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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Softball Hosts U-M, Heads To Central
April 02, 2001 | Softball
April 2, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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The Bowling Green State University softball team, off to a 5-0 start in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 1988, steps outside of league play for a midweek game. The Falcons (15-10 overall, 5-0 MAC) will host the University of Michigan in a Wednesday (April 4) contest. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at the BGSU Softball Field.
Following the UM game, the Brown and Orange will return to the road for a weekend series with Central Michigan University. The Falcons and Chippewas, who met in the championship round of the MAC Tournament last season, will play a single Friday (April 6) game, beginning at 3:00 p.m., at the CMU Softball Complex. The teams will return to the diamond for a Saturday (April 7) doubleheader, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
HEAD COACH LEIGH ROSS-SHAW: Leigh Ross-Shaw is in her third season as a collegiate head coach, and has an overall record of 69-55. Ross-Shaw has a Mid-American Conference mark of 33-18 after leading the Falcons to a MAC East Division co-championship last year.
Ross-Shaw assumed the top job after two years as BG's assistant coach. The Ottawa Lake, Mich., native came to the Falcon program in 1996 after serving as a high-school head coach, at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, for four seasons.
Ross-Shaw, a 1992 graduate of the University of Toledo, still holds numerous UT and MAC records, and remains the all-time conference leader in batting average (.398), at-bats and hits. She hit a MAC-record .447 as a senior en route to All-America Second-Team honors. On February 2, she was inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Fame.
Amy Kyler is in her third season as Ross-Shaw's assistant. Kyler, quite possibly the top pitcher in Cleveland State history, graduated from CSU in 1997. She played for the Carolina Diamonds of the Women's Pro Softball League for two years before pitching for the Akron Racers in each of the last two seasons.
MAC PRESEASON POLL: The Falcons were selected to win the MAC's East Division in the league's preseason poll ... the poll was the result of voting by the MAC's 13 head coaches ... BGSU earned seven first-place votes and 79 points to outdistance Marshall by 16 points ... the Falcons also were the most popular choice to win the MAC Tournament, receiving four votes ... this weekend's opponent, Central Michigan, was tabbed to win the West Division ... the complete poll follows, with first-place votes and points received:
East Division Pts. 1. Bowling Green (7) 79 2. Marshall (1) 63 3. Kent State (1) 61 4. Akron (2) 59 5. Ohio (2) 49 6. Miami 40 7. Buffalo 13West Division Pts. 1. Central Michigan (8) 72 2. Northern Illinois (5) 69 3. Ball State 48 4. Eastern Michigan 41 5. Toledo 22 6. Western Michigan 21
MAC Tournament Winner Bowling Green 4, Northern Illinois 3, Central Michigan 2, Akron, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Marshall 1.
THE OPPONENTS: Michigan has a record of 14-11-1, and the Wolverines are 2-0 in Big Ten Conference play after sweeping a pair of games at Illinois over the weekend. U-M, ranked 27th (second team listed under receiving votes) in the USA Today/NFCA national poll, will host Oakland in a Tuesday (April 3) doubleheader before facing the Falcons Wednesday. Last year, Michigan went 45-16-1 overall and 13-4 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines won the conference tournament and advanced to NCAA action. Head coach Carol Hutchins enters the week with a record of 675-292-4 in her 17th year with the Wolverines. She is 698-303-4 in her 18th year overall. More information on the team can be found at mgoblue.com.
Central Michigan is 15-15 on the season, and the Chippewas are 5-3 in MAC play after a Sunday (April 1) doubleheader sweep at Western Michigan. CMU split a Friday (March 30) twinbill vs. visiting Kent State, and the Chippewas will head back to Western Michigan for a single game Tuesday (April 3), prior to hosting BG this weekend. Freshman pitcher Amber Puchalski (9-6, 1.09 ERA) has thrown three no-hitters and two one-hitters this year. Last year, CMU went 33-13 overall and 15-5 in MAC play. The Chippewas won the MAC Tournament title, defeating the Falcons in the championship game, and advanced to NCAA Regional action in Ann Arbor. Head coach Margo Jonker has a record of 745-408-5 in her 23rd season, all in Mt. Pleasant. CMU's athletic web site is www.cmuchippewas.com.
THE SERIES: The Falcons trail the all-time series with Michigan by an 18-4 count, and the Wolverines have won the last six meetings. Last year, U-M posted an 8-0, six-inning victory in Ann Arbor (April 19, 2000). The last BGSU win came in 1992, as the teams split a twinbill at the BGSU Softball Field.
Central Michigan holds a 45-11 lead in the series with the Falcons, and the Chippewas have won the last 19 contests since a BGSU win in 1994. Last year, the teams' only two meetings came in the MAC Tournament at DeKalb, Ill. CMU posted a 3-0 victory in BGSU's opening game of the tourney (May 11, 2000), then ended the Falcons' season with a 9-4 win in the championship game two days later.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK: BGSU opened MAC play by winning all five games last week ... the Falcons began the home portion of the 2001 schedule with a Tuesday (March 27) doubleheader sweep of Toledo, winning 7-1 and 9-1 ... the second game ended in the sixth inning due to the "mercy" rule ... Wednesday's (March 28) scheduled twinbill at Cleveland State was postponed, and the make-up date, originally set for April 12, has been changed ... the teams will play a twinbill in Cleveland on Monday, April 30, beginning at 4:00 p.m. ... last weekend, BGSU headed to Marshall and swept a three-game series from the Thundering Herd ... the Falcons won a 10-1, six-inning game Friday (March 30), and captured Saturday's (March 31) games by scores of 4-2 and 7-0.
