Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Begins Six-Game Homestand With Ohio, Toledo
March 31, 2003 | Softball
March 31, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University softball team, after opening the Mid-American Conference slate with five road games, now returns home for six consecutive conference contests ... the Falcons (9-17-1, 0-5 MAC) of fifth-year head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw face Ohio University for a Wednesday (April 2) doubleheader, with the first pitch of the first game slated for 2:00 p.m. at the BGSU Softball Field.
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Following the OU twinbill, the Falcons host the University of Toledo in Sunday (April 6) action ... that doubleheader is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start ... then, BGSU concludes the homestand with a pair of games against Miami University on Wednesday, April 9 ... the Falcons play nine of the next 12 contests at home ... in MAC play, 10 of the next 13 games and 13 of the remaining 19 games are slated to be played at the BGSU Softball Field.
VRABEL NAMED PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Falcon freshman Liz Vrabel has been named the MAC Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced Monday afternoon (March 31) ... she earns the honor for the first time in her Falcon career ... Vrabel, a native of Allison Park, Pa. (North Allegheny HS), had an earned-run average of 1.35 on the week ... she threw a complete-game five-hitter in a 3-1 win over nationally-ranked Michigan Tuesday (March 25), allowing only a single unearned run as the Falcons beat the #14 Wolverines ... Vrabel pitched a pair of complete games at Central Michigan over the weekend, including a seven-hitter in which she allowed only one run on Sunday (March 30) ... but, she suffered the loss in that contest as BG fell by a 1-0 count ... on the season, Vrabel is 6-6 with a 1.79 ERA ... she has eight complete games in her nine starts, and leads the Falcons in wins, ERA, appearances (15), starts, complete games, shutouts (three), innings pitched (70 1/3) and strikeouts (69) ... opponents are batting just .203 against her on the year.
HEAD COACH LEIGH ROSS-SHAW
Leigh Ross-Shaw is in her fifth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons, and has an overall record of 120-106-2 (.531) ... Ross-Shaw, the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year, has a league mark of 58-41 (.586) ... she guided the Brown and Orange to a MAC East Division title in 2001 and a co-championship in 2000 ... Ross-Shaw has the best winning percentage in conference games of any coach in BGSU softball history, and was the fastest coach in BG annals to get to 100 overall wins as well as 50 MAC victories ... Ross-Shaw is just 16 wins shy of the school's all-time leader, Jacquie Joseph (136-123 from 1989-93) ... Ross-Shaw's total of 58 MAC wins places her third behind Joseph (78-71) and Rachel Miller-Reif (71-84 from 1994-98).
ASSISTANT COACHES
Steve Babinski is in his first campaign as an assistant to Ross-Shaw ... Babinski, a graduate of Grace (Ind.) College, was a standout baseball player there ... he has spent the past several years coaching at the Bowling Green Christian Academy ... Tami Summers is in her second season as a BGSU assistant ... Summers, a native of Tallmadge, Ohio, was a four-year letterwinner for the Rockets from 1984-87 ... she set school career records for appearances, innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA and winning pct. (.703) ... Summers returned to her alma mater, serving as head coach in 1998 and 1999.
LAST TIME(S) OUT
The Falcons struggled last week, going 1-6 overall ... but, the one win came against a nationally-ranked opponent at the BGSU Softball Field ... the Brown and Orange downed #14 Michigan, 3-1, in the second game of Tuesday's (March 25) twinbill ... U-M had captured the first game by a 4-0 count ... then, BGSU dropped a Wednesday (March 26) double-dip to Detroit, falling by scores of 2-0 and 5-4 ... over the weekend, host Central Michigan posted three shutout wins over the Falcons, with 4-0 and 6-0 results on Saturday (March 29) and a 1-0 verdict Sunday (March 30).
THE OPPONENTS
Ohio enters the week with an overall record of 3-13-1, and the Bobcats will come to BGSU with a MAC mark of 0-6-1 ... Ohio has gone 0-9-1 over the last 10 games, including a three-game sweep at Miami over the weekend ... prior to that series, the Bobcats lost and tied Ball State in a doubleheader ... the team's wins have come against Findlay (two wins) and Elon ... individually, junior Erin Chapman leads the team with a .452 batting average, while freshman Katie Davis is hitting .323 ... redshirt junior Crystal Turner is third on the Bobcats with a .293 average, and leads the team in homers (four) and runs batted in (10) ... in the circle, four pitchers have shared the load for the Bobcats ... junior Kristie Howe is 0-2 with a team-low 2.26 ERA ... sophomore Jenny Tisevich has two of the team's wins ... she is 2-1 with a 5.09 ERA ... last year, the Bobcats went 29-24 overall and finished second in the MAC's East Division with a 15-9 conference record ... Roanna Brazier has a record of 158-181-1 in her seventh season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Bobcats ... the school's athletics web site is www.ohiobobcats.com.
