.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons, Battling For MAC Tourney Berth, Enter Final Week Of Regular Season
April 29, 2003 | Softball
April 29, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Complete BGSU Release & Statistics in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Bowling Green State University softball team, looking to capture a fifth Mid-American Conference Tournament berth in six years, enters the final week of the 2003 regular season ... the Falcons (21-23-1, 11-6 Mid-American Conference) of fifth-year head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw will step outside of MAC play for the final time this season, heading to Cleveland State University for a Tuesday (April 29) doubleheader ... first pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Viking Field in downtown Cleveland.
Following the CSU twinbill, the Brown and Orange will return home to close the regular season with a three-game weekend series vs. Eastern Michigan University ... the Falcons and Eagles will play a Friday (May 2) single game, beginning at 3:30 p.m., and a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader Saturday (May 3) at the BGSU Softball Field.
TIGHT RACE FOR TOURNEY SPOTS
Heading into the week, BGSU is in fourth place in the MAC's West Division with a league record of 12-9 ... the Falcons are tied with Miami for sixth place overall ... the top-six teams in the final regular-season standings will qualify for the MAC Tournament, which will be held from Thursday-Saturday, May 8-10, at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio ... the top-two teams from each division, plus the next two teams with the best winning percentage (regardless of division), will qualify for the double-elimination tournament ... BG is a game behind Northern Illinois (11-6 in MAC play) and two games in back of Kent State (14-7) ... Marshall (20-4) has clinched the East Division title and the top seed for the MAC Tournament, while Western Michigan (14-5) and Central Michigan (13-5) currently hold down the second and third spots, respectively ... complete MAC standings and the remaining league composite schedule can be found in the pdf version of this release.
HOW CAN BGSU QUALIFY FOR THE MAC TOURNAMENT?
The Falcons, as mentioned, are currently deadlocked with Miami for the sixth and final MAC Tournament berth ... BGSU holds the tiebreaker over MU by virtue of a doubleheader sweep of the RedHawks in the teams' April 9 doubleheader ... Miami plays a three-game series at Kent State this weekend ... if BGSU wins all three games vs. Eastern Michigan this weekend, the Falcons are in the tournament regardless of any other results around the MAC this week ... if the Falcons win one or two of the three games vs. EMU, BGSU can still qualify for the tournament, but would likely need some help ... it is possible for the Falcons to qualify for the MAC Tournament even if BGSU goes 0-3 vs. EMU ... should Eastern sweep this weekend's three-game series, the Falcons would need KSU to sweep Miami, and BGSU would also need Akron to lose at least one of the Zips' five games this week ... in addition to Miami, the Falcons hold the tiebreaker over Akron, but BG would lose a tiebreaker with Central Michigan, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
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 132-112-2 (.541) ... Ross-Shaw, the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year, has a league mark of 70-45 (.609) ... 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 four wins shy of the school's all-time leader, Jacquie Joseph (136-123 from 1989-93) ... Ross-Shaw's total of 70 MAC wins places her third behind Joseph (78-71) and Rachel Miller-Reif (71-84 from 1994-98).
LAST TIME(S) OUT
The Falcons went 1-0 at home and 0-5 on the road last week ... BGSU dropped a Tuesday (April 22) twinbill at Oakland by scores of 4-1 and 5-0 ... OU's Nicole Marzano threw a no-hitter in the second game ... the Falcons returned home and posted a 6-0 win over Toledo the next day, as freshman Liz Vrabel threw a one-hitter ... then, BGSU lost three games at Northern Illinois ... on Saturday (April 26), the Huskies eked out a 1-0 win in 10 innings, then won a 13-2, five-inning decision ... the next day, NIU captured a 2-0 victory.
THE OPPONENTS
Cleveland State enters the week with an overall record of 15-24-1 ... the Vikings have a mark of 4-10 in Horizon League play after losing three games at Loyola (Ill.) over the weekend ... the BGSU games will mark CSU's first home contests in two weeks, after playing nine consecutive games on the road ... since winning six of seven contests to end March and begin April, the Vikings have gone 2-11-1 over the past two weeks ... this season, the Vikes have a home record of 7-7 ... individually, senior Stephanie Taylor leads the team with a .299 batting average and 18 runs batted in, while junior Michelle Beightol is hitting .274 ... five pitchers have thrown between 36 and 79 innings apiece ... Grace Luginbuhl, a freshman, is 0-4, but has a team-low 2.05 earned-run average ... senior Jessica Miller leads the team in wins, and is 6-7 with a 2.86 ERA ... last year, the Vikings went 20-24-1 and tied for fourth in the Horizon League with a 6-6 record ... head coach Julie Jones has a career record of 147-184-2 in her seventh season, all with the Vikings ... the school's athletic web site is www.csuvikings.com.
