Sunday's Softball Results
Sunday's Scoreboard
Pittsburgh 9, Bowling Green 0
Chattanooga 10, Ball State 9
Eastern Michigan 3, UMASS-Lowell 0
Eastern Michigan 5, Siena College 4
UConn 8, Northern Illinois 7
Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications
Bowling Green
Results
The University of Pittsburgh took an early lead and never looked back, as the Panthers downed the Bowling Green State University softball team, 9-0 in five innings, Sunday morning (Feb. 22). The game, the Falcons' final contest in the 2015 Cougar Classic, was held at Patriots Point.
The Panthers, now 13-1 on the season, scored in each of the first four innings to seize control of Sunday's contest. Pitt pounded out a total of 11 hits against three BG pitchers.
"We are disappointed in how we finished the weekend," said BGSU head coach Shannon Salsburg. "We knew Pitt was a solid hitting team, but we didn't match our intensity to theirs."
The Falcons (4-4) had four hits on the day, including three-straight singles in the second inning, but could not break through against Panther starting pitcher Savannah King. King walked one batter while striking out two, and improved to 8-0 on the year.
The Panthers got on the board in the top of the first. After Kaitlin Manuel singled up the middle, Maggie Sevilla followed with a two-run homer to left, and Pitt had staked King to a two-run lead.
After King retired the Falcons in order in the bottom of the first, Erin Hershman began the second with a double to left field, and a stolen base and a walk to Ashlee Sills put runners at the corners with nobody out. Sills stole second, and the Panthers had a pair of runners in scoring position, and a single by Shelby Pickett scored both Hershman and Sills and made it a 4-0 game.
Junior pitcher Braiden Dillow got two quick outs, with a Manuel grounder and a liner to right by Sevilla, but Jenna Modic's single plated Pickett. Sophomore Briana Combs entered the game and got Carly Thea to hit an inning-ending grounder to second base, but the Panthers had a five-run lead.
The Falcons threatened in the bottom of the second with two outs, as sophomore Haley Schrock got on base via an infield single and moved to second when senior Chloe Giordano singled up the middle. Fellow senior Emily McClelland singled through the right side of the Pittsburgh infield to load the bases, but junior Molly Holliday's grounder was gloved by third baseman Modic, who threw to first for the third out.
Pitt's McKayla Taylor led off the third inning with a single up the middle, and Jordan Fannin drew a walk, but Combs struck out Hershman and got Sills to hit a grounder for the second out, with the runners moving to second and third. But, Pickett's infield single scored Taylor with the Panthers' sixth run of the morning.
Sophomore Aspen Searle gave the Falcons a leadoff runner in the bottom of the third, reaching base on an error by shortstop Taylor, and BG had two runners aboard after an infield single by junior Marina Cobbs. A fielder's choice grounder by sophomore Trista Mokienko resulted in a force of Searle at third base, however, and a grounder back to the circle resulted in a double play to end the threat.
Pitt scored three more times, including two unearned runs, in the fourth. Sevilla drew a leadoff walk, and an error enabled Modic to reach base, with Sevilla taking third on the play. After pinch-runner Morgan Choe stole second, Thea's single up the middle scored Sevilla and advanced Choe to third. Then, Taylor's two-run double gave the Panthers a 9-0 lead.
Senior Jamie Kertes replaced Combs in the circle, and threw an 0-2 pitch past Fannin for the first out of the inning. Hershman hit a lazy fly ball to center for the second out, and pinch-hitter Katherine Kramer's liner was grabbed by shortstop Searle to end the inning.
After King retired the Falcons in the bottom of the fourth, third baseman Giordano made a great diving catch of a liner by Pickett for the first out in the top of the fifth. Pitt pinch-hitter Giorgiana Zeremenko singled, but Sevilla hit a grounder to Giordano, who fired to first for the second out, and Kertes induced Modic to hit a harmless grounder back to the circle to end the inning.
The bottom of the fifth saw Holliday draw a one-out walk, but she was stranded there as King got the next two hitters to pop up and ground out, respectively.
King picked up the victory for the Panthers. Dillow took the loss for the Brown and Orange, dropping to 2-2 on the young season.
"We had opportunities to score, but couldn't push the runs across today," said Salsburg. "We look forward to going back to work this week, and we will make the adjustments needed to be ready for next weekend."
The Falcons will head to Bowling Green, Ky., next weekend, taking part in the Holiday Inn Hilltopper Classic. BGSU is scheduled to play five games at the tournament, hosted by Western Kentucky, beginning with Friday (Feb. 27) contests vs. Northern Kentucky and WKU.
