Falcons Sweep EMU Behind Miller's Shutout, Sosby's Solo Shot

Saturday, April 8

Bowling Green, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

18-22, 4-5

Eastern Michigan

14-20, 2-7

Eastern Michigan

Bowling Green

Meredith Miller v Miami April 4 2017 Amanda Cutcher photo

Meredith Miller fired a shutout in Saturday's first win (file photo by Amanda Cutcher)

April 08, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BGSU has topped the win total for all of last season

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Meredith Miller fired a complete-game shutout in game one, and Kiley Sosby's solo shot started a three-run inning in game two, as the Bowling Green State University softball team swept Saturday's (April 8) doubleheader against Eastern Michigan University. The Falcons won by scores of 5-0 and 3-2 in the Mid-American Conference twinbill at a sun-drenched Meserve Field.

With the victories, the Falcons have topped the overall win total for all of last season. BGSU is now 19-22 overall, and the Falcons are 5-5 in MAC play

LINKS
GAME ONE STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
GAME TWO STATISTICS: HTML | PDF

Miller, a sophomore, scattered six hits en route to her third complete-game shutout of the season, and her first in MAC play. BGSU now has six shutouts in 2017 after posting just one shutout in the '16 campaign.

Sosby, also a sophomore, entered the day with just eight at-bats this season, and none since March 19. But, she started both games at the designated-player spot, and opened the scoring in game two, with a solo homer to left-center in the fourth.

Another soph, Brooke Parker, picked up the win in that second game, with a complete-game effort of her own. Miller and Parker have thrown two complete games each over the Falcons' last four games, and have combined to allow just three earned runs -- an ERA of 0.75 -- in that time.

"It was a great defensive day for us today," said Willis. "Our defense was making plays behind our pitchers all day. It was great to see the defense being aggressive early, playing free and showing our pitchers that they were behind them.

"Offensively, one through nine we did a great job in terms of situational hitting. If someone went down, someone else picked them back up. They did a good job of executing, moving runners and hitting situationally."

In the opener, redshirt junior Chelsea Raker want 3-for-3, while sophomore Alex Sorgi was 2-for-4. All five of the game's runs came in the bottom of the second inning, when BG batted around.

After EMU starter Trisha Trujillo retired the Falcons in order in the first, Raker led off the second with a single just over the outreached glove of retreating second baseman Brandice Olmos. Junior Laine Simmons singled to left, sending pinch-runner Makayla Wood to second, and an infield single by senior Sami Parave loaded the bases with no outs.

The next batter, junior Katee Hinkle, did not need to take the bat off of her shoulder, walking on four pitches as Wood trotted home with the game's first run. Sosby's liner was grabbed by Olmos for the first out, and a ground ball led to a force play at the plate for the second out. But, Sorgi followed with an infield hit, as Parave scored ahead of a throw to the plate to give the Falcons a two-run lead.

Trujillo got the next hitter, senior Haley Schrock, to hit a foul pop to the right side of the infield. But, EMU first baseman Olivia Logan lost the ball in the sun, and it dropped to the ground for a foul ball. Two pitches later, Schrock lifted a fly ball to the gap in right-center. EMU rightfielder Michelle Kriegshauser got to the ball, but saw it bounce out of her glove and land on the outfield grass as all three runners came around to score. Trujillo got the next hitter to ground out, but the damage had been done.

Meanwhile, Miller settled down after allowing a pair of first-inning hits, and the Falcons' defense was stellar all game long. Kriegshauser had singled to begin the game, and she took third on a Logan two-out single in that first inning, but second baseman Hinkle grabbed a hard liner off the bat of Amanda Akles to end the threat.

"After that first inning, I asked coach what was going on," said Miller. "'Am I missing spots? Is my drive off the mound slow?' I felt like I had good snap on the ball, but they were making good contact. The next few innings, I just focused on pushing off the mound as hard as I could, fast arm circle, good snap and trying to hit the spots. Rather than try to strike them out, I just tried to hit locations, keep them off balance and let them hit it to our defense.

"When I watch the defense in practice, I'm amazed sometimes at the plays they make. I know that they will make plays, and that gives me a lot of confidence with every pitch I throw."

Miller set down the Eagles in the second inning, striking out the last two batters, and allowed only a two-out single in the third. In the BG third, Raker led off with a line single to right, and after a popup and a fielder's choice, Hinkle's base hit sent Parave to third. But, Trujillo got a grounder to the left side to end the inning.

In the EMU fourth, Akles doubled with one down, but shortstop Aspen Searle moved to her right to grab a liner off the bat of Haley Hostetler, and Parave grabbed Danielle Rico's soft liner for the third out.

BG got hits from Sorgi and Schrock in the fourth, and Raker in the fifth, but could not add to the lead. In the fourth, Searle's towering fly ball was caught by leftfielder Lucy Lopez. And, in the fifth frame, an error and a Sosby walk loaded the bases with two outs, but freshman Kendyl Wheeler's line drive was hit directly at Lopez.

Miller allowed a fifth-inning single, but bounced back to strike out Taylor Wagner to end the inning. In the sixth, after a Logan hit with one out, Wheeler made a nifty diving catch of a fly ball off the bat of Akles, and centerfielder Sorgi tracked down a ball off the bat of Hostetler in right-center.

Then, in the seventh, Miller retired the side in order to close out the win. She improved to 10-5 on the season with the victory, striking out three batters without issuing a walk. Miller threw 70 strikes among her 100 pitches.

