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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons, Back North, Play Five Road Games This Week
March 23, 2004 | Softball
March 23, 2004
Complete Release (6 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University softball team, after a successful tournament showing last weekend, returns to the Midwest to face a nationally-ranked opponent before opening Mid-American Conference play ... the Falcons of sixth-year head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw will head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a Wednesday (March 24) doubleheader vs. the #12 University of Michigan ... that twinbill is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. at UM's Alumni Field.
Following the U-M doubleheader, the Falcons will prepare for a three-game weekend series at the University of Toledo ... the arch-rivals are slated to play a Saturday (March 27) doubleheader and a Sunday (March 28) single game, with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. each day at UT's Scott Park ... the Falcons' home opener is Wednesday, March 31, vs. Marshall.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU is 10-11 on the season after a 4-1 record at last weekend's Buzz Classic, hosted by Georgia Tech, in Marietta, Ga. ... the Falcons went 4-0 in pool play to earn the number-one overall seed for the playoff portion of the 25-team tournament ... BGSU lost in the quarterfinal round, falling to North Carolina State by a 2-1 count ... the Falcons, who had beaten N.C. State, Tulsa, Eastern Illinois and Georgia State in pool play, finished fifth among the 25 teams, according to Georgia Tech's athletics web site ... sophomore 3B Gina Rango was named to the all-tournament team ... the Falcons are coming off a 2003 season that saw the team go 26-26-1 overall and 15-9 in MAC play ... BG finished fourth in the West Division and fifth overall, advancing to the MAC Tournament for the fifth time in six seasons ... head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw returns nine letterwinners, including seven starters, from that squad.
JOHNSON, RANGO EARN MAC WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Jody Johnson and sophomore Gina Rango were honored by the MAC on Monday afternoon (March 22) ... Rango was named the league's Player of the Week, while Johnson earned MAC Pitcher-of-the-Week honors ... Johnson, a native of LaGrange, Ohio (Keystone H.S.), went 2-0 with an earned-run average of 0.00 at the Buzz Classic, hosted by Georgia Tech, last weekend ... she picked up a win in the tourney opener vs. North Carolina State, allowing just four hits and no earned runs in a 6-2 win Friday (March 19) ... then, Johnson allowed only two hits in another complete-game win, this time a 12-0 shutout vs. Georgia State on Saturday (March 20) ... she walked two batters and struck out eight in that game ... Johnson allowed opponents to bat only .140 against her on the weekend ... on the year, she leads the team in wins, with a 5-2 record, and has a 2.00 ERA ... opponents are hitting just .225 against her this season to date ... Rango, a native of North Lima, Ohio (Boardman H.S.), hit a team-high .647, with a whopping slugging percentage of 1.294 at the Buzz Classic ... she had two doubles and three homers among her 11 hits, and was named to the all-tournament team ... Rango had at least one hit in every game, with three multiple-hit games ... she went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, three runs scored and three RBI in the tourney's first game, the win over N.C. State ... on Saturday, she went a combined 7-for-8 in two games, including a 4-for-4 performance with another double and another homer, vs. GSU ... that homer was a grand slam, as she again scored three runs and had six RBI ... that performance came on the heels of a 3-for-4 game with another homer, two runs scored and two driven in vs. Eastern Illinois earlier Saturday ... on the weekend, Rango led the Falcons in nearly every category, including batting average, homers (three), runs scored (eight), RBI (11), total bases (22) and slugging pct. ... on the season, she is batting a team-high .371 with a slugging pct. of .614 ... Rango, who raised her batting average 88 points last weekend, now has 17 RBI on the year.
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 147-126-2 (.538) ... 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).
THE OPPONENTS
Michigan, ranked 12th in the nation, brings a 21-6 record into Wednesday's twinbill ... the Wolverines are coming off a 4-0 performance at last weekend's Louisville Invitational, and U-M has won nine of the last 10 games ... sophomore 2B Tiffany Haas is batting a team-best .364, and has hit .487 over the last 12 games, seniors Jennifer Olds and Meghan Doe are hitting .360 and .349, respectively, with Olds totalling five homers and 17 RBI ... junior Jessica Merchant is hitting .304, and leads U-M with totals of eight homers and 25 RBI ... the Wolverines have a team ERA of 0.75 ... junior Nicole Motycka is 9-3 with an ERA of 0.76 on the season ... Wednesday marks the home opener for the Wolverines ... last season, Michigan went 44-16 overall and finished second in the Big Ten with a 13-5 league mark ... head coach Carol Hutchins has a record of 819-331-4 in her 20th season at U-M ... she has an overall head-coaching mark of 842-342-4 in her 21st season ... the school's athletics web site is MGoBlue.com.
