Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Miami Wednesday, Head To BSU This Weekend
April 08, 2003 | Softball
April 8, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
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The Bowling Green State University softball team, riding a four-game winning streak, looks to continue that recent success in this week's five Mid-American Conference games ... the Falcons (13-17-1, 4-5 MAC) of fifth-year head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw face Miami University for a Wednesday (April 9) doubleheader, with the first pitch of the first game slated for 2:00 p.m. at the BGSU Softball Field.
Following the MU twinbill, the Falcons head to Muncie, Ind., for a three-game weekend series vs. Ball State University ... the Falcons and Cardinals will play a doubleheader Saturday (April 12) and a single game Sunday (April 13), with starting time set for 1:00 p.m. each day at the BSU Softball Complex ... the Falcons play six of the next nine MAC contests at home ... following this week's action, seven of BGSU's 10 remaining conference games are scheduled to be played at the BGSU Softball Field.
VRABEL NAMED PITCHER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN
Falcon freshman Liz Vrabel has been named the MAC Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced Monday (April 8) ... she earns the honor for the second time in her Falcon career, and the second time in as many weeks ... Vrabel, a native of Allison Park, Pa. (North Allegheny HS), had a 2-0 record and an earned-run average of just 0.47 on the week, allowing only one run and four hits in 15 innings of work ... she pitched two complete games, flirting with a no-hitter each time ... on Wednesday (April 2), Vrabel threw a complete-game one-hitter in a 5-0 win over Ohio, allowing only a one-out single in the seventh inning ... in that contest, she struck out eight Bobcats and did not walk a batter ... then, in the second game of the doubleheader, she pitched a scoreless first inning before giving way to junior Jody Johnson, and the two combined on a four-hit shutout in a 1-0 BG win ... on Sunday (April 6), Vrabel threw hitless ball until giving up a single with one out in the sixth against arch-rival Toledo ... she allowed one more hit, in the seventh, before getting the final out for a 2-1 win and her 10th complete game in 12 starts this year ... on the week, Vrabel allowed opponents to hit just .083 against her ... this season, she is now 8-6 with a 1.56 ERA, and leads the Falcons in wins, ERA, appearances (18), starts, complete games, shutouts (five), innings (85.1) and strikeouts (84) ... opponents are batting just .184 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 124-106-2 (.539) ... Ross-Shaw, the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year, has a league mark of 62-41 (.602) ... 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 12 wins shy of the school's all-time leader, Jacquie Joseph (136-123 from 1989-93) ... Ross-Shaw's total of 62 MAC wins places her third behind Joseph (78-71) and Rachel Miller-Reif (71-84 from 1994-98).
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 August of 1996 after serving as a high-school head coach, at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, for four seasons ... Ross-Shaw is the only coach in school history to string together three consecutive winning seasons in MAC play ... the Falcons, who also had a winning league ledger in Ross-Shaw's last year as an assistant (1998), posted four-straight winning MAC marks from 1998-2001.
Ross-Shaw, a 1992 graduate of the University of Toledo, still holds numerous UT and MAC records, and remains the all-time league 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 ... in February of 2001, she was inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Fame.
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, after losing 10 of the previous 11 games, went a perfect 4-0 in a pair of MAC home doubleheaders last week ... the Brown and Orange got a pair of shutouts against Ohio Wednesday (April 2), downing the MAC East Division favorites by scores of 5-0 and 1-0 ... then, on Sunday (April 6), the Falcons bested Toledo by 2-1 and 13-5 results, with the second game ending in the sixth inning.
THE OPPONENTS
Miami enters the week with an overall record of 11-16, and the RedHawks will come to BGSU with a MAC mark of 5-5 ... MU had won four of five games prior to being swept by Marshall in a three-game series last weekend ... the RedHawks are 2-4 in road games this year, including a 1-1 record in MAC contests away from home ... individually, junior Jamie Carey leads the team with a .400 batting average, while freshman Becca Garcia is hitting .345 ... senior Angie Gerber is batting .338 with a team-high four homers ... in the circle, freshman Courtney Salmon is 8-7 with a 1.93 ERA, while Jackie Poggendorf has a 3-9 record and a 2.68 ERA ... last year, the RedHawks went 16-37 overall and finished seventh in the MAC's East Division with a 7-16 conference record ... Angie Jacobs has a record of 76-153 in her fifth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the RedHawks... the school's athletics web site is www.MURedHawks.com.
