Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face Buffalo, Host Ball State
April 14, 2004 | Softball
April 14, 2004
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University softball team, after sweeping a non-league doubleheader, now returns to Mid-American Conference play ... the Falcons of sixth-year head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw will play the next 10 games against league foes, beginning with a Thursday (April 15) doubleheader at the University at Buffalo ... that DH will begin at 2:00 p.m. at UB's Nan Harvey Field.
Following the UB doubleheader, the Falcons will return home for a three-game weekend series against Ball State University ... the Falcons and Cardinals will play a Saturday (April 17) doubleheader and a Sunday (April 18) single game, with the first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. each day at the BGSU Softball Field.
BGSU is 17-20 on the season, and the Falcons are 4-4 in MAC play ... the Falcons are coming off a 2003 season that saw the team go 26-26-1 overall and 15-9 in the conference ... 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.
HEIMRICH NO-HITS THE GRIZZLIES
BGSU sophomore Lindsay Heimrich threw her first collegiate no-hitter Monday afternoon (April 12), as the Falcons opened a doubleheader with a 2-0 win over visiting Oakland University ... Heimrich, making just her seventh career start in the circle, retired the first 17 batters she faced ... she took a perfect game into the sixth inning before issuing a two-out walk ... Heimrich walked another batter with two down in the seventh, for OU's only two baserunners in the game ... she struck out a career-high 10 batters in the win.
HEIMRICH NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Monday afternoon (April 12), while sophomore Lindsay Heimrich was throwing a no-hitter at the BGSU Softball Field, the announcement came out of the Mid-American Conference office that she had been named the MAC Player of the Week ... Heimrich earned the honor for the second time in her career, having also been named the league's P-O-W on March 18, 2003 ... she picked up this week's award for her exploits at the plate, having hit a team-high .462 as the Falcons took two out of three games vs. defending MAC West Division and MAC Tournament champion Western Michigan over the weekend ... Heimrich went 6-for-13, leading the team in hits, at-bats, total bases (eight) and runs batted in (three) in the three games ... Heimrich also paced the Falcons in slugging pct. (.615) and on-base pct. (.462), and was perfect in 38 chances in the field ... she capped her weekend by going 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a run scored, a sacrifice bunt and a career-high RBI in BGSU's 7-1 win over Western Michigan Saturday (April 10).
ROSS-SHAW APPROACHES ANOTHER MILESTONE
Falcon head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw, already the winningest coach in BGSU softball history, is nearing another milestone ... with a total of 77 Mid-American Conference wins, Ross-Shaw is one league victory away from tying that school record ... Ross-Shaw, already the school leader in MAC winning percentage, trails former Falcon coach Jacquie Joseph (78-71 from 1989-93) by a single game ... she passed Joseph on the overall list last May, and currently has a total of 154 wins in her Falcon head-coaching career.
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 154-135-2 (.533) ... BGSU's final win in 2003, vs. Northern Illinois in the MAC Tournament, made Ross-Shaw the winningest coach in school history, and Saturday's (April 3) win at IPFW was the 150th of her career ... Ross-Shaw, the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year, has a league mark of 77-49 (.611), ranking her second in league victories ... she is just one MAC win 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
Buffalo begins the week with an overall record of 12-15 ... the Bulls, like BGSU, will enter Thursday's twinbill with a .500 mark in MAC play, as UB is 3-3 ... believe it or not, Thursday's games, if played, will mark the team's 2004 home opener ... Buffalo took two of three games at Akron last weekend, as junior Stacey Evans threw a pair of shutouts en route to earning MAC East Division Pitcher-of-the-Week honors ... Evans is 6-6 on the year with a team-leading earned-run average of 1.82 and 96 strikeouts in 96 innings ... freshman Sophie Barstad is 6-3 with a 2.64 ERA ... at the plate, senior OF Breanne Nasti leads the team with a .365 batting average, and also paces the Bulls with five doubles, four homers and 17 RBI ... junior C Julie Hibner is hitting .269 and freshman OF Mary Russell .267 ... last season, UB finished 18-21 overall and 7-13 in MAC action ... head coach Marie Curran has a record of 62-139 in her fifth year, all with the Bulls ... the school's athletics web site is www.buffalobulls.com.
