and Haley Schrock hit a double to add two RBIs to her stat sheet and close the gap 5-2. However, it would not be enough as the next two batters were forced out to end the game and shut the door on the Falcons for the tournament.
The next game in the two-game series between the teams came as a 3-2 win for the Falcons, but it was not enough ending the Bowling Green season.
It was the last game for seniors Shelby Fink, Chloe Giordano, Emily McClelland and Jamie Kertes in a Falcon uniform.
