Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head South One More Time
March 18, 2004 | Softball
March 18, 2004
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University softball team heads south this weekend, playing in the fourth and final in-season tournament of 2004 ... the Falcons of sixth-year head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw will participate in the 12th annual Buzz Classic Softball Tournament in Marietta, Ga. ... the tourney, hosted by Georgia Tech, features 25 teams and runs from Friday through Sunday (March 19-21) ... BGSU is grouped with Eastern Illinois, Georgia State, North Carolina State and Tulsa, and will face each of those teams before playoff action begins ... the Falcons' schedule, with possible playoff games included, follows:
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Games played at Al Bishop Softball Complex; Marietta, Ga.Friday, March 19: BGSU vs. North Carolina State, 1:00 p.m. BGSU vs. Tulsa, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 20: BGSU vs. Eastern Illinois, 11:00 a.m. BGSU vs. Georgia State, 3:00 p.m. Bracket play, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 21: Second round of bracket play, 9:00 a.m. Semifinals, 11:00 a.m. Championship, 1:00 p.m.
BGSU is 6-10 on the season after posting a 1-5 record at last weekend's Cougar Classic, hosted by the College of Charleston ... the Falcons are coming off a 2003 season that saw the team go 26-26-1 overall and 15-9 in Mid-American Conference play ... BG finished fourth in the West Division and fifth overall, advancing to the MAC Tournament for the fifth time in six seasons ... Ross-Shaw returned nine letterwinners, including seven starters, from that squad.
THE BUZZ CLASSIC
A total of 25 teams will participate in this weekend's Buzz Classic ... the teams will be grouped into five pools of five teams apiece, and will play a round-robin format on Friday (March 19) and Saturday (March 20) ... a total of 12 teams will advance to a single-elimination championship bracket ... the top-two seeds in each of the five pools, along with two at-large teams, will comprise the bracket ... bracket play begins Saturday evening and concludes Sunday (March 21) morning ... the semifinal games will begin at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, with the championship game set for 1:00 p.m. that day ... more information on the Buzz Classic can be found at Georgia Tech's athletics web site.
HEAD COACH LEIGH ROSS-SHAW
Leigh Ross-Shaw is in her sixth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons, and has an overall record of 143-125-2 (.533) ... BGSU's final win in 2003, vs. Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament, made Ross-Shaw the winningest coach in school history ... Ross-Shaw, the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year, has a league mark of 73-45 (.619), ranking her second in league victories ... she is just five MAC wins shy of the school record, and is the school leader in MAC winning percentage ... in all games, Ross-Shaw currently ranks second in winning pct., trailing only Sandy Haines (.557; 57-45-3 from 1981-83) ... Ross-Shaw, the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year, guided the Brown and Orange to a MAC East Division title that spring after a co-championship in 2000 ... she was the fastest coach in BG annals to get to 100 overall wins as well as 50 MAC victories ... Ross-Shaw's total of 73 MAC wins places her second behind Jacquie Joseph (78-71 from 1989-93).
ASSISTANT COACHES
Kyle Jamieson is in his first season as a member of Ross-Shaw's staff, serving as an instructor/softball assistant ... a native of Stittsville, Ontario, Jamieson has an extensive playing and coaching background, including a coaching stint with the Danish Men's National Team ... he also has MAC ties, having spent the 2000 season on the staff at Toledo ... Steve Babinski is in his second campaign on Ross-Shaw's staff ... Babinski, a graduate of Grace (Ind.) College, was a standout baseball player there ... he spent several years coaching at the Bowling Green Christian Academy ... Crystal Wilson is in her first season on the coaching staff, after completing a stellar four-year playing career in the Brown and Orange last spring ... originally a walk-on, the Toledo Whitmer product wound up as the Falcons' starting leftfielder as a junior and senior ... she hit grand slams in back-to-back home games last April.
