SOFTBALL

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BOWLING GREEN, OH - The University at Buffalo softball team saw its seven-game winning streak come to an abrupt end with two shutout losses at Bowling Green this afternoon, 1-0 in eight innings and 8-0 in five innings. The Bulls are now 17-25 overall and 8-7 in the Mid-American Conference.

Marcy Hansen

Sophomore Mary Russell (Apalachin, NY/Owego Free Academy) led off game one with a walk and moved to third on a single by freshman Marcy Hansen (Claremont, CA/Claremont), putting runners at the corners with no outs. The Falcons (25-26, 10-8 MAC), however, got out of the jam by catching Hansen on a delayed steal attempt for the first out in the inning before pitcher Liz Vrabel threw back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. Bowling Green’s first threat came in the bottom of the fourth when the Falcons put runners on second and third with one out, but sophomore Sophie Barstad (Canby, OR/Canby) got two grounders back to the circle to end the inning. Neither team mounted much of a threat through the next three innings, sending the game to extra innings tied at 0-0.

Senior Julie Hibner (Salem, OR/South Salem) hit an infield single with one out in the top of the eighth, but Vrabel retired the next two batters to keep her shutout intact. In the bottom of the inning, Kari Steigerwald reached on a one-out single to left and later beat the throw to second on a sacrifice bunt by Megan McPherson to put two runners on base. A fly out by Lindsay Heimrich was the second out of the inning, but Allison Vallas came through with the game-winning single to center to score Steigerwald from second for the 1-0 BGSU win. Vrabel earned her 14th win of the season, allowing just four hits and striking out 13. Barstad went the distance for the Bulls, also allowing just four hits and striking out four.

In game two, the Falcons pounded out seven hits, including four doubles, while the Bulls’ lone hit in the game was a one-out single by Hansen in the top of the first. The Falcons scored once in the first inning and then ended the game early with four in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Emily Gouge and Vallas were each 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while McPherson had two doubles, two runs scored and one RBI to lead the Falcons’ attack. Gouge also picked up the win on the mound, allowing just one hit and striking out six. Senior Stacey Evans (Collinsville, IL/Triad) suffered the loss, allowing seven earned runs and striking out just one in 4.2 innings.

The Bulls and the Falcons will conclude their three-game series with a single game on Sunday at 1 pm.