Rockets sweep Bowling Green in Battle of I-75

The UT softball team earned a three-game series sweep over arch rival Bowling Green State University this past weekend, giving them a 9-1 conference record thus far this season.

The first game of the three-game series was everything the Rockets wanted. The Rockets were aided greatly from the bats of first-years Bekah Yenrick, Bailey Curry and Kylie Norwood. Those three combined for six RBIs in a dominant 8-2 victory.

Not only did the offense explode, the defensive more than showed out as well. Third-year Heather Webb knotted her 11th win of the season, including four hitless innings and a career-high eight strikeouts.

For the Rockets, the first game of the series went swimmingly, but that would not be the case for the second game of the series. It was a tumultuous start to the game for the Rockets, as the team fell into a 4-1 hole. However, the deficit did not affect the Rockets, as it rallied for a 5-4 come-from-behind win.

Bowling Green took the 4-1 lead off a grand slam, but were unable to score for the rest of the game. For the Rockets, the team sent nine batters up to the plate in the sixth inning, which resulted in four runs to gain the lead.

First-year Brittney Davis and fourth-year Ashley Rausch helped the Rockets in its winning cause by combining for four RBIs. On the mound, second-year Leah Allison tossed a scoreless inning and secured her first win of the season for the Rockets.

In the third and final installment of the series, the Rockets controlled the game from start to finish. Webb, for the second time in two days, blanked Falcon batters for yet another win on the season, her 12th. She struck out six batters and only allowed one earned run on the day.

Offensively, the Rockets were boosted by fourth-year Sam Showalter and Curry, both of whom drilled home runs. For Showalter, her home run was a three-run shot that provided the bulk of the five runs the Rockets earned in their 5-1 series-closing victory.

The Rockets now sit at 25-13 on the season and have a double-header against MAC opponent Eastern Michigan on April 11 where the team will look to continue the dominant play that it has featured thus far this season.