Toledo enters the week with an overall record of 4-13, and the Rockets will take a 1-3 MAC record into a Wednesday (April 2) twinbill at Western Michigan ... UT will host Kent State in a Saturday (April 5) doubleheader before coming to BGSU for Sunday's action ... the Rockets have been idle since dropping a pair of games to visiting Central Michigan, 11-4 and 9-0, on Wednesday (March 26) ... UT split with Akron to open the conference schedule ... the Rockets saw a scheduled twinbill vs. IUPUI Saturday (March 29) postponed due to inclement weather ... freshman Gina Muratori and redshirt freshman Heidi Smith are in a virtual tie for the team lead with a .326 batting average ... in the circle, sophomore Keri Perkins is 3-6 with a 4.41 ERA, while classmate Kim Pettitt has a 1-7 record and an ERA of 5.25 ... in 2002, the Rockets had a 13-36-1 overall record and a 2-21 MAC mark ... head coach Jo Ann Gordon is in her first season with the Rockets ... she has an overall record of 51-66 in her fourth season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.utrockets.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead the all-time series with Ohio by a 43-31 margin, and BGSU holds a 20-12 lead in home games vs. the Bobcats ... the Falcons have won the last two meetings, including one in the early going of the 2003 season ... the teams split the only two games they played last year, on the final day of the regular season in Athens (May 5, 2002) ... earlier this year, the Falcons posted a 3-0 win over OU on March 9 at the Red and Black Classic in Louisville, Ky. ... the Falcons has won the last three games at the BGSU Softball Field, including a doubleheader sweep in the most recent meetings in BG (3-0 and 3-2; April 10, 2001).
BGSU holds a 41-31 advantage in the series with Toledo, and the Falcons have won the last 10 meetings ... BG is 22-11 in home games vs. UT, and the Falcons currently have an eight-game home winning streak in the series ... the Brown and Orange captured three close games in the Glass City last season, and went 3-0 at home against the Rockets in 2001, including a 4-3 win in the most recent meeting at the BGSU Softball Field (May 1, 2001) ... UT's last win in the series came on April 28, 1998, and the Rockets' most recent win in BG came on April 25, 1997.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons enter the week with a record of 9-17-1 ... BGSU is 1-3 in home games, 3-9-1 on the road and 5-5 in neutral-site action ... as a team, the Brown and Orange is hitting .247, while the opponents are batting .253 ... freshman Gina Rango is hitting a team-high .402 on the season, while senior Libby Voshell is batting .350 ... sophomore Stephanie Finkel is hitting .286 in limited action, while freshman Lindsay Heimrich is hitting .264 this year ... Voshell has four homers on the season, while Rango has three ... Rango has scored 17 runs and has 13 RBI and eight doubles, pacing the team in all three categories ... junior Jenifer Kernahan has 12 RBI to tie with Voshell for second on that list, and Kernahan has two homers this spring ... Voshell and senior Kandice Machain have 12 runs apiece ... those two players and Rango are the only Falcons to have started all 27 games to date ... Falcon pitchers have a combined ERA of 2.87 this season, to the opponents' 2.15 ... freshman Liz Vrabel has a 1.79 ERA, and has a 6-6 record with three complete-game shutouts ... she leads the Falcons with 69 strikeouts ... sophomore Kristen Anderson is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA, while junior Jody Johnson has a 1-4 record, one save and an ERA of 3.50 ... Vrabel leads the Falcons with eight complete games, and has allowed opponents to hit just .203 against her.
ROSS-SHAW GETS WIN #120
BGSU's game-two win over Michigan on Tuesday (March 25) gave head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw the 120th victory in her career, and moved her into sole possession of second place on the school list ... Ross-Shaw passed Gail Davenport (119-133-4 from 1984-88) on that list ... Ross-Shaw, who is 120-106-2 in her fifth season entering the Ohio DH, now trails only Jacquie Joseph, who was 136-123 as the Falcons' head coach from 1989-93.
VOSHELL GOES YARD VS. U-M
Senior Libby Voshell broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer in the sixth inning of the second Michigan game ... the homer was her team-high fourth of the year, ranking her seventh on the BGSU single-season list ... Voshell now has 11 career homers, tying her with Colleen Bates (1997-2000) for third place in school history ... Lynsey Ebel (1998-2001) holds the BGSU record with 14 career homers ... Voshell's homer was the first allowed by a Wolverine pitcher since Feb. 27, a span of nearly 15 games and 109 innings.