Ball State enters the week with an overall record of 9-13-1, and the Cardinals will enter the BGSU series with a 5-4-1 MAC record ... BSU is scheduled to host Indiana State in Thursday (April 10) non-league action before hosting the Falcons ... the Cards have been idle since splitting a Wednesday (April 2) doubleheader with Miami, as the team's scheduled three-game series at Central Michigan last weekend was cancelled due to inclement weather ... senior Katie Shea, the 2002 MAC Player of the Year, leads the team and the league with a .478 batting average ... Shea is hitting .576 in conference games ... junior Kris Burdine is batting .380 this season, while senior Ruth Hjelmeland is hitting .308 with team-high totals of five homers and 20 RBI ... senior Cortney Winger tops the pitchers with a 3.52 ERA, and she has a 4-4 record ... freshman Quincy Duran is 5-8 with a 3.86 ERA ... in 2002, the Cardinals had a 23-22 overall record and a 13-7 MAC mark, tying for second in the West Division ... head coach Terri Laux has a record of 170-166-1 in her seventh season in Muncie ... she is 322-414-3 in her 16th year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.ballstatesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead the all-time series with Miami by a 41-29 margin, but the RedHawks took two of last year's three meetings in Oxford ... Miami swept a doubleheader by scores of 1-0 and 5-3 (April 13, 2002) before the Falcons got a 4-1 win two days later ... MU's two wins snapped a four-game BGSU series winning streak ... in home games, the Falcons are 29-6 all-time vs. Miami, and BGSU has won seven-straight games and 19 of the last 20 contests between the teams at the BGSU Softball Field ... the last time MU came to BG, the Falcons swept a three-game series by scores of 2-1, 13-2 and 5-3 (April 27-28, 2001).
BGSU holds a 32-27 advantage in the series with Ball State, and the teams split a two-game series in Muncie last year in the lone 2002 meetings ... the host Cardinals took a 6-2 decision before BG rallied for a 9-1 win (April 24, 2002) ... BG is 13-14 all-time in road games vs. the Cards.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons enter the week with a record of 13-17-1 ... BGSU is 5-3 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 .259, while the opponents are batting .241 ... freshman Gina Rango is hitting a team-high .385 on the season, while senior Libby Voshell is batting .337 ... freshman Lindsay Heimrich is hitting .317 this season, while junior Jenifer Kernahan is batting .264 ... Voshell has five homers on the season, while Rango has three ... Rango has scored 21 runs and has nine doubles and 14 RBI ... she leads the team in the first two categories and ranks third in RBI ... Kernahan had two RBI in each game of the Toledo DH to assume the team lead with 17 ... Voshell has scored 17 runs, while senior Kandice Machain has 16 ... those two players and Rango are the only Falcons to have started all 31 games to date ... Falcon pitchers have a combined ERA of 2.56 this season, to the opponents' 2.31 ... freshman Liz Vrabel has a 1.56 ERA, and has a record of 8-6 with four complete-game shutouts ... she leads the Falcons with 84 strikeouts ... sophomore Kristen Anderson is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA, while junior Jody Johnson has a 2-4 record, one save and an ERA of 3.02 ... Vrabel leads the Falcons with 10 complete games, and has allowed opponents to hit just .184 against her.
VRABEL FLIRTS WITH NO-HITTER AGAIN
The opening game of Sunday's (April 6) Toledo DH marked the second time in five days that freshman Liz Vrabel flirted with a no-hitter ... Vrabel took a no-no into the seventh inning of Wednesday's (April 2) opening game vs. Ohio, before allowing a one-out single ... then, vs. UT, she did not allow a hit until the sixth inning of what would become a two-hitter ... Vrabel has now thrown a one-hitter, two two-hitters and a pair of three-hitters among her 10 complete games this year.
YOUNGSTERS IN THE INFIELD
When Lindsay Heimrich entered the game at first base in the third inning of Wednesday's opener, it gave the Falcons four freshmen in the infield (counting the pitcher's circle) ... pitcher Liz Vrabel, second baseman Abby Habicht and third baseman Gina Rango joined Heimrich in the BG lineup ... Heimrich, Habicht and Rango each started the other three games of the week, while Vrabel started two of those games.
RUN SUPPORT
The Falcons' total of 13 runs in Sunday's second game vs. UT was the team's highest since a 13-2 win over Miami nearly two years ago (April 28, 2001) ... BGSU's 14 hits marked the most since the Falcons pounded out 18 in a win at Detroit last May 2.
