BOWLING GREEN, OH - With a two-day, two-game series turning into a Saturday doubleheader due to weather forecasts for Sunday, the Rockets and the Bowling Green Falcons faced off twice on Saturday on the diamond and BGSU came away with two wins by scores of 6-4 and 9-1.
In the opening Mid-American Conference series for both team, the Rockets showed their grit and their never-say-die attitudes when they rallied with four runs in the sixth inning. Down 6-0, Andrea Wabol led off for the Rockets and got on base after an error by the BGSU second baseman. After advancing to second on the following out, Wabol advanced to third after Brie Ford sent a shot towards the shortstop and the Falcon mishandled the ball for an error. Moments later, Ford stole second to put runners on second and third with one out and Mica Sanchez at the plate. Wabol kept a close eye on the action at the plate and managed to score on a passed ball by the catcher. Ford also advanced on the passed ball. Sanchez hit the ball towards the pitcher and reached first on a routine fielder's choice but the Falcons could not get Ford out at home. Despite being three-quarters of the way towards home, Ford quickly reversed direction and dodged two close tags from the catcher to make it back to third safe. Kelly Hmiel entered the batter's box for the Rockets, reached first on a fielder's choice and scored Ford. Hmeil followed Ford's example and stole second with Brooke Gates up to bat. Gates then singled to center and Hmiel rounded third and headed home. The center fielder relayed the ball in to the catcher but smart base running by Hmiel allowed her to avoid the tag and score UT's fourth run of the inning. Unfortunate for Toledo, no additional runs were scored in the game after Hmeil's run and Bowling Green won, 6-4.
The Rockets got off to an early lead in game two, scoring a run in the top of the first thanks to Ford and an additional BGSU error. Ford reached first on an error by the first baseman and then stole second. Lacey LeVier singled through the right side and scored Ford from second for the first run of the game. However, BGSU was able to keep the Rockets scoreless for the rest of the game and win 9-1.
Toledo (1-21, 0-2 MAC) now looks to its next conference series as the Rockets will head to DeKalb, IL on Friday for a double header against Northern Illinois (9-17, 4-0 MAC) at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. UT will then travel to Kalamazoo, MI to face the Western Michigan Broncos (18-13, 3-1 MAC) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