THE OPPONENTS
North Carolina State will bring an overall record of 11-14 into the Buzz Classic, after splitting a Wednesday (March 17) doubleheader with visiting Charlotte ... the Wolfpack, a first-year program, saw a three-game winning streak come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Charlotte, but N.C. State bounced back with an 8-0 win in the nightcap ... freshman Heather Gelbard is hitting a team-high .333, while classmate Jennifer Chamberlin is batting .296 with team-best totals of five homers and 12 RBI ... in the circle, another frosh, Abbie Sims, is 9-4 with a 1.74 ERA ... head coach Chennelle Miller, in her first season at N.C. State, has a record of 346-148-1 in her 10th year overall ... the school's athletics web site is www.gopack.com.
Tulsa took a 21-9 record into a Wednesday game at Jacksonville State ... the Hurricane saw a five-game win streak come to an end with Tuesday's (March 16) 4-0 loss to Alabama ... TU has participated in six tournaments this season, with a title in the most recent tourney ... Tulsa won the Panther Spring Classic in Birmingham, Ala., last weekend ... the Hurricane, averaging 4.73 runs per game, is led by junior Holly Reynolds' .367 batting average at the plate ... all four pitchers have an ERA of 1.71 or under ... junior Lindsey Dyer is 4-0 with a team-low 0.92 ERA, while sophomore Maren Genow leads TU in wins, with an 8-2 record ... head coach James Pinkerton's team went 34-29 overall and 8-12 in Western Athletic Conference play last year ... Pinkerton is 116-96 in his fourth year as a collegiate head coach, all at Tulsa ... the school's athletics web site is www.TulsaHurricane.com.
Eastern Illinois brings an 8-12 record into the Buzz Classic ... the Panthers were shutout victims for the first time this season with a 5-0 loss at Gardner-Webb Tuesday, but EIU won the second game by a 7-4 count ... freshman Sandyn Short led the team with a .439 batting average, including three homers and 10 RBI in only 41 at-bats ... five different pitchers have seen action for Eastern, with freshman Brittany Whelan's 2.96 ERA leading the way ... Whelan has a 2-2 record, while junior Heather Hoeschen has a team-high three wins (3-2, 4.05 ERA) ... head coach Lloydene Searle's team went 14-34 overall and 7-13 in Ohio Valley Conference action a year ago ... Searle has a record of 136-190 in her seventh season with the Panthers ... she is 645-560 in her 24th season overall ... the school's athletic web site is www.eiu.edu/panthers.
Georgia State takes a 7-12 record into a Thursday (March 18) game vs. Ball State ... the Lady Panthers suffered a 1-0 loss to Iowa State Wednesday, despite senior pitcher Andrea McNary's setting a school record for career strikeouts ... as of last week, freshman Candace Jones led the team with a .393 batting average ... McNary was 2-3 with a 1.20 ERA at that time ... head coach Bob Heck is 489-403-2 in his 18th season ... his team went 22-33 overall and 11-11 in Atlantic Sun Conference play a year ago ... the school's athletic web site is GeorgiaStateSports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons hold a 1-0 lead over Georgia State in the all-time series between the teams ... BGSU posted a 6-0 win in the teams' lone previous game, at a tournament in Fullerton, Calif., on March 23, 1995.
BGSU is 0-3 all-time vs. Eastern Illinois ... the Panthers took two games in the Sycamore Classic in Terre Haute, Ind., in 1991, then won a 5-1 game in the Southern Classic, hosted by Southern Illinois, in 1994.
BGSU has never met North Carolina State or Tulsa on the softball diamond.
LAST WEEK
The Falcons went 1-5 at last weekend's Cougar Classic, hosted by the College of Charleston ... BGSU picked up a 3-2 win over East Carolina on Saturday (March 13), but suffered a pair of close losses to the Pirates, as well as two setbacks to UAB and one against the host Cougars ... on Sunday (March 14), both of BGSU's losses came by 1-0 scores, to UAB and ECU ... Savannah State was scheduled to participate in the Cougar Classic, but was a last-minute cancellation.
SHE'S PITCHING WELL, BUT...