Toledo has a 5-13 record heading into the BGSU series ... the Rockets, like Michigan, participated in the Louisville Invitational last weekend, going 0-4 ... UT had won four-of-five games and five of the last seven contests prior to last weekend's tournament ... Saturday's twinbill vs. the Falcons marks the home opener for the Rockets ... individually, sophomore SS Gina Muratori is hitting a team-best .352, while freshman OF Erica Singer is batting .340 with two homers on the year ... junior Kim Pettitt has started 10 of UT's 18 games this year, and has a 1-8 record and a 2.54 ERA ... freshman Stephanie Moore is 3-3 with a 3.02 ERA ... head coach Jo Ann Gordon's team went 11-35 overall and 5-18 in MAC action last year ... Gordon has a record of 16-48 in her second season in the Glass City ... she has an overall mark of 63-99 in her fifth year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.utrockets.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail the all-time series with Michigan by a 21-5 margin, but BG broke a 10-game series losing streak with a 3-1 victory at the BGSU Softball Field last year (March 25, 2003) ... the Wolverines had taken the first game of the day by a 4-0 score ... the Falcons are 2-11 in games in Ann Arbor, and U-M has won the last three games at Alumni Field, including a 4-1 decision two years ago (April 3, 2002) ... BG's last road win in the series came on May 10, 1989.
BGSU holds a 44-31 advantage in the series with Toledo, and the Falcons have won the last 13 meetings ... BG is 15-18 in road games vs. UT, but the Falcons have won three-straight games at Scott Park, all coming in 2002 ... two of those games went to extra innings ... last year, the Falcons captured all three meetings at the BGSU Softball Field, winning an April 6 doubleheader (2-1, 13-5 in six innings) and an April 23 single game (6-0) ... UT's last win in the series came on April 28, 1998 ... Falcon coach Leigh Ross-Shaw has a 13-0 record vs. her alma mater.
LAST WEEK
The Falcons went 4-1 at last weekend's Buzz Classic, hosted by Georgia Tech ... BGSU opened the tournament with a 6-2 win over North Carolina State on Friday (March 19), then defeated Tulsa by a 1-0 count later that day ... on Saturday, the Falcons exploded for 20 runs in a pair of 'run-rule' shutouts, vs. Eastern Illinois (8-0) and Georgia State (12-0) ... BGSU, after going 4-0 in pool play, was seeded #1 for the playoff portion of the 25-team tourney ... but, N.C. State downed the Falcons by a 2-1 score in Sunday's (March 21) quarterfinal round ... according to Georgia Tech's web site, BGSU finished in fifth place in the tourney.
STILL PITCHING WELL...
The Falcons went 27 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run ... BGSU allowed a pair of unearned runs in last weekend's opening game, a 6-2 win over North Carolina State, then won three consecutive shutout games before giving up two runs (one earned) in the third inning of the N.C. State rematch ... the Falcons had a team earned-run average of just 0.22 at last weekend's Buzz Classic, and the team ERA is now 1.51 for the season.
...AND NOW HITTING WELL
While the Falcon pitching has been solid for most of the season, the BG bats were quiet for much of the first three weekends ... last weekend, however, the Falcons hit .383 as a team, outscoring opponents by a 28-4 total at the Buzz Classic ... BG blasted six homers and hit nine doubles in the five games, and the Falcons had a total of 16 extra-base hits to the opponents' three (all doubles) ... sophomore Gina Rango had a slugging percentage of 1.294 at the tournament, while junior Kristen Anderson had a slugging pct. of .818.
SPREADING AROUND THE SHUTOUTS
BGSU had gone 17 games to start the season without throwing a shutout ... but, Falcon pitching threw three consecutive shutouts, with a different pitcher turning the trick in each game ... on Friday night (March 19), sophomore Liz Vrabel allowed just five hits in a 1-0 victory over Tulsa ... the next day, sophomore Lindsay Heimrich took her turn ... Heimrich, who homered for the lone run in the Tulsa game, spun a four-hitter in an 8-0 win over Eastern Illinois ... later that day, senior Jody Johnson allowed only two hits in a 12-0 triumph over Georgia State.