Ball State
Results
MOBILE, Ala. - - After rallying to take a 9-8 lead, the Ball State softball team saw its comeback bid end in heartbreaking fashion with a 10-9 loss to Chattanooga Sunday morning in the Cardinals’ final game of the South Alabama Invitational played at Jaguar Field.
The Cardinals, who fall to 6-8 with the loss, return to action Friday (Feb. 27) at the Purple & Gold Challenge hosted by LSU in Baton Rouge, La., with games versus Northwestern State (3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT) and the host Tigers (8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT).
The Moc (11-4), who were the home team for Sunday’s contest, jumped on the board early with two runs in the first and five more in the second to build a 7-0 advantage. Six of the runs came off the bat of Nicole Osterman who smashed a two-run home run in the first and a grand slam in the second.
After a scoreless third, the Cardinals made a huge dent in the Mocs lead by rallying for six runs in the top of the fourth. Senior left fielder Loren Cihlar (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) opened the inning with a single, and after stealing second, scored the Cardinals’ first run of the game on a single from junior second baseman Emily Dabkowski (Plainfield, Ind./South Putnam).
Senior right fielder Hanne Stuedemann (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) followed with a double to give Ball State a pair of runners in scoring position. After a foul fly from senior catcher Jessica Craft (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) drove in the Cardinals’ second run of the game, sophomore designated player Amanda Arnett (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) walked to give Ball State runners on the corners.
Junior first baseman Sammi Cowger (Fenton, Mich./Fenton) then drove in two more runs with a double to center field. Cowger was replaced by sophomore pinch runner Taylor Cooley (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) who reached second on a groundout and came around to score on a fielding error. Sophomore center fielder India Steward (Matteson, Ill./Rich South/Western Kentucky), who reached on the error, scored the Cardinals’ final run of the frame on a single through the right side by junior shortstop Selena Reyna (Houston, Texas/South Houston).
After Chattanooga posted a lone run in the bottom of the fifth, the Cardinals answered with three runs in the top of the sixth to take their first lead of the game. Freshman third baseman Julia Bailey (Lafayette, La./Teurlings Catholic) and Steward opened the inning with back-to-back walks, while a UTC error brought home Bailey and allowed Reyna to reach first and give Ball State runners on the corners.
The Cardinals tied the game, at 8-8, on a double steal which saw Steward swipe home and Reyna take second. After a foul fly for the first out of the inning, Dabkowski, Stuedemann and Craft drew three consecutive walks to push across the go-ahead run. Unfortunately, a fielder’s choice and groundout ended the inning with bases loaded.
Ball State could not hold the Mocs off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh, however, as a sacrifice fly evened the score and a one-out RBI single pushed across the game-winning run.
For the game, the Cardinals scored nine runs on seven hits with one error. Chattanooga earned 10 runs on 12 hits while committing a pair of defensive miscues.
Dabkowski logged two of the Cardinals’ seven hits, while Craft and Cowger posted two RBI apiece. Arnett would also see her first career action in the circle, entering the game in relief in the bottom of the second. Over 2.1 innings, she allowed just three hits and one run.
Eastern Michigan
Game 1 Results
Game 2 Results
MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University softball team swept the final day of the EMU Madeira Beach Spring Invitational, first shutting out UMASS-Lowell, 3-0, before going on to defeat Siena College, 5-4, on a walk-off homerun from Michelle Kriegshauser.
The Eagles (4-6) picked up their third-straight win of the season, marking the first time the Green and White has one three in-a-row since Apr. 26-27, 2013, when EMU swept Miami in a doubleheader before defeating Ball State.
Senior pitcher Lindsay Rich picked up both the wins in the circle for EMU, pitching a complete game against the River Hawks before coming on in relief in the victory against the Saints. The right-handed hurler has now pitched 16.2 consecutive shut out innings in the past three games for the Green and White, including two seven inning shut out victories.
At the plate, senior Jenn Lucas tallied three hits on the afternoon with two runs and one RBI, while Kriegshauser notched three hits and two RBI for the Green and White.
Game One: Eastern Michigan 3, UMASS-Lowell 0
After two and a half innings of scoreless ball, the Eagles broke open the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third inning when Aoife Duffy led off with a single to left field before pinch runner Elaine Whitbeck advanced to third on a UMASS-Lowell miscue. Whitbeck crossed the plate on a Haley Hostetler suicide squeeze to put EMU up 1-0 early in the contest.