Ball State is 11-23 on the season to date, but the Cardinals are second in the MAC's West Division, with a 4-2 MAC record heading into a Wednesday (April 14) home twinbill vs. Akron ... last weekend, BSU captured the final two contests of a three-game home series vs. Ohio ... the Cards are 5-8 in road games, including 2-1 in MAC road contests ... individually, senior OF Kris Burdine is hitting .308, with freshman SS Taylor Yancey batting .299 ... senior C Britni Clark and sophomore 1B Jodi Willis are hitting .255 and .250, respectively ... both Clark and Willis have a .529 average in MAC play to date ... in the circle, sophomore Quincy Duran has a 3-3 record and a team-low 2.33 ERA, while junior Randi Freese is 4-10 with a 3.34 ERA ... last year, the Cardinals were 14-24-1 overall and finished 7-13 in league action ... head coach Terri Laux has a record of 186-200-1 in her eighth season in Muncie ... she has an overall head-coaching mark of 338-448-3 in her 17th year ... the school's athletics web site is www.ballstatesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons lead the all-time series with Buffalo by a 6-2 margin, and BGSU has won the only three prior meetings in New York, sweeping a three-game set three years ago (April 20-21, 2001) ... the Bulls, however, came to BG the next season and swept a doubleheader (April 27, 2002), before BGSU took the final game of the series the next day, 10-7.
BGSU leads Ball State, 35-27, in that series, and the Falcons have won the last four meetings ... BG swept a three-game set in Muncie last year (April 12-13) ... the Falcons are 16-12 all-time in home games vs. the Cardinals, but the teams have not played at the BGSU Softball Field in nearly three years, since a doubleheader split on April 24, 2001 ... on that date, the Brown and Orange dropped a 3-0 decision in the opener before rallying for a 5-4, 11-inning win in the nightcap.
RECENTLY...
The Falcons went 4-1 on a five-game homestand ... BGSU took two out of three games from Western Michigan over the weekend, then swept Oakland in a Monday (April 12) doubleheader ... on Friday (April 9), the Falcons and Broncos played a pair of 12-inning games, with BG winning a 1-0 game before Western took a 4-3 decision ... the next day, the Falcons captured the series with a 7-1 win ... then, BGSU topped Oakland, 2-0, behind a Lindsay Heimrich no-hitter ... the Falcons then bested the Golden Grizzlies, 10-2 in five innings, to complete the DH sweep.
MORE ON THE NO-HITTER
Sophomore Lindsay Heimrich's no-hitter was the Falcons' first since Feb. 22, 2002 ... that day, in the team's season opener, Andrea Genter and Jessie Milosek combined on a no-no in a 6-0 win at Tennessee State ... Heimrich's gem was BGSU's first complete-game no-hitter since Milosek turned the trick in a 2-0 win over Kent State on April 22, 2000.
HEIMRICH HITS, TOO
Sophomore Lindsay Heimrich, as mentioned earlier, was named the MAC Player of the Week for her hitting exploits vs. Western Michigan ... on Monday, Heimrich had three hits vs. Oakland, matching the Golden Grizzlies' total for the entire doubleheader ... she currently has a seven-game hitting streak, having batted .444 (12-for-27) in that time ... in the circle, Heimrich is 2-2 with an ERA of 0.94 in her last four appearances, spanning 22 1/3 innings pitched.
RAMSEY GETS ON BOARD
Freshman Emmy Ramsey has been hot as of late ... Ramsey, after going hitless in her first 13 collegiate at-bats, has five hits in her last six at-bats (.833) over the last three games ... she had her first hit as a Falcon in Saturday's win over Western Michigan, and finished with a pair of hits in that game ... then, Ramsey had her first two collegiate RBI in the nightcap of the Oakland DH.
LET'S PLAY TWO ... 12-INNING GAMES
The Falcons had not played as many as 12 innings in a home game in nearly eight years ... but, BOTH games of Friday's (April 9) doubleheader vs. Western Michigan required 12 frames ... those marked the longest games at the BGSU Softball Field since a 3-2 Falcon win over Eastern Michigan in 15 innings on May 3, 1996 ... the final out of Friday's doubleheader, which began at 2:00 p.m., was recorded at 7:52 p.m.
