Bowling Green State University Athletics
Softball
Bauer, Michaela
Michaela Bauer
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant Softball Coach
- Email:
- bauermr@bgsu.edu
- Phone:
- 419-487-3090
Michaela Bauer recently completed her third season with the BGSU softball program. She joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach in the fall of 2019 and was elevated to a full-time assistant coach in August of 2021.
Bauer has helped the Falcons to a 72-54 overall record in her first three seasons with the program. After BGSU went 11-6 in a shortened spring 2020 season, the last two seasons have been the program's most successful in recent memory.
The 2022 season saw the Falcons finish with a 34-21 (.618) overall record and a 16-11 (.593) MAC ledger, good for fourth place in the 11-team league. BGSU's total of 34 victories was the program's highest in a decade, and the Falcons' overall and league-only winning percentages also were the best since 2012.
The Falcons qualified for the 2022 MAC Tournament and advanced all the way to the championship game. Then, BG participated in national postseason play, heading to Fort Collins, Colo., and winning two games in the National Invitational Softball Championship. The wins, over Stephen F. Austin and George Washington, were the first national postseason victories in BGSU softball history.
Payton Gottshall was named the MAC's Pitcher of the Year in 2022, marking just the second time in program history that a BGSU hurler earned that honor. Greta L'Esperance joined Gottshall on the All-MAC first team.
BGSU ended the 2021 campaign with an overall record of 27-27, and the Falcons went 19-20 in MAC action. BG, picked to finish eighth in the MAC in the preseason coaches' poll, ended the season in fifth place in the 11-team league. BGSU was one of two conference teams to finish as many as three places higher than predicted.
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The Falcons finished with the program's highest winning percentage in MAC play since 2012, and BGSU's overall total of 27 wins is the highest since the 2013 campaign. The Falcons topped both of those marks in 2022.
Individually, senior Madi McCoy and Gottshall each earned All-MAC First-Team accolades in 2021. Gottshall was also named the MAC's Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and fellow redshirt freshman L’Esperance was chosen to the MAC's All-Defensive Team.
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Gottshall and McCoy were the Falcons' first all-conference first-team selections since 2014, and BGSU had multiple first-team picks for the first time since 2012.
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The Falcons have excelled in the classroom as well. BGSU was named an Easton/NFCAÂ Top 10 Academic Team for the 2020-21 academic year, as the Falcons were ranked 10th in the nation among NCAA Division-I schools with a GPA of 3.704.
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Individually, no fewer than 16 Falcons were named 2021 Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes. And, a school-record 12 BGSU student-athletes were named to the Academic All-MAC Team.
That record lasted one year, as 13 Falcons made the Academic All-MAC Team in 2022.
Nikki Sorgi earned one of the most prestigious individual awards given out by the MAC, as she was named the female recipient of the MAC's Bob James Memorial Scholarship Award in the summer of 2021. That honor is given to just one male and one female across the conference.
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McCoy received the MAC Medal of Excellence – presented annually to just one male and one female student-athlete at each of the MAC’s 12 schools – for the 2020-21 academic year.
In her first season with the program, Bauer helped the Falcons post a record of 11-6 in the shortened 2020 season. That included a 5-0 mark at the Clearwater Spring Break Invitational on what proved to be the final weekend of the campaign.
Gottshall burst onto the collegiate scene with a one-hitter in her BG debut, and posted an 11-5 record in the circle, striking out 128 hitters in 87 innings of work. And, at the plate, BG batted .259 as a team. Sammy Dees returned after missing the bulk of the 2019 season due to injury, hitting .474 with an on-base percentage of .565 in 14 games in the '20 campaign.
Bauer, a native of Hicksville, Ohio, came to BGSU after a stellar career, both on and off the field, at Defiance College. A four-year letterwinner for the Yellow Jackets, Bauer earned Tom Bohlsen Academic All-Conference (Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference) honors in each of those four years. Additionally, she was an NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete in every season.
She capped her career with a stellar senior season. Bauer started all 39 games at first base, hitting .350 with a team-leading 10 doubles. She ranked second on the club with 43 hits and 27 RBI, and finished third on the Yellow Jackets with five homers. Bauer had a .552 slugging percentage and a .990 fielding pct., and earned honorable-mention All-HCAC honors. She was also named to the HCAC's All-Tournament Team.
In the league tourney, Bauer hit .571 with a double, a homer and four RBI. DC finished the 2019 season with a 21-18 record. Bauer was named Team MVP for that 2019 campaign.
In her junior season, Bauer hit .344 with a .511 slugging percentage. Her 11 extra-base hits included eight doubles, two triples and a homer.
Bauer currently holds multiple career records, including three single-season and two career marks, at Defiance.
In the classroom, Bauer graduated Summa Cum Laude from Defiance in 2019, with a Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training and a minor in sport management. She was named to the Dean's List and was a member of the Carolyn M. Small Honors Program.
Bauer is certified as a Kinesio Taping Practitioner, CKTP.
A 2015 graduate of Hicksville High School, Bauer was a four-year softball letterwinner, and also earned letters in archery (four) and volleyball (three). She was an All-Ohio Second-Team selection in softball as a senior after earning honorable mention the previous season. Bauer holds the school records for homers in a season and a career, and helped the program earn its first-ever district title in her senior year.
She is currently working toward a Master's in Sport Administration degree through the Human Movement, Sport & Leisure Studies program at BGSU.
