Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Open Season in Chattanooga
February 24, 2005 | Softball
Feb. 24, 2005
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University softball team heads to Chattanooga, Tenn., to open the 2005 season this weekend ... the Falcons of seventh-year head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw will take part in the eight-team Frost Classic, hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ... BGSU will play both Virginia and host Chattanooga on Friday (Feb. 25), and will meet Tennessee Tech and Bradley on Saturday (Feb. 26) ... BG will close the tourney with Sunday (Feb. 27) contests against Kentucky and Purdue ... the complete schedule follows:
Games played at Frost and Hargraves Fields
Friday, Feb. 25 Kentucky vs. Tennessee Tech, 10:00 a.m. (F) Bradley vs. Kent State, 10:00 a.m. (H) Kentucky vs. Virginia, 12:15 (F) Bradley vs. Purdue, 12:15 (H) Bowling Green vs. Virginia, 2:30 (F) Kent State vs. Purdue, 2:30 (H) Bowling Green at Chattanooga, 4:45 (F) Kent State vs. Tennessee Tech, 4:45 (H) Bradley at Chattanooga, 7:00 (F)Saturday, Feb. 26 Bowling Green vs. Tennessee Tech, 10:00 a.m. (F) Kent State vs. Virginia, 10:00 a.m. (H) Virginia at Chattanooga, 12:15 (F) Bowling Green vs. Bradley, 12:15 (H) Purdue at Chattanooga, 2:30 (F) Bradley vs. Tennessee Tech, 2:30 (H) Kentucky vs. Purdue, 4:45 (F) Tennessee Tech vs. Virginia, 4:45 (H) Kent State vs. Kentucky, 7:00 (F)
Sunday, Feb. 27 Bradley vs. Virginia, 10:00 a.m. (F) Bowling Green vs. Kentucky, 10:00 a.m. (H) Kent State at Chattanooga, 12:15 (F) Bowling Green vs. Purdue, 12:15 (H) Kentucky at Chattanooga, 2:30 (F) Purdue vs. Tennessee Tech, 2:30 (H)
BGSU is coming off a 2004 season that saw the team finish 34-30 overall, and place third in the Mid-American Conference's West Division with a league ark of 13-11 ... the Falcons, the sixth seed for the six-team MAC Tournament, proceeded to lose the opening game, then reel off five consecutive wins to take the title and advance to NCAA Regional play.
HEAD COACH Leigh Ross-Shaw
Leigh Ross-Shaw, the winningest coach in school history, enters her seventh season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons ... she enters the 2005 season with an overall record of 171-145-2 (.541) ... Ross-Shaw is also the school's leader in MAC games, with a league mark of 86-56 (.606) ... she ranks first in BG history in conference winning percentage, and is second in overall winning pct., trailing only Sandy Haines (.557; 57-45-3).
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 has become the only head coach in school history with three 30-win seasons ... and, of course, she continues to set new school marks with each win.
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, a 1992 graduate of the Univ. 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 2001, she was inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Fame.
ASSISTANT COACH Kyle Jamieson
Kyle Jamieson enters his second season on Ross-Shaw's staff ... 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 had MAC ties prior to his arrival at BG, having spent the 2000 season on the staff at Toledo.
THE OPPONENTS
Virginia has a 4-5 overall record on the young season, and the Cavaliers went 2-2 at a tournament in Charlotte, N.C., last weekend ... head coach Cheryl Sprangel's team returns 13 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's team that finished 38-26 overall and 6-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference ... Sprangel has a record of 276-188 in her eighth season at UVa ... a former head coach at the University of Toledo, Sprangel is 736-543-1 in her 22nd season overall ... the school's athletics web site is www.virginiasports.com.
Chattanooga had a 4-6 record heading into a Thursday (Feb. 24) home doubleheader vs. Morehead State ... the Lady Mocs have won three consecutive games, including a Wednesday sweep of Tennessee State ... head coach Frank Reed welcomes back 10 letterwinners, including six positional starters, from last year's 45-25 team that won the Southern Conference with a 16-4 league mark ... the Lady Mocs advanced to NCAA Regional play in 2004 ... Reed is 130-76 in his fourth year at the school, and has an overall mark of 650-178 in his 14th season ... the school's athletics web site is www.GoMocs.com.
Tennessee Tech has a 4-5 record after going 2-3 in a tourney at Mississippi State last weekend ... the Golden Eagles have 10 returning letterwinners, including nine starters, from last year's 44-25 squad ... that team went 19-8 in Ohio Valley Conference play ... coach Tory Acheson is 241-150 in his seventh year at the school, and has an overall record of 531-224 in his 11th season ... the school's athletics web site is www.ttusports.com.
Bradley, like BGSU, will open the 2005 season at the Frost Classic ... head coach Venus Taylor's team features 11 returning letterwinners, including five starters ... last year, the Braves went 29-29 overall and finished 11-15 in the Missouri Valley Conference ... Taylor, in her second season at BU, has an overall record of 76-39 as she heads into her third year as a collegiate head coach ... the school's athletics web site is www.bubraves.com.
Kentucky is 2-13 on the year, and the Wildcats went 2-3 at last weekend's Crowne Plaza Classic in Houston ... UK finished 25-31-1 overall and 6-24 in Southeastern Conference play last year ... 15 letterwinners, including eight starters, return from that team for first-year head coach Eileen Schmidt ... Schmidt is 64-74 in her third season overall ... the school's athletics web site is www.ukathletics.com.
Purdue brings a 6-3 record into the weekend, and the Boilermakers went 3-2 at last weekend's Louisiana Classic ... head coach Carol Bruggeman has eight positional starters among 15 letterwinners back from last year's 32-25 team ... that squad went 5-14 in Big Ten Conference play ... Bruggeman has a 352-283-2 record in her 12th season, all in West Lafayette ... the school's athletics web site is purduesports.com.
THE SERIES
The Falcons trail Virginia, 8-2, in the all-time series between the teams ... in the teams' last meetings, host UVa swept a doubleheader in Charlottesville, 9-2 and 5-3, two years ago (March 16, 2003).
Chattanooga holds a 1-0 series lead over BGSU ... that lone meeting came in 1996, a 5-4 game at the season-opening tournament in Hawai'i (March 14, 1996).
Tennessee Tech also is 1-0 all-time vs. BGSU ... TTU took a 9-1, five-inning win at the Worth Tournament in Cookeville, Tenn., three seasons ago (Feb. 24, 2002).
The Falcons and Bradley are tied, 2-2 ... BU captured the last meeting, 3-2, in that same Worth Tournament (Feb. 23, 2002).
Kentucky is 1-0 against BG ... UK won a 3-2 game in the Arizona Classic early in the 2001 season (Feb. 17, 2001).
Purdue won the only prior meeting with the Falcons, a 7-1 game in the Boilermaker Classic seven years ago (March 22, 1998).
COACHING TIES
Leigh Ross-Shaw will match wits with her former collegiate coach this weekend ... Virginia's Cheryl Sprangel was the head coach at Toledo while Ross-Shaw (then Leigh Ross) was the team's leadoff hitter and centerfielder ... the two helped the Rockets advance to the College World Series in 1989.
FALCONS PICKED SECOND
Bowling Green was picked to finish second in the MAC's West Division in 2005 ... the poll is a result of voting by the league's 13 head coaches ... Miami and Central Michigan were picked to win their respective divisions, with MU predicted to win the MAC Tournament.
