Huskies Jump on Falcons Early En Route to 8-0 Win Friday

Friday, March 25

Bowling Green, OH

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

12-16, 0-1

Northern Illinois

20-7, 1-0

Northern Illinois

Bowling Green

BG runner safe at second - March 25 2016 v NIU - Kappler

Photo by: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Marketing & Communications

March 25, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

BGSU looks to bounce back in Saturday's DH

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Visiting Northern Illinois University jumped on top early, with four runs in the top of the first inning, and the Huskies never looked back en route to an 8-0, five-inning victory over the Bowling Green State University softball team Friday afternoon (March 25). The game, the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams, was held at Meserve Field.

The first four batters of the game reached base for the Huskies, who sent 10 batters to the plate and had five hits in that first inning. Meanwhile, NIU starting pitcher Alex Frenz threw a three-hit shutout. Frenz did not allow a single ball to be hit out of the infield.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
PHOTO GALLERY: Ruben Kappler, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

NIU outhit the Falcons, 13-3, on the afternoon, with Kayti Grable going a perfect 3-for-3 on the day. Grable launched a two-run homer as the Huskies added four more runs in the top of the fourth.

"We lost that game in the first inning," said Falcon coach Sarah Willis. "We did not come out ready to play. Our infield, our outfield, everyone played a part. We had throwing errors to bases, a lack of urgency, we didn't move our feet to ground balls we could have gotten to ... that says it all right there. It set the tone from the very first batter, and we will have to make some changes for tomorrow."

Kali Kossakowski began the game with a single, and she continued on to second on an errant throw from the outfield. Katie Lamich doubled down the left-field line, and the Huskies had the lead for good.

Grable followed with a single off of BGSU starter Briana Combs, and Emily Naegele drew a walk. Falcon shortstop Katee Hinkle grabbed a soft liner by Jenny Van Geertry, and nearly doubled Grable off of second, but the Huskie first baseman scrambled back to second base just ahead of Hinkle's throw.

Combs then struck out Abby Howlett for the second out, but Alaynie Woollard singled through the left side to load the bases, and a walk to Bekah Harnish made it a 3-0 NIU lead. Freshman Brooke Parker entered the game, and Jessica Rio hit a grounder off the glove of a lunging BG infielder for a single that plated the Huskies' fourth run. Parker got Kossakowski to hit a routine grounder to second baseman Kayla Gregory, leading to an inning-ending force at second.

The Falcons looked to get back in the game quickly, as the first two batters reached base in the bottom of the first. Senior Marina Cobbs, who had two of the Falcons' three hits on the day, hit a liner off of the glove of Woollard at third, and classmate Molly Holliday's grounder to second base was misplayed, putting runners at first and second with no outs. But, a strikeout was followed by a pair of ground balls to short, and Frenz and the Huskies were out of the inning.

After entering the game in the first, Parker held the Huskies off the scoreboard in each of the next two innings. But, despite getting the leadoff runner aboard in each of the first three frames, the Falcons could not cut into the Huskie lead.

Gregory singled to begin the second, but was erased on a double-play grounder. Hinkle walked on four pitches to start the BG third, but a force play, a grounder to first and a strikeout ended that half-inning of play.

Then, in the fourth, Northern put the game away. Lamich led off by hitting a blooper that landed in between three fielders in shallow right-center. Then, Grable turned on a pitch and hit a two-run homer to left, giving NIU a six-run lead.

Naegele and Van Geertry each singled, and the runners moved up on a ground ball to the right side. From there, Naegale scored on a sacrifice fly, and Van Geertry came home on a single by Harnish.

Junior Haley Schrock drew a one-out walk in the home half of the fourth, but could not advance past second. Then, after Parker retired the Huskies in the fifth, Frenz allowed four infield grounders in the bottom of the inning. Cobbs reached base on the third of those ground balls, but the fourth such grounder was hit right back to Frenz, who flipped the ball to Grable at first to end the game.

Harnish was 2-for-2 with a walk for the Huskies, while Lamich and Rio each had two hits. Grable scored two runs and drove in three, while Lamich and Naegele each crossed the plate twice in the win.

Frenz walked two batters and struck out two, with 50 strikes among her 75 total pitches. She picked up the win to improve to 8-2 on the year, as the Huskies increased their current winning streak to 12 games.

Combs took the loss for the Falcons, while Parker pitched four-plus innings of relief. Cobbs, as mentioned, had two of the Falcons' three hitts in the game.

"We will have to make some changes for tomorrow, from our pregame warmup right through to the end of the second game," said Willis. "The team is coming here to work tomorrow, and we will put them to work."

The Falcons and Huskies will return to Meserve Field for a Saturday (March 26) doubleheader to conclude the teams' MAC-opening three-game series. First pitch of Saturday's first game is set for shortly after 1:00 p.m.