Thursday MAC Softball Tournament Blog

Bowling Green Assistant Athletics Director for Athletic Communications Jason Knavel will be blogging during the softball team's trip to Akron for the MAC Tournament. Follow along here throughout day one of the tournament.
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8:14 a.m. - At this moment, BGSU's softball game against Ohio is still scheduled to start at 11 a.m. The team is just about to leave the hotel for breakfast and then to Akron's indoor facility to warm-up for the game. Somehow, both of yesterday afternoon's scheduled games got played so everything is on schedule as long as the rain stays away. I'll keep you posted here and on twitter (www.twitter.com/bgathletics) if anything changes.

10:21 a.m. - Last night's final softball game ended about 1:30 a.m. and our dedicated press box workers are a bit tired this morning. The field, though, looks great and the weather looks like it could hold off today (at least for this first game). I'll have BG's lineup posted in a few minutes.

10:46 a.m. - Bowling Green's lineup for today: Hannah Fulk (ss), Rachel Proehl (dp), Karmen Coffey (lf), Paige Berger (2b), Susan Sontag (rf), Zada Lines (p), Missy Bowman (1b), Melissa West (3b), Lindsay Arney (cf), Adrienne Dick (c)

10:49 a.m. - Along with following right here, the live stats are available at: https://www.nmnathletics.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPSID=42735&SPID=3786&&&DB_OEM_ID=9400

10:58 a.m. - Hannah Fulk and Paige Berger received their MAC awards prior to today's game as yesterday's ceremony was canceled due to the poor weather. Falcons have hit the field for the start of the game.

11:01 a.m. - Ohio's No. 2 batter, Paige Kemezis, reached base four times yesterday (homer, double, two walks) and she ripped a one-out double down the left field line just past a diving Melissa West at third base. She then moved to third on a stolen base. But Zada Lines got Shalene Petrich to pop up to short and struck out Emily Wethington on a change-up to end the threat and the Falcons get through 1/2 inning scoreless.

11:13 a.m. - BG let a great opportunity get away in the bottom of the first. Hannah Fulk punched the first pitch through the right side of the infield and then Rachel Proehl sacrifice bunted. Her bunt went back to the pitcher who turned and fired to first but the second baseman was late getting over and the throw sailed away. When the dust settled, BG had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out but Emily Wethington buckled down after that. She got Coffey to pop out to the catcher trying to bunt, struck out Paige Berger, and got Susan Sontag to pop out to second.

11:17 a.m. - BG turned a fairly rare 3-6 double play in the top of the second as Deanna Hartsough hit a shot down the line that Missy Bowman snagged, tagged first and threw down to Hannah Fulk to get the runner out moving from first to second. Lines has been pretty effective through the first two innings, getting a couple of strikeouts.

11:25 a.m. - Melissa West popped up to short with 2 outs in the bottom of the second but the shortstop dropped the ball. Unluckily, West had run already turned past first base expecting the ball to be caught and got stuck in a pickle between first and second. She was tagged out sliding into second and the threat ended. So far Ohio has two errors in two innings but BG has not capitalized.

11:38 a.m. - Rachel Proehl worked her way into scoring position in the bottom of the third with a two-out single and a wild pitch that moved her to second, but the Falcons could not get the clutch hit to push her across. We are still scoreless through three. The prevailing thought was that this could be a 9-8 type ballgame but so far both pitchers have gotten outs when they needed them.

11:42 a.m. - Ohio manufactured a run behind the speed of Shalene Petrich. She singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and then stole third base. Adrienne Dick's throw was short and bounced into left field, allowing Petrich to come around and score to make it 1-0 Ohio.

11:44 a.m. - Back-to-back doubles by Ohio's Lauren Gellerman and Deanna Hartsough have made it 2-0 Bobcats in the top of the fourth. Coach Salsburg comes out to settle down Zada Lines.

11:56 a.m. - Susan Sontag brings the BG faithful to its feet with a bomb over the centerfield wall to cut the deficit to one run at 2-1. Zada Lines then reached on an error and the Falcons are trying to rally.

11:59 a.m. - Melissa West with a two-out single right up the gut to put runners on first and second with two outs. Courtney Cox pinch hit but she struck out to end the rally. The Falcons, though, have brought some life to the BG faithful.

12:07 p.m. - Melissa Bott on to pitch for BG and Ohio manufactures another run in the top of the fifth on a lead-off walk, a sac bunt, a ground out that moved up the runner to third, and an infield single. Bott gets the third out on a strikeout and the Falcons trail 3-1.

12:19 p.m. - BG tried to rally again as the Falcons got two runners on but were unable to push any runs across. Rachel Proehl reached on an error and Paige Berger walked but Susan Sontag struck out to end the inning.

12:32 p.m. - The Falcons tried to rally with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, getting a walk from Melissa West and then pinch-hitter Haleigh Bielstein ripped a single to right field to put runners on the corners. Lead-off batter Hannah Fulk stepped to the plate but was out in front of a change-up and grounded out to third to end it.

12:43 p.m. - Ohio adds a critical insurance run in the top of the seventh with a walk, a single, and a couple of sac bunts to make it 4-1. BG will come to the plate needing a big rally to keep the season going.

12:52 p.m. - BGSU goes down 1-2-3 in the seventh and the Falcons' season comes to a close. Despite a 13-29 overall record, the Falcons exceeded preseason expectations when they weren't even picked to make it to the MAC Tournament and finish last in the MAC East. It was a solid "rebuilding" season for the Falcons. Good luck to the team's two seniors, Karmen Coffey and Susan Sontag!