Bowling Green State University Athletics
Softball Prepares For MAC Tournament
May 07, 2001 | Softball
May 7, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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The Bowling Green State University softball team, after clinching the Mid-American Conference's East Division, will head to Mount Pleasant, Mich., for the MAC Tournament this week. The Falcons (34-17 overall, 19-5 MAC) will be the second seed for the six-team, double-elimination tournament. West Division champion Central Michigan University will host the tournament, which runs from Thursday (May 10) through Saturday (May 12).
The Falcons will open play with a 3:00 p.m. game Thursday, taking on the winner of that morning's game between third-seeded Ball State University and sixth-seeded Northern Illinois University. All games will be played at the CMU Softball Complex. The complete tournament schedule follows.
MAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
All games played at CMU Softball Complex
Thursday, May 10: G1 - #3 Ball State vs. #6 Northern Ill., 10 a.m. G2 - #4 Kent State vs. #5 Ohio, 12:30 G3 - BSU/NIU winner vs. #2 Bowling Green, 3 G4 - KSU/OU winner at #1 Central Mich., 5:30Friday, May 11: G5 - G2 loser vs. G3 loser, 10 a.m. * G6 - G1 loser vs. G4 loser, 12:30 * G7 - G3 winner vs. G4 winner, 3 G8 - G5 winner vs. G6 winner, 5:30 *
Saturday, May 12: G9 - G8 winner vs. G7 loser, 11 a.m. * G10 - G7 winner vs. G9 winner, 1:30 G11 - G10 participants (if necessary), 30 min. after conclusion of Game 10 * losing team eliminated all times p.m. unless noted
TOURNAMENT UPDATES ON THE WEB: Tournament host Central Michigan is planning to have live, batter-by-batter updates of MAC Tournament games on the university's website. The web address is www.cmuchippewas.com.
HEAD COACH LEIGH ROSS-SHAW: Leigh Ross-Shaw is in her third season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons, and has an overall record of 88-62 (.587). Ross-Shaw has a Mid-American Conference mark of 47-23 (.671) after leading the Brown and Orange to a MAC East Division co-championship last year and the outright division title this season.
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, and pitched for the Akron Racers in each of the last two seasons.
BEST-EVER MAC PERCENTAGE: The Falcons concluded MAC play with a 19-5 record, good for a winning percentage of .792 ... that percentage is the best in school history ... the previous best was a .743 pct. by the 1993 team (26-9).
GREAT RECORD: The Falcons enter the tournament with 34 overall wins this season, the fourth-most in school history ... the 1992 squad recorded a school-record 37 wins, while the 1988 team had 35 victories and the 1993 team had 34 ... BGSU's winning percentage of .667 so far this year ranks second in school annals, trailing only that 1992 team (.698, 37-16).
THE OPPONENTS: Top-seeded Central Michigan sports an overall record of 31-18, heading into a Monday (May 7) home doubleheader vs. Detroit, and the Chippewas finished MAC play with a 20-4 record. CMU swept a three-game series from visiting Eastern Michigan over the weekend (May 4-5), allowing just one run in the three contests. The Chippewas are 12-1 in home games this year, heading into the UDM twinbill. Last year, CMU went 33-13 overall and posted a 15-5 MAC record. The Chippewas have won the league tournament in each of the last two seasons. Head coach Margo Jonker has a record of 761-411-5 in her 23rd season, all in Mt. Pleasant. More information on the team can be found on the web at www.cmuchippewas.com.
Third-seeded Ball State has an overall record of 29-18, and the Cardinals finished MAC play with a 17-7 league ledger, good for second place in the West Division. Last week, the Cards dropped a midweek, non-league game to Illinois, before sweeping host Toledo in a weekend series. BSU has won six consecutive MAC games, and finished the regular season on an 8-2 run. Last year, the Cardinals finished 20-30, including 9-11 in league play. Terri Laux is 135-129 in her fifth year at the BSU helm, and 287-377-2 in her 14th year as a collegiate head coach. BSU's athletic web site is www.bsu.edu/sports.