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Bauer has helped the Falcons to a 72-54 overall record in her first three seasons with the program. After BGSU went 11-6 in a shortened spring 2020 season, the last two seasons have been the program's most successful in recent memory.
The 2022 season saw the Falcons finish with a 34-21 (.618) overall record and a 16-11 (.593) MAC ledger, good for fourth place in the 11-team league. BGSU's total of 34 victories was the program's highest in a decade, and the Falcons' overall and league-only winning percentages also were the best since 2012.
The Falcons qualified for the 2022 MAC Tournament and advanced all the way to the championship game. Then, BG participated in national postseason play, heading to Fort Collins, Colo., and winning two games in the National Invitational Softball Championship. The wins, over Stephen F. Austin and George Washington, were the first national postseason victories in BGSU softball history.
Payton Gottshall was named the MAC's Pitcher of the Year in 2022, marking just the second time in program history that a BGSU hurler earned that honor. Greta L'Esperance joined Gottshall on the All-MAC first team.
BGSU ended the 2021 campaign with an overall record of 27-27, and the Falcons went 19-20 in MAC action. BG, picked to finish eighth in the MAC in the preseason coaches' poll, ended the season in fifth place in the 11-team league. BGSU was one of two conference teams to finish as many as three places higher than predicted.
Â
The Falcons finished with the program's highest winning percentage in MAC play since 2012, and BGSU's overall total of 27 wins is the highest since the 2013 campaign. The Falcons topped both of those marks in 2022.
Individually, senior Madi McCoy and Gottshall each earned All-MAC First-Team accolades in 2021. Gottshall was also named the MAC's Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and fellow redshirt freshman L’Esperance was chosen to the MAC's All-Defensive Team.
Â
Gottshall and McCoy were the Falcons' first all-conference first-team selections since 2014, and BGSU had multiple first-team picks for the first time since 2012.
Â
The Falcons have excelled in the classroom as well. BGSU was named an Easton/NFCAÂ Top 10 Academic Team for the 2020-21 academic year, as the Falcons were ranked 10th in the nation among NCAA Division-I schools with a GPA of 3.704.
Â
Individually, no fewer than 16 Falcons were named 2021 Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes. And, a school-record 12 BGSU student-athletes were named to the Academic All-MAC Team.
That record lasted one year, as 13 Falcons made the Academic All-MAC Team in 2022.
Nikki Sorgi earned one of the most prestigious individual awards given out by the MAC, as she was named the female recipient of the MAC's Bob James Memorial Scholarship Award in the summer of 2021. That honor is given to just one male and one female across the conference.
Â
McCoy received the MAC Medal of Excellence – presented annually to just one male and one female student-athlete at each of the MAC’s 12 schools – for the 2020-21 academic year.
In her first season with the program, Bauer helped the Falcons post a record of 11-6 in the shortened 2020 season. That included a 5-0 mark at the Clearwater Spring Break Invitational on what proved to be the final weekend of the campaign.
Gottshall burst onto the collegiate scene with a one-hitter in her BG debut, and posted an 11-5 record in the circle, striking out 128 hitters in 87 innings of work. And, at the plate, BG batted .259 as a team. Sammy Dees returned after missing the bulk of the 2019 season due to injury, hitting .474 with an on-base percentage of .565 in 14 games in the '20 campaign.
Bauer, a native of Hicksville, Ohio, came to BGSU after a stellar career, both on and off the field, at Defiance College. A four-year letterwinner for the Yellow Jackets, Bauer earned Tom Bohlsen Academic All-Conference (Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference) honors in each of those four years. Additionally, she was an NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete in every season.
She capped her career with a stellar senior season. Bauer started all 39 games at first base, hitting .350 with a team-leading 10 doubles. She ranked second on the club with 43 hits and 27 RBI, and finished third on the Yellow Jackets with five homers. Bauer had a .552 slugging percentage and a .990 fielding pct., and earned honorable-mention All-HCAC honors. She was also named to the HCAC's All-Tournament Team.
In the league tourney, Bauer hit .571 with a double, a homer and four RBI. DC finished the 2019 season with a 21-18 record. Bauer was named Team MVP for that 2019 campaign.
In her junior season, Bauer hit .344 with a .511 slugging percentage. Her 11 extra-base hits included eight doubles, two triples and a homer.
Bauer currently holds multiple career records, including three single-season and two career marks, at Defiance.
In the classroom, Bauer graduated Summa Cum Laude from Defiance in 2019, with a Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training and a minor in sport management. She was named to the Dean's List and was a member of the Carolyn M. Small Honors Program.
Bauer is certified as a Kinesio Taping Practitioner, CKTP.
A 2015 graduate of Hicksville High School, Bauer was a four-year softball letterwinner, and also earned letters in archery (four) and volleyball (three). She was an All-Ohio Second-Team selection in softball as a senior after earning honorable mention the previous season. Bauer holds the school records for homers in a season and a career, and helped the program earn its first-ever district title in her senior year.
She is currently working toward a Master's in Sport Administration degree through the Human Movement, Sport & Leisure Studies program at BGSU.
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SB: First Pitch Dinner Recap (Jan. 11, 2024)
Wednesday, January 24
BGSU-CMU Softball Highlights (May 13, 2022)
Saturday, May 14
BGSU In The Nest : Nikki and Alex Sorgi (Softball)
Wednesday, May 08
BG Softball Beats Akron in Game 1 on Senior Day 4.27
Saturday, April 27