VOSHELL GOES YARD VS. OU
Senior Libby Voshell capped the scoring in Wednesday's 5-0 win over Ohio with a two-run homerun in the fourth inning ... the homer was her team-high fifth of the year, tying her for third place on the BGSU single-season list ... Voshell now has 12 career homers, moving her past Colleen Bates (1997-2000) into sole possession of third place in school history ... Lynsey Ebel (1998-2001) holds the BGSU record with 14 career homers, while Jen Domschot (13 from 1999-2001) ranks second.
OFF TO A GOOD START
Falcon freshman Liz Vrabel certainly has seemed to enjoy pitching at home ... Vrabel has a 3-0 record and an ERA of just 0.30 in games at the BGSU Softball Field ... she has struck out 20 batters and allowed only 11 hits in 23 2/3 innings at home, and opponents are hitting only .138 against her.
SUCCESS VS. THE ROCKETS
Following Sunday's doubleheader sweep of Toledo, the Falcons now have won 12 consecutive games in the series with UT ... BGSU is 24-11 all-time in home games against the Rockets ... Toledo's last win over BGSU came on April 28, 1998, and the Rockets' most recent win at the BGSU Softball Field came on April 25, 1997.
HOMER HAPPY
The Falcons now have a team total of 12 homeruns on the year, surpassing the total for all of last season ... in fact, that total is already 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 KEEPS MOVING UP CAREER LISTS
Senior Libby Voshell continues to move up a number of BGSU career lists ... as mentioned, Voshell slammed her 12th career homerun in a win over Ohio, moving her into third on that BGSU list ... Voshell has 40 doubles to rank third on that Falcon list ... she needs one more to tie Angie Domschot (1998-2001) for second place, and is seven behind record-holder Dena Romstadt (1990-93) ... Voshell also ranks among the career leaders in runs batted in (76; T-seventh), hits (141; 13th), walks (45; T-10th) and batting average (.280; 18th).
OTHERS ON CAREER CHARTS
In addition to Voshell, several other Falcons can be found on the school's career charts ... senior Kandice Machain hit her fifth career homerun in the Toledo twinbill (April 6), moving her into a tie for 10th place on that BGSU career list ... junior Jenifer Kernahan also has five career homers ... Machain is also on the school lists for Machain is also on the school lists for doubles (21; T-13th), triples (seven; T-12th), runs scored (71; 13th) and batting average (.281; 16th) ... freshman Gina Rango is tied for 17th with three homers ... senior McKenna Houle is ranked on every pitching list, including appearances (78; seventh), games started (54; ninth), innings (374 1/3; ninth), wins (30; T-sixth), strikeouts (191; fifth), saves (two; T-ninth), shutouts (10; fifth) and ERA (2.19; ninth) ... junior Jody Johnson is on the career lists for strikeouts (105; 11th) and saves (three; T-seventh).
BIG INNINGS
The Falcons had scored four or more runs in an inning only twice in the first 30 games of the season, but BG did so three times in the second Toledo game Sunday (April 6) ... the Falcons scored five times in the first inning, four in the second and four more in the sixth frame vs. the Rockets ... BGSU had scored five runs in an inning vs. Stony Brook (March 15, game two), and had a four-run inning vs. Southwest Texas (Feb. 16).
NOTING THE FALCONS
Freshman Gina Rango is tied for the Mid-American Conference lead with nine doubles, and is tied for third with 37 hits ... Rango is deadlocked for fourth in the league in runs scored (21) ... senior Libby Voshell is tied for third in homeruns (three) and deadlocked for fourth in doubles (eight) ... Rango and Voshell are fifth and sixth, respectively, in total bases ... freshman Liz Vrabel is tied for fourth among MAC pitchers in wins (eight), and is tied for second in strikeouts (84) ... Vrabel is tied for third in shutouts (four), and ranks second in opponent batting average (.184) ... sophomore Kristen Anderson's second-inning double in the second game vs. Ohio was the first hit, and the first RBI, of her Falcon career ... the at-bat was only the third of the season for Anderson, a transfer from Eastern Michigan, and produced the lone run in BG's 1-0 win ... the Falcons are outscoring opponents, 16-2, in the fourth inning this year, and BG has a 20-5 advantage in the fifth inning to date ... but, despite outscoring last week's opponents by a combined 15-4 margin over the first three innings, BG has been outscored by a 64-37 count in the opening three frames this season.
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.