Sophomore Liz Vrabel's win-loss record is not reflective of her overall pitching this year to date ... last weekend, for example, Vrabel had a 1.75 earned-run average, allowing a total of six runs in her four complete-game efforts ... but, her record was 0-4 at the Cougar Classic ... among her losses were a pair of three-hitters vs. East Carolina, including a 1-0 setback and a 2-0 loss in which she struck out 10 batters ... Vrabel allowed opponents to bat just .226 against her last week ... on the year, Vrabel has a record of 3-6, but an ERA of only 1.45 ... she has 49 strikeouts in 58 innings.
UNLUCKY
The Falcons have held the opposing team to just one run on four occasions this season, but BGSU is just 1-3 in those games ... BG has lost three 1-0 decisions, to Stephen F. Austin, UAB and East Carolina ... Falcon pitchers have thrown a total of four complete-game three-hitters this season, and -- believe it or not -- BGSU is 0-4 in those games ... sophomore Liz Vrabel has come out on the short end of three of those three-hitters ... against Mercer (Feb. 28), she allowed two hits in the seventh inning, with a catcher's interference call and a BG error opening the door for three unearned runs ... sophomore Lindsay Heimrich's three-hitter went for naught in a 1-0 loss to Stephen F. Austin (March 7) ... the Ladyjacks got an unearned run on a two-base error and a pair of ground-ball outs ... five days later, East Carolina bunched all three hits into the same inning against Vrabel, scoring two fourth-inning runs in a 2-0 win ... in all three of those games, the Falcons could manage only two hits of their own ... on Sunday (March 14) vs. ECU, the Falcons had three hits, but could not pick up a run ... meanwhile, the Pirates scored a sixth-inning run on a walk, a stolen base and an RBI single ... in those four games, Vrabel has an ERA of just 1.11, along with 9.58 strikeouts per seven innings, while Heimrich has an ERA of 0.00.
MILESTONE
The Falcons' Friday game vs. North Carolina State will be the 1,200th in program history ... over the first 25-plus years of BGSU varsity softball, the Brown and Orange has posted a record of 575-614-10, for a winning percentage of .484 ... that pct. is .533 during the Leigh Ross-Shaw Era, however, as the Falcons are 143-125-2 since Ross-Shaw assumed the head-coaching reins prior to the 1998 season.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons head to the Buzz Classic with a 6-10 record, having gone 1-3 in road games and 5-7 in neutral-site contests ... BGSU has been shutout on eight occasions this season to date ... the Falcons are batting .194 to the opponents' .221 ... sophomore 3B Gina Rango leads the team with a .283 batting average, and also paces the Brown and Orange in at-bats (53), hits (15), doubles (four), triples (one) and total bases (21) ... Rango, who hit .350 at the Cougar Classic, also leads the Falcons with a .396 slugging percentage ... Rango, junior RF Kristen Anderson and a pair of freshmen, CF Jeanine Baca and 2B Megan McPherson, are the lone players to have started all 16 games to date ... McPherson leads the team with eight runs scored on the season, while Anderson has BG-best totals of two homers and seven RBI ... in the circle, Falcon pitchers have a combined ERA of 1.90 this season, to the opponents' 1.20 ... sophomore Liz Vrabel has a 1.45 ERA and a record of 3-6 ... Vrabel, who has eight complete games in as many starts, has struck out 49 batters, and has allowed opponents to hit only .217 against her ... another sophomore, Lindsay Heimrich, has allowed foes to bat just .152 ... Heimrich is 0-2 with a 1.75 ERA, while senior Jody Johnson is 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA on the young season.
FALCONS PICKED THIRD
Bowling Green was picked to finish third in the West Division in the 2004 preseason coaches' poll ... the poll is a result of voting by the league's 13 head coaches ... Marshall and Central Michigan were picked to win their respective divisions, with MU predicted to win the MAC Tournament ... due to a change in polling procedures implemented at the Directors of Athletics' meeting in July of 2003, the MAC announces only the top three selections in each division.
