2008 Woodie Awards
Softball defeats Ball State 8-4 over weekend
By: Andrew Harner
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Sports
After a dismal start in non-conference play, BG's women's softball team rebounded nicely over the weekend with three wins against conference foes.
"We were never really focused on our tough start," coach Shannon Salsburg said. "We're just building off every weekend, even the ones that didn't turn out the way we wanted."
The team started out the season 0-16 but has since turned things around going 4-2 in conference games.
This weekend, the Falcons began at Miami for a doubleheader on Friday.
In game one, Hayley Wiemer held the Redhawks to seven hits and three runs en route to BG's 7-3 victory.
The game was scoreless through the first two innings until Miami put up two runs on the board in the third. But the Falcons wouldn't stay down long.
Allison Vallas started off the fourth inning on second after an error and Missy Bowman walked to set up freshman Haleigh Bielstein's RBI double.
Freshman Katelynn Boso then made it back-to-back doubles and was scored on freshman Rachel Delp's single. Wiemer then scored Delp with two outs, and Vallas hit into another error to give the Falcons six runs in the inning.
"It just is a testament to the hard work that the kids have been putting in because they've been putting in a lot of extra hours besides practice," Salsburg said.
Dawnjene DeLong added two more runs in the seventh after hitting a double with the bases loaded.
The win marked the 50th time BG has beaten Miami in the team's history.
In game two, the Falcons held the lead or were tied for the most of the game, but after allowing nine runs over the fifth and sixth innings, they couldn't recover and lost 11-3.
"We had a couple errors that just opened the door," Salsburg said.
"With any team, if you open the door, they're going to bust right through."
DeLong hit a home run in the fourth and also had a single to get her sixth multi-hit game of the season.
On Saturday, BG traveled to Ball State and watched as Wiemer again pitched well shutting out the Cardinals 3-0.
"We were never really focused on our tough start," coach Shannon Salsburg said. "We're just building off every weekend, even the ones that didn't turn out the way we wanted."
The team started out the season 0-16 but has since turned things around going 4-2 in conference games.
This weekend, the Falcons began at Miami for a doubleheader on Friday.
In game one, Hayley Wiemer held the Redhawks to seven hits and three runs en route to BG's 7-3 victory.
The game was scoreless through the first two innings until Miami put up two runs on the board in the third. But the Falcons wouldn't stay down long.
Allison Vallas started off the fourth inning on second after an error and Missy Bowman walked to set up freshman Haleigh Bielstein's RBI double.
Freshman Katelynn Boso then made it back-to-back doubles and was scored on freshman Rachel Delp's single. Wiemer then scored Delp with two outs, and Vallas hit into another error to give the Falcons six runs in the inning.
"It just is a testament to the hard work that the kids have been putting in because they've been putting in a lot of extra hours besides practice," Salsburg said.
Dawnjene DeLong added two more runs in the seventh after hitting a double with the bases loaded.
The win marked the 50th time BG has beaten Miami in the team's history.
In game two, the Falcons held the lead or were tied for the most of the game, but after allowing nine runs over the fifth and sixth innings, they couldn't recover and lost 11-3.
"We had a couple errors that just opened the door," Salsburg said.
"With any team, if you open the door, they're going to bust right through."
DeLong hit a home run in the fourth and also had a single to get her sixth multi-hit game of the season.
On Saturday, BG traveled to Ball State and watched as Wiemer again pitched well shutting out the Cardinals 3-0.
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