Kriegshauser and Logan each had two of EMU's six hits. But, Miller held the numbers six through nine hitters in the Eagles' order to a combined 0-for-12.

In the second game, BGSU again scored in just one inning. EMU had at least one hit in each of the game's first six innings, but a pair of double plays and a runner caught stealing proved to be key plays in the Falcons' one-run win.

The first inning saw Wheeler grab an Olmos fly ball in right, then fire to first base to double up Wagner, who had singled. In the second inning, after Wheeler had doubled and Hostetler was plunked by a Parker pitch, Wheeler tracked down Rico's foul fly to end the frame.

Lopez doubled in the EMU third, but was stranded at second. In the fourth, Kriegshauser's leadoff single was erased by a double play, as Hinkle grabbed a sharp one-hopper by Logan, then flipped the ball to Searle, who fired to Raker for the twin killing. Akles followed with a single, but Parker retired Hostetler on a soft liner for out number three.

Searle, who was celebrating her birthday on Saturday, was BG's only baserunner over the first three innings, reaching on both a first-inning single and a third inning walk. But, both times, she got to first with two outs, and EMU hurler Nicolle Miranda bounced back by retiring the next hitter.

In the fourth, however, Sosby took a pitch for a ball, then deposited Miranda's next offering over the fence in left-center, giving the Brown and Orange a 1-0 lead.

"I worked with coach all week to stay down on the ball and think 'hit and run,' because when I do that, I usually hit line drives," said Sosby. "So, I was thinking 'hit and run' and I honestly didn't see it go out. When I got near second base, I could tell that everyone kind of slowed down a little bit, and I saw coach smiling, so I knew it was out.

"A lot of this game is about failing, and how you react to failing. I think it's nice to see the steps that we're taking begin to pay off."

The homer was Sosby's first of the year and the second of her BGSU career.

"It was great to see Kiley hit that shot to left-center to start the momentum for us in that second game," said Willis. "She had a great day offensively. She's been working very hard, and got her chance today and made the most of it. Where there's an opportunity, there's someone waiting to capitalize.

"Kiley is finding ways to help this program, and it's a little different than her freshman year, but she's doing a great job and I was glad to see her have such a good day at the plate."

After Sosby's homer, BG was not finished in the fourth. Hinkle lined the next pitch to right for a single, and freshman Logan Everett -- like Searle, celebrating her birthday on Saturday -- drew a walk to put a pair of runners aboard. Wheeler's looping liner landed in shallow left for a single to load the bases, and with the EMU infield in, Sorgi's hard shot glanced off the edge of first baseman Logan's glove and trickled toward the second-base bag for an RBI single. Hinkle scored on the play to give BG a two-run lead.

Miranda got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but on Searle's roller to the right side, shortstop Rico had no play at first, and threw to third in an unsuccessful attempt to get Wheeler. Everyone was safe as pinch-runner Wood scored BG's third run.

Eastern got on the board in the fifth inning. After Sam Saporito beat out an infield trickler with one down, Wagner lifted a ball down the right-field line. Wheeler made a long run and got to the ball, but was unable to make the catch as Saporito scored to end BGSU's shutout streak at 19.0 innings.

BG hit four balls to the outfield in the bottom of the fifth, but Parave's drive to center was caught, and after Sosby reached on a blooper down the left-field line, centerfielder Hostetler made a nifty diving catch of Hinkle's sinking liner in right-center for the second out. Then, Everett hit a line drive that was directly in the path of Lopez in left.

In the sixth, Logan drew a one-out walk for the visitors, but two Falcons celebrated their shared birthday by throwing out pinch-runner Angel Schilke. Everett fired down to Searle, who applied the tag for the second out of the inning. And, that would prove to be a big out, as Akles followed with a homer that, instead of tying the game, cut the lead to a single run. Everett made a nice catch of a Hostetler foul pop near the screen behind home plate for the third out.

Wheeler and Schrock each singled in the home half of the sixth, and Searle walked to load the bases, but Miranda got a grounder back to the circle and threw home to begin a 1-2-3, inning-ending double play.

The seventh inning saw Parker retire the Eagles in order, and when Sorgi grabbed a Lopez liner, the Falcons had the win and the Saturday sweep.

Searle reached in all four game-two at-bats, going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, while Sosby and Wheeler each went 2-for-3. Akles led the EMU attack with a 3-for-3 effort.

Parker allowed just one earned run and seven hits in her complete-game victory. Her total of 92 pitches included 62 strikes. EMU's Miranda gave up three runs and 10 hits in defeat, walking three batters and striking out two.

The Falcons are just one win shy of matching last season's MAC win total. BG is 5-5 in conference play this year after finishing with a 6-17 league mark last year. Additionally, BGSU is 3-1 at Meserve Field this season, after going 3-11 in home games in 2016.

The Falcons and Eagles will conclude their weekend series with a single game on Sunday (April 9). First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. at Meserve Field. Sunday is the final day of the largest 50/50 raffle in BGSU Athletics history, with a minimum guaranteed payout to the grand prize winner. Half of the money raised by ticket sales will be invested in BGSU student-athlete scholarships.

Tickets will be on sale at BGSU's home baseball, softball and tennis events on Sunday, with the winning ticket announced at the baseball game vs. Toledo. The winner does not need to be present at the baseball game to claim their prize.