Rich continued to look strong in the circle sitting down batters in order for the second-straight inning, while the Eagle offense continued to build to its tally. In the bottom of the fourth, Rich helped herself with a leadoff double to the right center fence, while a sacrifice bunt moved pinch runner Mady Hostetler to third base with Katy Wyman up to bat. Wyman stepped up and laced a single to left field; scoring Hostetler and extending the Eastern lead to 2-0 over the River Hawks.
The Eagles senior hurler retired UMASS-Lowell in order for two more innings before the Green and White tacked on one final security run in the bottom of the sixth inning. A one-out single from Abi Clark got the ball rolling for the Eagles before pinch runner Angel Schilke stole second and came around to score off of an Abby Davidson rope to left field, allowing Eastern Michigan to take a three-run lead into the final inning.
The River Hawks looked to get some offense going with a lead off single, but the Eagles recorded the next two outs with a runner on first. A second single of the inning put runners in scoring position before a slow grounder came back to Rich who easily made the throw to first to secure the EMU victory.
Game Two: Eastern Michigan 5, Siena 4
Siena got its bats going early, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning off of a single down the left field line and a sacrifice fly to right field to take the early lead over Eastern Michigan.
The Eagles lit up the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning when Myranda Barnes led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Hostetler. A hard hit single from Lucas moved Barnes to third before a single up the middle from Kriegshauser brought her home to score.
The Saints struck again in the top of the fourth, notching two runs on three hits, including two-straight to lead off the inning, to extend their lead to 4-1. The Eagles came within two in the bottom of the fifth inning when Lucas dug in with bases loaded and a runner on third. The senior outfielder singled through the left side of the field as EMU trailed Siena 4-2.
The Green and White continued to battle back in the bottom of the sixth inning when Davidson drew a walk and made her way around the bases on an Duffy double in the right center gap, leaving the Eagles trailing by one with two outs in the sixth.
Trailing by one in the bottom of the seventh inning, Lucas knocked a single up the middle, bringing Kriegshauser to the plate. For the second time in the contest, the sophomore outfielder came through for the Green and White. The time Kriegshauser blasted a two-run homer over the right field fence to secure the walk off victory for EMU.
Eastern Michigan will be back in action Friday, Feb 27 when it heads to the USF Under Armour Tournament in Tampa, Fla. EMU will kick off the tournament with Villanova University. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
Northern Illinois
Results
TROY, Ala. - The Northern Illinois University softball team suffered an 8-7 setback to Connecticut in extra innings in the Huskies' finale of the Trojan Invitational Sunday.
Trailing 6-3 heading into the top of the seventh, NIU (4-6) rallied with a four spot in the top of the seventh to take a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
With two on and two out, Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill./Burlington Central) doubled to left centerfield to drive in a pair and pull the Huskies to within a run. After a Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) walk put runners on first and second, Jessica Sturm (Wichita, Kan./Goddard) doubled to center to give the Huskies a 7-6 lead.
"We showed this weekend that we're going to fight until there's a final out in the game," NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe said. "We had two eighth-inning losses and two seventh-inning wins. It kind of tells you the level of parity within our sport right now."
Sturm went 2-for-3 on the day, including two doubles with three RBIs and a run scored. Harnish was right behind her, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Unfortunately for NIU, UConn tied the game in its final at bat. With a runner on second and two outs, Emily O'Donnell singled through the left side to score Ryne Nakama to tie the game and send it in extras.
NIU failed to score in the top of the eighth, giving UConn a chance to complete the comeback. After Jacklyn Dubois was placed on second, she was sacrificed over to the third. Following a walk, Dubois scored on a Sturm wild pitch to win the game.
Sturm, who carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth, finished the day allowing seven runs, five earned, on four hits, and four base on balls.
The Huskies built a 3-0 lead through five innings, with a pair of runs scored in the top of the second and a run in the fifth. However, NIU could have done more damage in the top of the fourth.
The Huskies loaded the bases with only one out, but were unable to scratch across a run. NIU left 10 runners on base for the game.
"We needed to continue to score runs after we got our 3-0 lead," Sutcliffe said. "We left too many runners on base. It started raining pretty hard. We left some pitches up and momentum got messed up a little bit. Before we knew it we were chasing a lead."
Despite the loss, Sutcliffe was happy with the way her team showed resiliency Sunday and throughout the weekend.
"We had a lot of contributors from everybody on the team, 1-9," she said. "Grable continued to stay hot and Allie Hecht was huge for us in the bottom of the order this weekend. We were just really able to fight."