Eastern Michigan currently has an overall record of 6-33 ... the Eagles will take a 4-14 MAC record into a Wednesday (April 30) home contest vs. Toledo ... prior to that game, EMU will head to Michigan for a Tuesday (April 29) non-conference doubleheader ... the Eagles were swept in a three-game set at Central Michigan last weekend, and take a 1-18 road record into Tuesday's DH at U-M ... sophomore Liz Flack has a team-high .268 batting average, while freshman Nikki Denman is hitting .265 and senior Christie Koester .256 ... in the circle, Denman has a 4-12 record and an ERA of 4.48, while senior Marla Otterbacher is 2-18 with a 5.55 ERA ... a season ago, the Eagles went 18-28 overall and 9-15 in MAC action ... head coach Karen Baird is in her first season in Ypsilanti ... she is 104-125 in her sixth season as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletic web site is www.emich.edu/goeagles.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead the all-time series with Cleveland State by a 17-5 margin, and BGSU is 7-2 in road games vs. the Vikings ... last year, the teams split a doubleheader in BG, with the Falcons taking the opener, 4-3, and the Vikes rallying for a 6-1 win (April 4, 2002) ... CSU's win snapped a six-game series win streak for the Falcons ... BGSU has won the last three games at Viking Field, since a 1-0 CSU win on April 29, 1999 ... the Falcons had a 16-8 win in the nightcap of that DH, then swept a 2001 twinbill in Cleveland by scores of 4-2 (eight innings) and 7-4 (April 30, 2001).
BGSU holds a 35-27 advantage in the series with Eastern Michigan, but the Eagles have captured the last three meetings ... the teams have not met in over three years, since a 6-3 Eagle win in a non-conference game to open the 2000 season (March 3, 2000) ... the Falcons have not hosted EMU since sweeping a twinbill over five years ago, 2-1 and 4-2 (April 25, 1998) ... BGSU holds a 20-8 lead in home games vs. Eastern, and the Falcons have won the last eight meetings at the BGSU Softball Field since EMU's last win on May 13, 1994.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons enter the week with a record of 21-23-1 ... BGSU is 10-4 in home games, 6-14-1 on the road and 5-5 in neutral-site action ... as a team, the Brown and Orange is hitting .253, while the opponents are batting .230 ... freshman Gina Rango is hitting a team-high .370 on the season, while senior Libby Voshell is batting .331 ... junior Jenifer Kernahan is hitting .281, while senior Kandice Machain and freshman Lindsay Heimrich are batting .263 and .255, respectively ... Voshell has five homers in the season, while Rango has four and Kernahan and Machain three each ... Rango has scored 30 runs and has 12 doubles and 20 RBI ... she leads the team in runs, is tied with Voshell for the doubles head and ranks second in RBI ... Kernahan has knocked in a team-high 27 runs ... Voshell has scored 27 runs and Machain 22 ... those two players and Rango are the only Falcons to have started all 45 games to date, while Kernahan and senior Crystal Wilson each have made 44 starts ... Falcon pitchers have a combined ERA of 2.43 this season, to the opponents' 2.29 ... freshman Liz Vrabel has a 1.25 ERA, and has a record of 13-9 with six complete-game shutouts ... she leads the Falcons with 131 strikeouts ... sophomore Kristen Anderson is 2-2 with a save and an ERA of 2.46, while junior Jody Johnson has a 4-4 record, two saves and an ERA of 2.63 ... Vrabel leads the Falcons with 16 complete games, and has allowed opponents to hit just .173 against her.
FAMILIAR FACES
The Falcons will see some familiar faces in the opposing dugouts this week ... when BGSU takes on Cleveland State, the Falcons' upperclass team members will see their former assistant coach ... Amy Kyler spent several years as Leigh Ross-Shaw's assistant before taking a similar position at her alma mater, CSU ... this weekend, BGSU will take on Eastern Michigan ... EMU senior Marla Otterbacher began her collegiate tenure at BGSU, spending the fall of 2000 as a walk-on on the Falcon roster before transferring to Eastern.
WILSON HAS A GRAND WEEK
Senior Crystal Wilson had one career homerun in her first three-and-a-half seasons with the Falcons ... now, however, Wilson has hit a grand slam in each of the last two home games ... she hit a homer with the bases loaded in the Falcons' 7-3 win over Akron (April 19), then broke open Wednesday's (April 23) Toledo game with another slam ... early records are sketchy, but Wilson is believed to be only the second Falcon to hit two career grand slams ... Renee Rosemeier had slams in games vs. Pacific (Feb. 16, 2001) and Marshall (March 30, 2001) two seasons ago.
ANOTHER ONE-HITTER FOR VRABEL
Freshman Liz Vrabel threw a one-hit shutout vs. Toledo Wednesday (April 23) ... the one-hitter was her third of the season, all in home MAC action ... in the UT game, the lone hit came with two outs in the seventh ... Vrabel also allowed just one hit in complete-game wins over Ohio (April 2) and Akron (April 18) ... she now has a 6-1 record and an ERA of just 0.54 in home games, and has allowed opponents to hit just .123 against her at the BGSU Softball Field.
HEIMRICH MOVES TO CENTER OF DIAMOND
Freshman Lindsay Heimrich, who entered last week having pitched just 4 2/3 innings this season, saw action in two games in the circle last week ... she threw a one-two-three sixth inning in the second game at Oakland, striking out the final two batters ... then, Heimrich allowed only one hit in two scoreless innings vs. Northern Illinois Sunday (April 27) ... the latter game marked her MAC pitching debut ... Heimrich, normally the Falcons' first baseman, has allowed opponents to bat just .214 against her this year, including just .100 in last week's action.
