Falcons Can't Quite Climb Out of Early Hole

Sunday, February 19

Charlotte, NC

12:15 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-3

Charlotte

8-3

Bowling Green

Charlotte

Alex Sorgi v Tiffin - Oct 2016 - Paul Duncan photo

Sophomore Alex Sorgi had 3 hits on Sunday & now has an 8-game hitting streak

February 19, 2017 | Softball

Box Score

BG falls to host Charlotte in championship game of First Pitch Classic

By: CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Host Charlotte scored in each of the first four innings and built a six-run seventh inning lead, but the Bowling Green State University softball team nearly came all the way back on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 19). In the end, however, the 49ers held on for a 7-3 win over the Falcons in the championship game of the First Pitch Classic.

With the win, Charlotte improves to 8-3 on the season, while BGSU drops to 6-3 on the year.

The Falcons trailed, 7-1, with two outs in the top of the seventh. But, back-to-back run-scoring singles brought the Brown and Orange within four runs, and an infield hit loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate. Finally, however, Charlotte relief pitcher Lauren Riley got a foul pop for the final out.

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Sophomore Alex Sorgi and redshirt junior Chelsea Raker each went 3-for-4 at the plate as the Falcons held an 11-8 advantage in the hits department.

Raker was an incredible 11-of-18 at the plate, good for a .611 average, in the Falcons' five games at the First Pitch Classic, with four doubles, seven runs batted in and a slugging percentage of .833. Sorgi hit .500, going 9-of-18, on the weekend, and scored a team-high six runs in the five games.

Sorgi, primarily a pinch-runner last year, was hitless in eight at-bats as a freshman in 2016. She was 0-for-3 in the season opener, but now has an eight-game hitting streak, and is batting .480 (12-for-25) in those eight contests. Sunday marked the first three-hit game of her collegiate career.

Sorgi has scored at least one run in seven of the last eight games, with two runs scored in four of those contests.

On Sunday, the 49ers scored a run in each of the first three innings, despite getting a grand total of one hit during that time. That hit was an Emma Ocker bunt single in the first inning, but it came after a pair of walks led off the game. BGSU starting pitcher Kiley Sosby got out of the bases-loaded, no-outs jam with just one run allowed, however, striking out Haley Pace before Grace Beatty lifted a fly ball to right that allowed Becca Shipper to score from third. Sosby then got Erin Powers to hit a foul pop that was caught behind the plate.

With one out in the second, however, Lizzy Birch walked and took second on a wild pitch, and when Kiersten Berrier also reached via a base on balls, sophomore Meredith Miller entered the circle for the Falcons. Miller hit Shipper with a pitch to load the bases, and a grounder by Spenser Gray allowed Birch to score and give Charlotte a 2-0 lead.

The Falcons cut the 49ers' lead in half with a run in the third, as BG's speed made it a 2-1 game. Sophomore Hannah Giammarino led off with a single to center, and promptly stole second. Sorgi fell behind in the count, 2-0, took a pitch for ball one, then fouled off three-straight offerings from Charlotte starter Haley Wiseman. Then, the BG soph singled to center to put runners at the corners.

Then, Sorgi stole second, with Giammarino scoring from third after the 49ers threw down to second. Wiseman got a strikeout, but Sorgi then stole third before Wiseman struck out another batter to end the inning.

In the home half of the third, though, the 49ers again saw the first two batters reach via walks. A sacrifice bunt by Powers and a sac fly by Meredith Harris enabled Pace to score Charlotte's third run of the day.

The Falcons threatened, but did not score, in the fourth. Raker led off with a single, and pinch-runner Taylor Blevins stole second. Senior Haley Schrock followed with a double to left but Blevins, who had to wait to make sure the ball wouldn't be caught, was able to advance only to third. Wiseman got out of the second-and-third, no-outs jam, with a strikeout, an infield popup and another strikeout.

And, in the bottom of the frame, the hosts turned three hits into two runs. Ocker's two-out triple to right-center scored Berrier, who had led off the inning with an infield single. And, Pace followed with a single that plated Ocker to make it a 5-1 game.

Sorgi singled with one out in the fifth, and freshman Kendyl Wheeler reached on an error, but Wiseman got out of that inning unscathed.

In the home half of of the fifth, Miller kept the 49ers off the board after Charlotte loaded the bases with one down. Harris reached on an error, and infield hits by Birch and Berrier followed. But, the BG soph got Shipper to lift a fly ball to shallow center for the second out, and Gray's grounder resulted in an inning-ending force play at third.

The BG sixth included a Raker single and a walk to junior Laine Simmons. But, a double-play grounder erased Raker, and a strikeout ended the threat.

And, after Ocker singled to lead off the bottom of the inning, Beatty's homer with one down gave the 49ers a 7-1 lead. But, the Falcons would get no fewer than five hits in the seventh inning, nearly coming all the way back.

Giammarino led off the inning by hitting a liner that was caught by the shortstop. That marked the end of the day for Wiseman, who had thrown 143 pitches. Riley entered the circle for the 49ers, and would need to make a total of 31 pitches to get the final two outs.

Junior Katee Hinkle greeted Riley with a single, and Sorgi's third hit of the afternoon put runners on first and second. A grounder by Wheeler moved the runners into scoring position, but also produced the second out. But, redshirt junior Aspen Searle's single through the left side of the infield plated Hinkle, and Raker also hit a ball through the left side to score Sorgi.

For Sorgi, that run was her team-leading 11th of the season, matching her total for all of last year.

When Schrock reached on an infield single, the bases were loaded and the tying run was at the plate in the form of Simmons. But, Riley finally was able to get that elusive third out.

Wiseman picked up the win, allowing one run and six hits in six-plus innings of work. She struck out 10 batters. Reliever Riley faced seven hitters, with five of them getting a base hit, before getting the final out.

Sosby took the loss for the Falcons, falling to 3-2 on the season.

"The biggest lesson for our athletes to take away from today's game is to seize the opportunities," said Falcon head coach Sarah Willis. "We gave Charlotte five outs with looking strike outs.

"In the circle we will be focusing on limiting the number of free bases we are giving our opponents. We gave them 60 feet six times in the game and that has a huge impact on momentum. These are easy fixes and I am confident we will have these adjustments made for this coming weekend."

BGSU had 11 hits for the third-straight game. The Falcons had a double-digit hit total nine times during the 2016 campaign, but BG has had 10 or more hits four times in nine games in 2017. And, the Falcons have pounded out at least eight hits in every game this year to date.

The Falcons had a total of 23 stolen bases during all of the 2016 season (54 games). Through nine games in 2017, BGSU has stolen 12 bases in 13 attempts.

The Falcons return to action on Thursday (Feb. 23), beginning play at the Mardi Gras Invitational in Lafayette, La. BGSU will face Drake, Maryland, Bradley and the host school, Louisiana, during that three-day tourney.