Fourth-seeded Kent State finished the regular season with a 31-20 overall mark, including a league ledger of 16-8. The Golden Flashes swept home doubleheaders vs. Northern Illinois Monday (April 30) and Cleveland State Tuesday (May 1) before going 1-2 at the BGSU Softball Field last weekend. A year ago, the Flashes went 21-28 overall and 9-13 in the MAC. Head coach Karen Linder has a record of 141-121 in her fifth year at KSU. She is 394-321-1 in her 16th year as a collegiate head coach. The school's athletic web site is www.kent.edu/athletics.
Fifth-seeded Ohio is 32-21 overall, and the Bobcats finished MAC play with a 15-9 record. Last weekend, Ohio took two of three games against visiting Marshall. After losing Friday's (May 4) game, the Bobcats needed to sweep Saturday's doubleheader to qualify for the tournament. Ohio did just that, winning by 1-0 and 11-3 scores (second game five innings). Ohio and Marshall tied for third place in the East Division, but the Bobcats won the tiebreaker by virtue of a 2-1 head-to-head record. Last year, the Bobcats went 18-28 overall and 10-11 in MAC action. Roanna Brazier has a record of 126-143 in her fifth year as a collegiate head coach, all in Athens. More information on the team can be accessed at www.ohiobobcats.com.
Sixth-seeded Northern Illinois is 18-33 overall, and the Huskies went 12-12 in MAC play to place third in the West Division. Last week, NIU lost a midweek game to DePaul, but went 2-1 against visiting Western Michigan in a weekend series. A season ago, the Huskies went 33-22 overall and won the MAC's West Division with a 19-3 record. NIU hosted the MAC Tournament in both 1999 and 2000. Head coach Donna Martin is 221-160-1 in her seventh season, all in DeKalb. The university's athletic web site is www.niu.edu/athletics.
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 ... the complete poll follows, with first-place votes, points received and actual division finish:
East Division (FPV) Pts. AF 1. Bowling Green (7) 79 1st 2. Marshall (1) 63 T-3rd 3. Kent State (1) 61 2nd 4. Akron (2) 59 5th 5. Ohio (2) 49 T-3rd 6. Miami 40 6th 7. Buffalo 13 7thWest Division (FPV) Pts. AF 1. Central Michigan (8) 72 1st 2. Northern Illinois (5) 69 3rd 3. Ball State 48 2nd 4. Eastern Michigan 41 4th 5. Toledo 22 6th 6. Western Michigan 21 5th
MAC Tournament Winner: Bowling Green 4, Northern Illinois 3, Central Michigan 2, Akron, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Marshall 1.
THE SERIES: The Falcons trail the all-time series with Central Michigan by a 48-11 margin, and the Chippewas have won the last 22 contests since a BGSU win in 1994. CMU swept a three-game series in Mt. Pleasant this year (April 6-7), winning by scores of 2-0, 3-2 and 1-0. 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. CMU is undefeated in six MAC Tournament meetings with BGSU.
BGSU holds a 31-25 lead over Ball State in the all-time series, and the teams split an April 24 doubleheader at the BGSU Softball Field. The Cardinals captured a 3-0 win in the opener, as Marcy Mobley's one-hitter got her the win over McKenna Houle's two-hitter. The Falcons won the nightcap, 5-4 in 11 innings. Last year, the teams' scheduled twinbill in Muncie was cancelled due to inclement weather. The teams have met just once in MAC Tournament play, with the Falcons posting a 1-0 win in the 1982 tourney.
The Falcons trail Kent State, 40-37-1, but the Brown and Orange captured two of last weekend's three meetings, and swept a three-game series in BG last season (April 21-22, 2000). Last weekend, the Falcons won by scores of 7-2 and 4-1, with KSU winning the middle game, 4-3. Prior to BGSU's winning five of the last six series games, KSU had gone 6-1 vs. the Falcons. KSU is 2-0 against BGSU in MAC Tournament play, having eliminated the Falcons from the tourney in both 1998 (11-1) and 1999 (2-1).