SNAPPING U-M'S STREAK
Michigan's shutout in the opener was the Wolverines' fifth in a row ... senior Kandice Machain's sixth-inning single that plated Marla Murphy in the second game snapped U-M's shutout streak at 41 2/3 consecutive innings ... Michigan pitchers had not surrendered a run since the fourth inning of a March 8 game vs. Florida International.
OFF TO A GOOD START
Freshman Gina Rango had hits in her first two career at-bats at the BGSU Softball Field ... Rango went 3-for-6 in the Michigan twinbill, and is hitting .462 (6-of-13) through her first four games at home.
OFF TO A GOOD START II
Another Falcon freshman, Liz Vrabel, threw a complete game to beat #14 Michigan in her first-ever home appearance ... Vrabel now has eight complete games in her nine starts this season ... she has six of BGSU's nine wins, and her earned-run average of 1.79 ranks her among the MAC leaders.
DON'T RUN ON MACHAIN
Senior Kandice Machain threw out two runners at the plate to end innings in the second game vs. Detroit Wednesday (March 26), and had a total of three outfield assists in the doubleheader ... Machain now has eight assists from her centerfield position on the season.
FALCONS FIND SPOT FOR FINKEL
Sophomore Stephanie Finkel made the first two starts of her collegiate career, starting each game of the Detroit doubleheader in rightfield ... Finkel had a hit in each game ... she started all three games at Central Michigan, including one at the designated-player spot, and is now hitting .286 (4-for-14) on the year.
HITS APLENTY
BGSU's total of 13 hits in the second game vs. Detroit tied the Falcons' season high ... BG also had 13 hits in a win at Morehead State on March 11 ... but, Detroit's 12 hits in the nightcap represented the most BG has allowed in a game this season.
HOMER HAPPY
The Falcons now have a team total of 10 homeruns on the year, already the fifth-highest seasonal total in school history ... in fact, that total would have set the school record just five years ago ... BGSU never had more than eight homers in a season before hitting 19 as a team in both 1999 and 2000 ... then, the Falcons had a school-record 21 round-trippers in 2001, before hitting 11 last year.
VOSHELL KEEPS MOVING UP CAREER LISTS
Senior Libby Voshell continues to move up a number of BGSU career lists ... as mentioned, Voshell slammed her 11th career homerun in the win over Michigan, moving her into a tie for third on that BGSU list ... Lynsey Ebel (1998-2001) holds the school record with 14 round-trippers ... Voshell has 38 doubles to rank third on that Falcon list ... she needs three more to tie Angie Domschot (1998-2001) for second place, and is nine behind record-holder Dena Romstadt (1990-93) ... Voshell also ranks among the career leaders in runs batted in (73; T-ninth), hits 138; T-13th), walks (43; T-14th) and batting average (.281; 16th).
OTHERS ON CAREER CHARTS
In addition to Voshell, several other Falcons can be found on the school's career charts ... junior Jenifer Kernahan hit her fifth career homerun at Western Michigan (March 22), moving her into a tie for 10th place on that BGSU career list ... senior Kandice Machain slammed her fourth round-tripper at WMU, and now is deadlocked for 13th on that list ... Machain has moved onto the list for career runs scored ... she is 16th with 67 runs ... Machain is also on the school lists for doubles (20; T-14th) and triples (seven; T-12th), and is very close to making the batting average list (.274) ... freshman Gina Rango is tied for 17th with three homers ... senior McKenna Houle is ranked on every pitching list, including appearances (77; sixth), games started (54; eighth), innings (371 2/3; ninth), wins (29; T-seventh), strikeouts (188; fifth), saves (two; T-ninth), shutouts (10; fifth) and ERA (2.20; ninth) ... junior Jody Johnson is on the career lists for strikeouts (99; 12th) and saves (three; T-seventh).
GO WEST
The 2003 season marks BGSU's first as a member of the conference's West Division ... the Falcons, who have played in the East Division since the MAC went to a divisional format five years ago, moved to the West for the 2002-03 academic year ... the move was a result of the MAC's adding the University of Central Florida as a football-only member and placing UCF in the East Division.
NOTING THE FALCONS
The Falcons are outscoring opponents, 14-1, in the fourth inning this year, and BG has a 20-5 advantage in the fifth inning to date ... but, BG has been outscored by a combined 60-22 count over the first three innings ... the Falcons have been shut out in three consecutive games for the first time since April 13-14, 1997 ... BGSU is 0-5 in MAC action for the time since that 1997 campaign ... Saturday's second game at Central Michigan marked the 500th MAC game in school history ... BGSU is now 263-237-1 in conference games, for a winning pct. of .526 ... Wednesday's first game vs. Ohio will mark the 100th MAC contest for head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw ... she has a league record of 58-41, good for a winning pct. of .586, the best in school history.