HITTING HEROES APLENTY
The Falcons hit .383 as a team at the Buzz Classic ... a total of six players hit over .300 on the weekend, led by sophomore Gina Rango's .647 average ... junior Kristen Anderson batted .455 at the tourney, while freshmen Kari Steigerwald and Ashley Zirkle hit .429 and .400, respectively ... one of the players who did not hit .300, sophomore Lindsay Heimrich, had a slugging pct. of .647 ... her five hits included four of the extra-base variety ... she hit her first collegiate homer vs. Tulsa, and had three doubles, including a pair in the second North Carolina State game ... of the nine players with more than five at-bats last weekend, eight had at least one extra-base hit.
NOTING THE FALCONS
The Falcons have a 10-11 record, having gone 1-3 in road games and 9-8 in neutral-site contests ... BGSU is batting .239 to the opponents' .211 ... sophomore 3B Gina Rango leads the team with a .371 batting average, and also paces the Brown and Orange in at-bats (70), hits (26), doubles (six), slugging pct. (.614), on-base pct. (.371) and total bases (43) ... Rango is tied for the team lead in runs (10), homers (three) and triples (one) ... Rango, junior RF Kristen Anderson and freshman CF Jeanine Baca are the lone players to have started all 21 games to date ... senior Jenifer Kernahan, sophomore Lindsay Heimrich and freshman 2B Megan McPherson each have made 20 starts ... Heimrich is second on the team with a .254 batting average ... McPherson is tied with Rango with 10 runs scored on the season, while Anderson has matched Rango's total of three homers ... Anderson is second on the team with 10 RBI ... in the circle, Falcon pitchers have a combined ERA of 1.51 this season, to the opponents' 2.24 ... Heimrich has a 1-2 record and just a 1.17 ERA, and has allowed opponents to bat just .159 ... sophomore Liz Vrabel has a 1.26 ERA and a record of 4-7 ... Vrabel, who has 10 complete games in as many starts, has struck out 63 batters, and has allowed foes to hit only .216 against her ... senior Jody Johnson leads the Falcons in wins ... Johnson is 5-2 with a 2.00 ERA.
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR...
The Falcons' roster features three Michigan natives that will make the trip to Ann Arbor Wednesday ... sophomore Abby Habicht hails from Edwardsburg, while freshman Maggie Tudor is from Canton ... junior Kristen Anderson, a Portland product, spent a year at nearby Eastern Michigan before transferring to BGSU ... additionally, head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw is from just north of the Ohio border ... an Ottawa Lake native, she led her Whiteford High School squad to three Michigan state championships and was named all-state three times.
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR, TOO...
A trio of Falcons have ties to the Rockets as well ... sophomore Melissa Wagner is in her first season on the BGSU roster after spending the 2003 season at Toledo ... additionally, head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw is a 1992 graduate of UT, and was a standout centerfielder for the Rockets ... Ross-Shaw was inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001 ... and, BGSU assistant coach Kyle Jamieson spent the 2000 season as an assistant for the Rockets.
VERSATILITY
Senior Jenifer Kernahan has been one of the Falcons' most versatile players during her career ... Kernahan entered the 2004 season having made 114 career starts, at five different positions ... the senior also made several starts as a goalkeeper on the BGSU women's soccer team last fall ... but, Kernahan had never started a game at shortstop in her collegiate career ... now, however, she has made nine starts at that spot, including each of the last eight games ... Kernahan has also started nine games at catcher this year ... she enters the Michigan DH with 134 career starts, spread among the catcher (69), leftfield (34), designated player (11), shortstop (9), third base (9) and centerfield (2) spots.
FAST FALCON FACTS
A few more Falcon facts ... sophomore Abby Habicht made 41 starts last season, with only one of those starts -- the first Michigan game -- coming at catcher ... but, Habicht has started 12 games behind the plate this spring, including each of the last eight contests ... BGSU scored 28 runs in last weekend's five games, after totalling 27 in the first 16 contests of the season ... the Falcons are outscoring opponents by a 15-1 margin in the second inning ... sophomore Gina Rango has an eight-game hitting streak, and is batting .593 (16-of-27) with nine runs scored and 11 RBI in that time ... Rango leads the Falcons in multiple-hit games, with seven, and multi-RBI contests, with five.