The Falcons hold a 40-30 lead over Ohio, including a pair of wins this season. BGSU posted a home doubleheader sweep, 3-2 and 3-0, on April 10. Prior to that, the Bobcats had captured the season series in each of the last two years, including winning two of three meetings in Athens on the final weekend of the 2000 regular season. The teams have met once in the league tourney, with Ohio capturing a 3-2 win in 1986.
BGSU and Northern Illinois are tied, 7-7, in the series, and the teams have not met in 2001 to date. Last season, though, the teams played three games. The visiting Huskies swept a regular-season doubleheader in BG, 9-5 and 7-5 (April 1, 2000), but the Falcons captured a 7-2 win in an elimination game of the MAC Tournament in DeKalb (May 12, 2000). BG is 3-0 against NIU in MAC tourney action, with a 3-2 win in 1985 and a 3-0 victory in 1998.
BGSU IN THE MAC TOURNEY: The Falcons will be making the seventh MAC Tournament appearance in school history ... BGSU has qualified for the league tourney for the fourth consecutive year, the only East Division squad to have done so ... this year marks the 11th league tournament, which was held from 1982-86 before a hiatus of nearly a decade ... Bowling Green has compiled an all-time MAC Tournament mark of 7-12, having gone 1-2 in the first four trips, 0-2 two seasons ago, and 3-2 last year ... last year's runner-up finish was the Falcons' best placing ever in the MAC Tournament ... the Falcons participated in the league tourney in 1982 (the inaugural tourney), 1985 and 1986, prior to the current four-year run ... in three of the team's first four trips, BG won the first game before losing the next two.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK: The Falcons won five of six games to close the regular season ... BGSU went 3-1 in the four MAC contests last week ... on Monday (April 30), the Brown and Orange closed the non-conference slate with a pair of wins at Cleveland State, 4-2 (eight innings) and 7-4 ... BGSU won a 4-3 decision over visiting Toledo Tuesday (May 1), then took two-of-three games from Kent State at the BGSU Softball Field over the weekend ... the Falcons won, 7-2, in Friday's (May 4) game, but the Flashes posted a 4-3 comeback win in Saturday's (May 5) opener ... BGSU won the nightcap, 4-1.
LYNSEY EBEL SETS NEW HR RECORD, AGAIN: For the fifth consecutive week, the BGSU career record for homeruns has been matched or broken ... last week, it was both matched and broken ... senior Jen Domschot hit a long homer in Monday's (April 30) second game at Cleveland State ... that homer was the 13th of Domschot's career, tying her with classmate Lynsey Ebel atop the list ... Ebel had taken the lead with homers in each end of a doubleheader sweep of Miami (April 28) ... on Friday (May 4), Ebel reclaimed the lead with a smash to left-center in a win over Kent State ... Ebel enters the MAC Tournament with 14 career homers to Domschot's 13.
GETTING OFFENSIVE: Heading into the MAC Tournament, BGSU is averaging 4.27 runs per game this year ... the only team in school history to average more runs was the 1981 squad ... that year, BG averaged a whopping 5.25 runs per game, scoring 147 times in 28 outings ... last year's edition of the Falcons averaged 4.24 runs per game.
