MUNCIE, Ind. – Reagan Williamson reached base four times and drove in both of her team’s runs as Bowling Green State University softball Falcons gutted out a 2-1 victory over Ball State University on Saturday. The Mid-American Conference matchup was held at the Softball Field at First Merchants Ballpark Complex.
With the win, the Falcons (27-15, 13-9 MAC) move past the Cardinals into fourth place in the conference standings entering the final week of the regular season. The top-four teams in the league will qualify for the MAC Tournament.
BGSU captured two of the three games in the weekend series with the Cardinals (20-27, 13-10 MAC).
Williamson was 3-for-3 with a walk in Saturday’s win. She had run-scoring singles in the first and fifth innings.
Peyton Dolejs reached base three times in the game. She was hit by a pitch twice and had a base hit in the fifth, coming around to score what would prove to be the winning run.
Payton Gottshall picked up the complete-game victory, scattering five hits while striking out seven.
With Saturday’s win, the Falcons moved past Ball State into fourth place in the MAC standings. The top-four teams in the final standings will advance to the MAC Tournament, which will be held at the site of the regular-season champion from May 12-14.
For Gottshall, Saturday’s win was her 21st of the season, topping her previous career-best total of 20. She was 20-12 a year ago, and is now 21-9 this season to date.
Gottshall’s win total is the third-highest in school history, and is the highest victory total by a BG pitcher since 1993.
As a team, BGSU now has 27 wins this year, tying last season’s total. The Falcons have not won more than 27 games in a decade, since the 2012 club went 36-22 on the year.
Gottshall broke her own BGSU single-season strikeout record in Saturday’s doubleheader in Muncie, and is now one strikeout away from being the first Falcon to record 300 in a season. To put that in context, only eight BGSU pitchers have struck out 300 batters in a career. Gottshall has 299 strikeouts this year and 709 in her BGSU career.
Williamson’s three-hit game on Saturday was her fourth of the season. All four have come against MAC opponents.
The Falcons close out the home schedule with a three-game midweek series. BGSU will face Central Michigan at Meserve Field, with Tuesday’s single game scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. and Wednesday’s doubleheader set for a 1 p.m. start.
BG will close the regular season with a three-game set at Kent State next weekend.
