FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The University of Kansas used the long ball to get past the Bowling Green State University softball team, 8-3, on Tuesday. T

he game, part of the National Invitational Softball Championships, was held at TC Colorado Field.

With the loss, the Falcons are eliminated from the NISC and see the 2022 season come to an end.

A pair of fifth-year seniors, Sarah Gonzalez and Payton Hamm, combined for four of BGSU’s seven hits and drove in all three Falcon runs on Tuesday.

In her 228th career game at BG, Gonzalez was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate to tie her career-high hit total. She had a pair of RBI vs. the Jayhawks, and also made a nifty play at third to start a double play in the fifth inning.

Hamm had an RBI single in the second inning, and made a sliding catch of a fly ball in right field in the game as well.

BGSU flashed the leather in the field all day long, with Peyton Dolejs and Bailey Sample each making several sparkling defensive plays. Dolejs made multiple spectacular catches in left, including one where she crashed through the wall in left-center to make the play.

In addition to Gonzalez and Hamm, BGSU senior Kiara Hurley also played in her final collegiate contest on Tuesday. She earned the start in the circle and threw 4 2/3 innings, with the final pitch of her Falcon career resulting in a double-play grounder.

The Falcons, the ninth seed for the 12-team, double-elimination tournament, went 2-2 in Fort Collins and finish the season with an overall record of 34-21.