FALCONS BY THE NUMBERS: The Falcons are hitting .267 as a team this year, while the opponents are hitting .251 ... BGSU has a team ERA of 1.78, while the foes have a 3.51 ERA ... when the Falcons' 29-0 loss to nationally-ranked Arizona is taken out of the equation, BGSU is hitting .270 to the opponents' .243, and the team ERA drops to 1.33 ... seniors Jen Domschot, Nikki Rouhana and Lynsey Ebel are the team's top-three in batting ... Jen Domschot leads the Falcons and ranks second in the MAC with a .364 average ... Rouhana is fourth in the league with a .358 batting average, while Ebel is hitting .304 ... Jen Domschot leads the Falcons with 44 runs scored, a school-record 28 walks, 86 total bases, a .475 on-base percentage and a .601 slugging pct. ... she leads the entire league in runs, walks and OBP ... Rouhana paces the Brown and Orange with 53 hits ... Ebel and junior Renee Rosemeier each have 39 runs batted in, tying them for the school seasonal record ... Ebel has a school record-tying six homers, while Rosemeier and Jen Domschot have five each on the year ... sophomore McKenna Houle paces the pitchers with 11 wins, 10 complete games and three shutouts ... junior Jessie Milosek has a 1.36 ERA to rank fourth in the league, with Houle fifth at 1.42 ... freshman Jody Johnson is 10th in the conference with an ERA of 1.73, while junior Andrea Genter is at 2.14 ... Houle has a record of 11-7 this year, while Johnson is 9-2 ... Milosek is 8-6 and Genter is 6-2 ... Milosek and Houle have 60 and 58 strikeouts, respectively, on the year, while Johnson has 48 and Genter 45.
FALCONS IN MAC PLAY: BGSU hit a MAC-best .294 in conference games, while the opponents hit .234 ... the Falcons' team ERA of 0.92 was second-lowest in the league ... individually, the Falcons were all over the leaderboards in numerous categories ... senior Nikki Rouhana led the MAC with a .415 batting average in league games, while classmate Jen Domschot was fifth with a .394 average ... Rouhana also led the league in hits (34), runs scored (27) and total bases (49), while Jen Domschot was the league leader in walks (14) and on-base percentage (.500) ... senior Lynsey Ebel and junior Renee Rosemeier tied for the RBI lead, with 25 apiece ... Jen Domschot was third with 23 ... Domschot and Rosemeier were second and third, respectively, in total bases, while Ebel was seventh ... Domschot was second in runs (22), triples (three) and slugging percentage (.634), while Rosemeier and Ebel were tied for second in homers (four each) ... in the circle, all four BGSU pitchers who threw in MAC games were ranked among the top 10 in earned-run average ... freshman Jody Johnson finished with an ERA of 0.58 against the league, second-lowest in the MAC ... sophomore McKenna Houle was fourth with an 0.83 ERA, while juniors Jessie Milosek and Andrea Genter were sixth and ninth, respectively ... Milosek had a 1.04 ERA against the league, while Genter's ERA was 1.43 ... Genter allowed opponents to bat just .190 against her in league play, fourth-lowest in the MAC ... Milosek ranked 10th in that category (.228) ... Johnson tied for second in the league with two saves in MAC action ... she was 5-0 in league games, while Houle was 7-3, Milosek 4-1 and Genter 3-1.
HOME COOKIN': The Falcons have experienced a great deal of success in home games over the past few years ... BGSU finished with a 13-3 record in home contests this season ... the Falcons went 11-2 vs. MAC opponents at home, and have won 18 of the last 20 home games vs. league foes ... in Leigh Ross-Shaw's head-coaching tenure, the Falcons have a record of 36-10 (.783) at the BGSU Softball Field, including a 30-8 (.789) mark against the MAC.
HOMER HAPPY: The school record for homeruns in a season has fallen yet again ... 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 21 homers in 51 games.
RBI ARE COMING IN BUNCHES FOR THESE THREE: Prior to this spring, a BGSU player had driven in 30 runs in a season just three times ... three players have reached that plateau this season alone ... senior Lynsey Ebel and junior Renee Rosemeier each have 39 RBI this year, tying them for the school record ... senior Jen Domschot has 33 RBI to rank fourth on that single-season list.
