DeKALB, Ill. – In the final game of her collegiate career, Hannah Davies pitched a gem.
Davies fired a complete-game four-hitter as the Bowling Green State University softball team ended the 2023 season with a 4-2 win over Northern Illinois University Saturday. The Mid-American Conference game took place at Mary M. Bell Field.
After NIU scored twice in the first inning to erase a 1-0 BGSU lead, Davies allowed only two hits – and no runs – over the final six frames. Meanwhile, the Falcons (9-41, 2-28 MAC) scored three times in the third inning to take the lead for good.
The Huskies (26-25, 15-13 MAC) won Saturday’s first game, 16-1 in five innings.
Sophie Weber had four hits on the day, going 4-for-6 with a walk, two doubles, a run and two RBI in the doubleheader. Peyton Dolejs had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and scored three runs in the twinbill.
Makailah Dees had a hit in each end of the DH, with a triple in the opener and a walk and a run in the nightcap.
BGSU-NIU GAME ONE – HOW IT HAPPENED
BGSU got on the scoreboard with one out in the first inning. Peyton Dolejs scorched a Danielle Stewart pitch to left for a double, and the next hitter, Sophie Weber, hit a ball over the center fielder’s head for another double that plated Dolejs with the game’s first run.
The Huskies, however, countered with a 10-run inning. NIU had eight hits and also took advantage of a pair of Falcon errors in that frame.
BGSU put runners at the corners in the third, but could not score. The Huskies employed a shift against Mikailah Dees, and that shift was unsuccessful, to say the least. Dees roped a ball through the right side of the infield into right field – an unoccupied right field – with Dees making it all the way to third. Weber drew a two-out walk, but a fly ball was caught in center to end the threat.
The hosts added six runs in the bottom of the third, with a walk, a hit batter and five hits, including a pair of doubles.
Madison Lenig singled with one out in the Falcon fourth, and she advanced to second on a wild pitch. Wynnie Reid drew a two-out walk, and another wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, respectively, but they were stranded there as the next BG hitter was ruled out on a bang-bang play at first.
The Huskies had five doubles among 13 total hits in game one. Caitlyn Shumaker went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs, while three Huskies – Kelly Walinski, Sam Mallinder and Kiley Conner – each were 2-for-4. Conner drove in three runs, with five of her teammates picking up two RBI apiece.
The Falcons had four hits, including three of the extra-base variety. Weber walked and doubled, with Dolejs bashing a double and Dees a triple.
BGSU-NIU GAME TWO – HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons began the game with base hits by Dees and Dolejs. A ground ball advanced the runners, and with two outs, Dolejs scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch by Huskie starter Lily Cassell.
The Huskies tied the contest in the bottom of the inning, as Mallinder’s two-out single scored Courtney James, who had walked. Then, Mallinder came home on a Conner double to give NIU the lead.
BG retook the lead the third inning. With one out, Dees walked on four pitches, and Dolejs hit a ball to right-center for a double. Dolejs continued to third on an outfield error, with Dees scoring on the play. Weber followed with a double to right-center as Dolejs trotted home.
Weber tagged and took third on a fly ball to right, then scored as Marti Henkel came through with a two-out single up the middle, giving the Orange and Brown a 4-2 lead.
A one-out error and a two-out walk gave NIU a pair of third-inning baserunners, but BGSU starter Hannah Davies responded by striking out Conner to end the threat.
In the fourth, Davies struck out back-to-back Huskies, and after a two-out single, she got Ellis Erickson to ground out on the very next pitch.
Weber and Reagan Williamson had back-to-back singles in the fifth, and an Ally Bezjak bunt moved the runners up, but NIU reliever Emily Dato was able to get an inning-ending fly ball to center.
The Huskies went in order in the home half of the fifth, with Dolejs making a nice running catch of a James drive to deep right-center.
Mallinder hit a hot shot just inside the third-base bag to begin the Huskie sixth, but Weber knocked the ball down, picked it up in foul territory and fired to first in time.
That out proved to be big, as Conner followed with a double that might have scored Mallinder had she been on base. With pinch-runner Fiona Crane standing on second, Davies got Stewart to hit a foul pop that Weber grabbed for the second out. Then, Delaney Ostrowski hit a ball to shallow left, with second baseman Mackenna Fry making a nifty basket catch with her back to the plate for the third out.
In the bottom of the seventh, Davies got Cara Cruthers to hit a routine fly ball to right, where Delaney Davis settled under it for out number one. Davies then struck out both pinch-hitter Madison Mathews and Shumaker to lock down the complete-game win.
BGSU had an 8-4 advantage in hits, with Weber going 3-for-4 and Dolejs 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Weber doubled twice and Dolejs once in the win.
Dees, Henkel and Williamson each had a hit, with Dees adding a walk in the victory.
Conner had two of the Huskies’ four hits.