PITCHING GETS IT DONE
The Falcons entered the Western Michigan series as the top pitching team in the MAC, in terms of ERA ... and, BGSU did nothing to hurt that in Friday's twinbill ... that day, the Falcons allowed the defending MAC champions to bat a collective .101 ... sophomore Liz Vrabel threw a complete-game two-hitter in the 12-inning, 1-0 win to start the day ... then, senior Jody Johnson pitched nine innings of relief in the second game, giving up only an unearned run and two hits ... Vrabel had taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the opener, while Johnson pitched four perfect innings and 5 2/3 no-hit frames upon entering the second game.
MORE ON THE PITCHING
The Falcons entered the week with a team ERA of 1.65, lowest in the MAC ... after the Oakland doubleheader, the BGSU pitchers have lowered the collective ERA to 1.60 ... over the last five games, Falcon hurlers have a combined ERA of just 0.81, and have let opponents hit just .119 during that time ... sophomore Liz Vrabel entered the week with a MAC-best ERA of 1.31.
NOTING THE FALCONS
The Falcons have a 17-20 record, and BGSU is 4-4 in MAC play ... BG is 4-3 at home, 4-9 in road games and 9-8 in neutral-site contests ... BGSU is batting .243 to the opponents' .211 ... sophomore 3B Gina Rango leads the team with a .323 batting average, and also paces the Brown and Orange in at-bats (124), runs (20), hits (40), doubles (11), homers (five), runs batted in (24), slugging pct. (.548) and total bases (68) ... Rango is the lone Falcon to have started all 37 games to date, while junior RF Kristen Anderson, freshman CF Jeanine Baca and sophomore 1B/P Lindsay Heimrich each have made 36 starts ... Baca is second on the team with a .300 batting average, while Heimrich is hitting .296 ... Baca is also second on the Falcons with 19 runs scored and 36 hits, while Heimrich has scored 16 runs and freshman 2B/SS Megan McPherson 12 ... Anderson has four homers and 23 RBI, ranking second on the team (one behind Rango) in each category ... Heimrich, who has raise her batting average by 33 points in the last five games, has 10 doubles, 16 runs scored and 14 RBI on the year ... in the circle, Falcon pitchers have a combined ERA of 1.60, lowest in the MAC ... sophomore Liz Vrabel has an 8-10 record and a 1.31 ERA, while Heimrich has a 3-4 record and a 1.45 ERA ... Vrabel, who has 15 complete games in 18 starts, has struck out 107 batters and allowed opponents to hit just .214 against her ... Heimrich has an opponent batting average of just .175 after her no-hitter vs. Oakland ... senior Jody Johnson is 6-6 with a 2.17 ERA and an opponent BA of just .225.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Freshman Jennifer Huber made her first collegiate appearance Monday, with an at-bat in the second game vs. Oakland ... in that same contest, Natalie Armintrout scored the first run of her career ... freshman Kari Steigerwald had her second two-hit game of the year, also scoring a pair of runs in the OU nightcap ... Steigerwald has an on-base percentage of .359 ... senior Jody Johnson has an ERA of just 0.50 over her last two appearances, striking out 14 and allowing only five hits in 14 innings during that time ... sophomore Liz Vrabel went 2-0 with an ERA of only 1.27 against Western Michigan ... Vrabel, who pitched in all three games in the series, began with a masterful 12-inning, complete-game shutout ... in that game, she had a no-hitter until there were two outs in the seventh, and finished with a two-hitter ... she struck out a career-high 14 in that win ... Vrabel came right back to start the second game of that DH, throwing the first three innings ... the next day, she threw another complete game vs. the Broncos, scattering six hits in a 7-1 Falcon win ... six different Falcon players have hit at least one homerun this season, topping the total for all of last year by one ... BGSU now has a team total of 15 homers, after hitting a total of 20 a year ago ... BGSU has made a total of six errors in the last five games, after committing 19 errors in the previous six contests ... on the year, the Falcons are 5-13 when committing two or more errors in a game ... BG is 12-7 when making one error or fewer ... the Falcons have had only eight errorless games this year to date, going 7-1 in such contests.