JUST WIN, BABY: Freshman pitcher Jody Johnson has gotten a win in each of her last eight appearances in the circle, raising her record to 9-2 on the season ... she has an ERA of 0.89 during those eight appearances ... interestingly, the current streak followed another streak (11 innings over six games) in which she did not allow an earned run, but did not get a decision.
I'M WALKIN'...: Senior Jen Domschot has set a school record by drawing 28 walks this season ... the old record of 24 was set by Dena Romstadt in 1992 ... Domschot's current total ranks fifth in MAC history.
EBEL KEEPS HITTING: Senior Lynsey Ebel hit a team-leading .471 last week, with a slugging percentage of .824 and a .526 on-base pct. ... she hit .500 in MAC play last week, with a slugging pct. of 1.000 ... over the last three weeks, Ebel has hit .400, going 24-of-60 at the plate ... she has raised her seasonal batting average from .239 to .304 during that time.
ANGIE DOMSCHOT MOVES UP: Senior Angie Domschot is making her presence felt on the BGSU career records lists ... in fact, she is ranked on every school batting list ... Domschot is the BGSU career leader with 19 triples, and ranks second in doubles (38), runs (103) and at-bats (631) ... her triples total ties her for fourth on the MAC career list ... additionally, Domschot is on the BG career lists for hits (188, third), walks (50, fifth), RBI (75, seventh), batting average (.298, ninth) and homeruns (three, tied for 15th).
CAREER RECORDS WATCH: In addition to Angie Domschot, a number of other Falcons are moving up the school's career lists ... seniors Lynsey Ebel and Jen Domschot, as mentioned, are first and second, respectively, with 14 and 13 homeruns ... Jen Domschot is second in batting average, with a career percentage of .344 ... senior Nikki Rouhana is 12th on that list at .290 ... Ebel has 81 RBI to tie for third on that list, while Jen Domschot is eighth with 73 ... Jen Domschot and Rouhana have 58 and 56 walks, respectively, to rank third and fourth in BG history ... junior Renee Rosemeier and sophomore Libby Voshell each have five career homers to tie for eighth on that list, while Rouhana has four to deadlock for 12th ... sophomore McKenna Houle has nine shutouts to rank fifth, while junior Jessie Milosek is tied for sixth with eight ... Houle's career ERA of 1.25 ranks her second in school annals, while Milosek is sixth at 1.80 ... Houle's 22 wins tie her for ninth on that list, while Milosek is 11th with 20.
NOTING THE FALCONS: BGSU has won 30 games in back-to-back seasons for just the second time in school history ... the Falcons have put together four consecutive winning seasons in MAC play for the first time in school history ... the Brown and Orange has gone 15-1 against MAC East Division foes this year, losing only to second-place Kent State ... the Falcons went 4-4 against the West Division this spring, and BG has gone 5-5 against the MAC Tournament field to date ... BGSU is 9-0 in extra-inning games during the Leigh Ross-Shaw head-coaching Era, and the Falcons have won 11 consecutive extra-inning contests, dating to the final weekend of the 1996 season ... senior Jen Domschot has hit .483 (28-of-58) over the last three weeks ... freshman Candace Fenton made her first collegiate start in Monday's (April 30) second game at Cleveland State, and responded with two hits in four at-bats ... she had been 1-for-4 on the year prior to that game ... in that same game, sophomore Jess Jenkins had the first three-hit game of her career ... the BGSU starting lineup for that contest featured three players from Keystone High School (freshman P Jody Johnson, senior 3B Lynsey Ebel and SS Jenkins), and three from Notre Dame Academy in Toledo (CF Jen Domschot, senior 2B Angie Domschot and redshirt freshman DP Liz Tuza) ... Cleveland State's starting pitcher, Kimberly Evans, also graduated from Keystone H.S., in LaGrange, Ohio ... BGSU has had winning streaks of seven, nine and eight games this year ... the Falcons are 28-6 vs. MAC East Division opponents since the beginning of the 2000 conference season ... BGSU is 13-2 in games decided by five or more runs this year.
