By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
Baylee Irvin delivered a hard-hit line drive to right field in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a pair of runs to lift the Bowling Green softball team to a come-from-behind 7-6 win over Lake in walk-off fashion Thursday.
“I’ve been in a slump lately,” Irvin said. “This game really meant a lot to us because it was our first home game. I had my girls behind my back, so I went out there and did what I could do best.”
The play capped a three-run seventh inning for the Bobcats, who had just witnessed a three-run top half by Lake that saw the Flyers take their first lead since the opening inning.
After Lake’s Kali Bedford opened the bottom half of the inning with a three-pitch strikeout, Sammie Trimpey got the rally started for the Bobcats with a base hit to center.
A ground ball then turned into multiple throwing errors, which pulled BG within one. An intentional walk to Zoe Ziems followed, which set the table for Irvin’s smash to right.
“I’m happy with the outcome,” Bowling Green coach Cassie Nauman said. “We had someone put on (intentionally) and someone steps up and gets it done, which I knew she was going to once she stepped in the box, but it was good to see us act on it. We believe in them, but they have to act on it also.”
The game, which was supposed to be played at Lake before being moved to Bowling Green to avoid potential weather, saw Lake strike first in the opening inning.
Diem Isbell walked with one out, stole second and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Bedford then delivered a deep blast to left center that hit off the top of the fence and went over to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
Similar to the seventh inning rally, Trimpey got a rally going for the Bobcats in the home half of the first with a single. Brynn Willhelm followed with another single, and Zoe Ziems plated both with a double to tie it up.
An RBI single from Ella White and an RBI groundout from MJ Walters gave Bowling Green a 4-2 lead.
“We came out early and got two runs right away, and I thought that was going to be an omen for us, then we spotted them four in the bottom half,” Lake head coach Dave Rymers said. “I thought we settled in, (as it was our) first game in a while based on the weather.”
Ellie Rymers plated a run in the fifth for Lake as she singled before eventually coming around to score on a passed ball.
That set up the wild seventh inning, which began with the Lake rally. Rymers walked to lead off the rally, and Diem Isbell followed with a line drive double off the left fielder’s outstretched glove.
A hit by pitch and bases loaded walk tied the game at four, which set up a two-run double by Sophia Gruetter. A walk then re-loaded the bases with one out, but an infield pop out and a groundout ended the threat.
“I thought we competed and gave ourselves a chance there in the top half of the seventh,” Rymers said. “We still left runners on base and that’s what we talked about. There’s probably 150-200 pitches, and we had lots of opportunities throughout that game. It wasn’t just a seventh inning issue.”
Ziems got the complete game victory in the circle for the Bobcats (1-2), striking out seven and allowing five hits.
“I think that we came together in moments,” Nauman said. “That first inning was exciting. We got almost all the way through the lineup, and we’ve done that a few times now in our first three games, so I expect us to have innings like that throughout the season. That’s what we’re working to build from.”
Trimpey went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs out of the leadoff spot for Bowling Green, while Ziems went 2-for-3 with a walk and a pair of runs knocked in.
Nobody had more than one hit for Lake (2-3), but Isbell and Rymers each scored two runs, while Bedford and Gruetter both plated a pair of runs.