ANDERSON VS. ANDERSON
Sophomore pitcher Kristen Anderson hooked up in a pitching matchup with her sister, Julie, when the Falcons faced Oakland Tuesday (April 22) ... both Andersons pitched well, as Kristen allowed just an unearned run and four hits in her four innings of work, while Julie, a senior at OU, gave up one run and three hits in a complete-game win ... Oakland won the game by a 4-1 count.
WORST LOSS IN A LONG TIME...
The Falcons' 11-run loss at Northern Illinois Saturday (April 26) was the team's worst since a 29-0 setback to eventual national champion Arizona two years ago (Feb. 16, 2001) ... in MAC play, the Falcons had not lost by as many as 11 runs in over seven years, since a 12-0 loss to Ball State on April 12, 1996 ... NIU's 13 runs represented the most by a MAC team against the Falcons in 18 years, since a 14-2 loss to Central Michigan (April 19, 1985).
HOMER HAPPY
BGSU senior Crystal Wilson hit a grand slam vs. Toledo Wednesday (April 23) ... the Falcons now have a team total of 17 homeruns on the year, surpassing the total for all of last season ... in fact, that total is the fourth-highest seasonal total in school history, and 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 ON THE HOMER LIST
Senior Libby Voshell enters the Cleveland State DH ranked third in school history in career homeruns ... Voshell has five homers this season, tying her for third place on the BGSU single-season list, and she has 12 career round-trippers ... Lynsey Ebel (1998-2001) holds the BGSU record with 14 career homers, while Jen Domschot (13 from 1999-2001) ranks second.
VOSHELL KEEPS MOVING UP CAREER LISTS
Senior Libby Voshell continues to move up a number of BGSU career lists ... as mentioned, she is third on the list for homers ... Voshell now has 44 doubles to rank second on that Falcon list ... she is three behind record-holder Dena Romstadt (1990-93) ... Voshell also ranks among the career leaders in runs batted in (78; sixth), hits (152; 11th), walks (54; fifth), runs scored (66, 17th) and batting average (.283; 17th).
OTHER FALCONS ON CAREER CHARTS
In addition to Voshell, several other Falcons can be found on the school's career charts ... senior Kandice Machain and junior Jenifer Kernahan each have six career homers to tie for ninth on that list, while freshman Gina Rango is deadlocked for 14th with four HRs ... senior Crystal Wilson is tied for 18th on that list with three homers ... Machain is also on the school lists for doubles (23; 11th), triples (seven; T-12th), runs scored (77; T-11th) and batting average (.283; 16th) ... senior McKenna Houle is ranked on every pitching list, including appearances (83; sixth), games started (58; seventh), innings (384; ninth), wins (31; sixth), strikeouts (194; fifth), saves (two; T-ninth), shutouts (10; fifth) and ERA (2.37; 10th) ... junior Jody Johnson is on the career lists for strikeouts (116; 12th) and saves (four; T-fifth) ... Liz Vrabel has moved onto the career strikeout list ... she has 131 K's, good for 10th place.
NOTING THE FALCONS
Senior Libby Voshell hit a team-high .333 last week, including a BG-best .455 in the Falcons' four MAC games ... freshman Liz Vrabel had an ERA of just 0.70 last week, despite suffering a pair of losses at NIU ... freshman Abby Habicht, normally a second baseman, saw her first collegiate action at first base in last Tuesday's (April 22) DH at Oakland ... Habicht played first in the sixth inning of the second game, when first baseman Lindsay Heimrich moved to the pitcher's circle ... Habicht also played first base for the last two innings of Sunday's (April 27) game at Northern Illinois, when Heimrich again assumed the pitching duties ... junior Jody Johnson saw her first action at third base this season, drawing the start in Saturday's second game at NIU ... the Falcons enter the week with a 10-1 record against teams from the state of Ohio this season ... but, BGSU is just 1-10 vs. teams from the state of Michigan ... BGSU's lone win vs. a team from 'that state up north' came vs. the nationally-ranked University of Michigan, 3-1, on March 25 ... the Falcons entered the Toledo game with a total of seven stolen bases in 275 innings this year, before swiping two bases in the second inning alone vs. the Rockets ... senior Crystal Wilson had two career stolen bases, before swiping two in as many days, vs. Oakland and UT ... freshman Gina Rango is tied for second in the Mid-American Conference with 12 doubles, and is deadlocked for third with 51 hits ... Rango is fourth in the league in total bases, seventh in runs scored and eighth in batting average ... senior Libby Voshell is also tied for second in doubles, and is fourth in walks (21), sixth in total bases and eighth in runs scored ... junior Jenifer Kernahan is tied for fifth in the MAC in RBI (27) ... freshman Liz Vrabel leads the league in opponent batting average (.173) ... she is second among MAC pitchers in strikeouts and tied for second in complete-game shutouts ... Vrabel ranks third in both wins and ERA ... in MAC games only, Vrabel leads the conference with 11 complete games and is second with 88.0 innings pitched.
