OXFORD, Ohio — Holly Blaska’s homer in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted Miami University to a 1-0 win over the Bowling Green State University softball team and a sweep of the teams’ Wednesday doubleheader.
The Mid-American Conference-leading RedHawks captured game one by a 9-0 score at Miami Softball Stadium
Payton Gottshall took a one-hit shutout into the seventh inning of the nightcap for the Falcons (23-13, 9-7 MAC), but Blaska’s leadoff round-tripper gave MU (26-13, 17-3 MAC) the victory and enabled the RedHawks to capture the three-game series. BGSU had picked up a 4-2 win in Tuesday’s series opener.
Miami scored six times in the first two innings to take control of Wednesday’s first contest, and MU starting pitcher Brianna Pratt retired all 15 Falcons she faced. Pratt pitched into the sixth inning of Wednesday’s second game, before Courtney Vierstra came on to get the victory in relief.
Gottshall struck out 12 batters in the series finale, marking her 13th double-digit strikeout game this season to date.
Gottshall now has 259 strikeouts this season, the second-highest total in BGSU history. She needs 23 more to tie the school record she set last season. Gottshall whiffed 282 batters in 2021.
The Falcons return home for the next five games, beginning with this weekend’s Akron series. BGSU will meet the Zips in a Saturday doubleheader, beginning at 1 p.m. at Meserve Field.
Then, the Falcons will face UA in a single game on Sunday, with first pitch at noon.
Saturday will be Alumnae Day, and Sunday is Senior Day. The latter day will see Sammy Dees, Sarah Gonzalez, Payton Hamm and Kiara Hurley recognized in pregame ceremonies at Meserve.
All three games can be viewed on BCSN in the Toledo area, as well as online via both the BCSN app and ESPN3.