FALCONS BY THE NUMBERS: The Falcons are hitting .247 as a team this year, while the opponents are hitting .271 ... BGSU has a team ERA of 2.66, while the foes have a 3.68 ERA ... when the Falcons' 29-0 loss to nationally-ranked Arizona is taken out of the equation, BGSU is hitting .253 to the opponents' .255, and the team ERA drops to 1.73 ... senior Nikki Rouhana (.382), freshman Jenifer Kernahan (.366) and senior Jen Domschot (.313) are the team's top-three in batting ... Jen Domschot leads the Falcons with 19 runs scored and 13 walks, while Rouhana paces the Brown and Orange in hits (26), total bases (37), slugging percentage (.544) and on-base pct. (455) ... junior Renee Rosemeier leads BG with six doubles and 19 runs batted in ... Rosemeier, Jen Domschot and sophomore Libby Voshell have two homers each on the year ... sophomore McKenna Houle paces the pitchers with six wins, six complete games and two shutouts ... junior Jessie Milosek has a 1.83 earned-run average to lead the Falcons ... Houle has a 6-4 record, while Milosek is 5-3 ... both players have 31 strikeouts on the year.
FAST START: BGSU was perfect in five games last week, with all of those games coming in MAC play ... the 5-0 league start matches the best in school history ... the 1988 Falcons also won the first five MAC games en route to a 24-8 league record and a conference title.
OFFENSE GETS IN GEAR: It is safe to say that the Falcon offense was clicking on all cylinders last week ... BGSU outscored opponents by a 37-5 margin in last week's five games ... the Falcons hit .351 as a team, with 12 extra-base hits and a slugging percentage of .490.
ANGIE DOMSCHOT BREAKS BGSU TRIPLES MARK: Senior Angie Domschot had a triple in the Falcons' second-game win over Toledo Tuesday (March 27) ... the three-bagger was her second of the year and the 18th of her career, setting a new BGSU career record ... she surpassed Amy Lienhardt (17 from 1985-88) for the school mark ... Domschot had tied the record with a triple in a win over Liberty just two days earlier (March 25).
TWINS ARE TRIPLE-RIFFIC: BGSU seniors Angie Domschot and Jen Domschot each tripled in the second inning of Tuesday's (March 27) 9-1 win over Toledo ... that marked the second time in a three-day span that the Domschot twins hit triples in the same inning ... the two seniors also turned the trick vs. Liberty (March 25).
ROUHANA STARTS THE HIT PARADE: Senior Nikki Rouhana was moved to the leadoff spot in the batting order 10 games ago ... since that time, she has had at least one hit in nine of those games, and BG is 8-2 during that span ... last week, Rouhana hit .500 as the Falcons won all five games ... she led the team in hits (10), doubles (three), total bases (17) and slugging percentage (.850), while tying for the team lead in on-base pct. (.500) and triples (two) ... she had a hit in each of the five games, with at least two hits in four of those contests.
ROSEMEIER = RBI: Junior Renee Rosemeier had quite a game in Friday's (March 30) win at Marshall ... Rosemeier hit a grand slam and drove in seven runs in the 10-1 victory ... the RBI total is believed to be a BGSU single-game record ... Rosemeier's slam came in the third inning and erased a 1-0 Marshall lead, the Herd's only lead of the three-game series ... for Rosemeier, the homer was the second of her career ... the other round-tripper was a grand slam, too, coming in the 2001 season opener against Pacific ... Rosemeier now has a team-best 19 RBI this season, after driving 16 runs during all of last year.
A HOULE LOT OF WINS: Sophomore McKenna Houle had some tough luck early this season, and began the year with a 1-4 record ... Houle has won her last five decisions, however, including three last week ... she allowed just four hits in each of those three games, as opponents hit just .188 against her last week ... on the week, she was 3-0 with an ERA of 0.78 ... her two complete games included one shutout, vs. Marshall Sunday (March 31) ... in addition to allowing four hits in each of the three games, Houle also had exactly four strikeouts in each game ... she walked a total of two batters in 18 innings last week.
KERNAHAN KEEPS HITTING: Freshman Jenifer Kernahan had three hits in four at-bats in the series-opening win at Marshall ... that success gave her nine hits in a span of 12 at-bats (.750 avg.) ... Kernahan had recorded BGSU's first four-hit game of the year vs. Liberty (March 25) ... she was 2-of-4 vs. Toledo Tuesday (March 27) ... Kernahan cooled off just slightly in Saturday's action at Marshall, going 1-for-4 ... Kernahan, who entered the second Liberty game with a season batting average of .200, has raised her average to .366 in the last week.
HOMER LIST: Senior Lynsey Ebel homered against Toledo Tuesday (March 27) ... Ebel has tied classmate Jen Domschot for second place on the BGSU career list, as each player now has 10 ... they are one homer behind career record-holder Colleen Bates (1997-2000) on the homer list.
NOTING THE FALCONS: The Falcons are on a seven-game winning streak, and have outscored the opponents, 48-6, during that time ... after going the first 19 games of the year without reaching double digits in the hits department, the Falcons turned the trick in each of the next four games ... BGSU now leads the all-time series with Marshall by a 13-1 margin ... the Falcons hit .351 in last week's five games, while the opponents hit .210 ... BGSU had a team ERA of 0.85 to the foes' 5.97 in last week's action ... the Falcons are 16-5 vs. MAC East Division opponents since the beginning of the 2000 conference season ... BGSU is 10-2 in games decided by five or more runs this year.
HOMER HAPPY: Entering the Leigh Ross-Shaw (head-coaching) Era, the BGSU single-season record for homers was eight ... Ross-Shaw's first team obliterated that mark by hitting 19 round-trippers in 1999 ... not to be outdone, the 2000 squad matched that record ... this year, BGSU has a total of nine homers in 25 games.
