Gina Rango, Liz Vrabel Named to Great Lakes All-Region First Team

May 18, 2005

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced its All-Region softball teams Wednesday (May 18), and two Bowling Green State University juniors were among those named to the All-Great Lakes Region team. Gina Rango (North Lima, Ohio/Boardman) was named to the all-region first team for the third consecutive year, while Liz Vrabel (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny) earned second-team honors.

Rango, a third baseman, and Vrabel, a pitcher, are now candidates for NFCA All-American honors. The All-America squad will be announced in conjunction with the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla., during the week of May 30.

Rango is the first player in school history to earn all-region honors on more than one occasion. Only five times has a Falcon player been named to the all-region first team, and Rango has done so three times. Amy Lienhardt (1988) and Rachelle Highfill (1993) are BGSU's other first-team selections.

Vrabel's all-region honor is the first of her career. The 2005 season marks just the second time in school history, and the first since 1993, that the Falcons have had a pair of all-region selections.

Rango and Vrabel are two of only three Mid-American Conference players to be named to the Great Lakes All-Region squad. Central Michigan's Amy Hudson was named to the second team.

The Great Lakes All-Region Team is the result of voting by the head coaches within the region.

Rango, the MAC Player of the Year, was an All-MAC First-Team pick fo rthe third consecutive season. She led the Falcons with a .368 batting average on the season, and also paced the Falcons in hits (60), triples (five), total bases (82), slugging percentage (.500) and on-base pct. (.432). Rango was second on the team in homeruns (two), runs batted in (31), walks (16) and stolen bases (15).

Just a junior, Rango has already placed her name at the top of several BGSU career records lists, including homers, RBI, batting avg. and slugging pct.

In MAC games only, Rango hit .356 this season, and also led the Falcons in slugging (.508), on-base pct. (.465), walks (11) and stolen bases (seven). She was second in the league in OBP and tied for second in bases on balls. Rango deadlocked for third in steals and tied for fourth in RBI (14), while ranking sixth in the league in hitting in conference games.

Vrabel was named the MAC's Pitcher of the Year in 2005, and was named to the All-MAC First Team after earning second-team honors in each of her first two seasons in the Brown and Orange. She also was named to the MAC's All-Tournament Team.

Vrabel had a 17-14 record on the year, with an earned-run average of 1.75 and a school-record total of 237 strikeouts. She was 9-5 in MAC games, leading the entire league in strikeouts (122), strikeouts per seven innings (9.35), complete games (13), opponent batting average (.167) and shutouts (four - tied for league lead). Vrabel ranked third in the league in ERA (1.15) and tied for third in wins in conference games.

Overall, Vrabel is ranked among the league's top 10 in every pitching category except saves. Two of her losses this season came to teams ranked number one in the nation at the time of the game, Arizona and Michigan.

Like Rango, Vrabel's name already can be found all over the BGSU career records charts. Vrabel holds the school record for strikeouts, with her total of 575 ranking her seventh on the MAC career list. Vrabel's strikeouts-per-seven-innings average places her more than two ahead of the second-place pitcher on that BG list.

In the league tournament, Vrabel showed why she was named the MAC Pitcher of the Year in 2005. In four tourney appearances, Vrabel had an ERA of just 0.33, while allowing opponents to bat a collective .114 against her. Vrabel had a record of 2-1 at the tourney, surrendering only one earned run and eight hits in 21 1/3 innings. She walked two batters while striking out 30.

The Falcons finished with an overall record of 29-30 on the season, and went 2-2 in the MAC Tournament. BGSU qualified for the league tourney for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.

BGSU's All-Region Selections

First Team Amy Lienhardt, OF, 1988 Rachelle Highfill, 2B, 1993 Gina Rango, 3B, 2003 Gina Rango, 3B, 2004 Gina Rango, 3B, 2005

Second Team Vicki Miwa, P, 1987 Becky Bailey, 2B, 1991 Dena Romstadt, 3B, 1992 Jennifer Wolf, P, 1993 Amy Hamilton, 1B/P, 1997 Liz Vrabel, P, 2005

2005 Great Lakes All-Region Softball Teams


First Team
Position     Player                School
Pitcher      Jennie Ritter #       Michigan
Pitcher      Cassie Scoggins       Southern Illinois
Catcher      Hollee Haines         Penn State
First Base   Samantha Findlay      Michigan
Second Base  Tiffany Haas          Michigan
Third Base   Gina Rango $          Bowling Green
Shortstop    Jessica Merchant      Michigan
Outfield     Megan Schwab          Ohio State
Outfield     Alessandra Giampaolo  Michigan
Outfield     Krystal Stein         Southern Illinois
Utility      Ashley Esparza        Penn State
Des. Player  Cameron Astiazaran ^  Illinois-Chicago

Second Team
Position     Player                School
Pitcher      Amy Harre !           Southern Illinois
Pitcher %    Missy Beseres         Penn State
Pitcher %    Liz Vrabel &          Bowling Green
Pitcher      Karenmarie Pena *     Western Illinois
Pitcher      Grace Luginbuhl +     Cleveland State
Catcher      Caitlin Mahoney       Michigan State
First Base   Jenna Hall            Illinois
Second Base  Kate Stake            Illinois State
Third Base   Amy Hudson            Central Michigan
Shortstop    Jen Acunto            Penn State
Outfield     Liz Caputo            Ohio State
Outfield     Jess Stanforth        Western Illinois
Outfield     Cassie Gross          Dayton
Utility      Jamee Juarez          Ohio State
Des. Player  Nicole Motycka        Michigan

# Big Ten Pitcher of the Year
$ MAC Player of the Year
^ Horizon League Player of the Year
! Missouri Valley Pitcher of the Year
& MAC Pitcher of the Year
* Automatically added to the team as Mid-Continent Pitcher of Year
+ Automatically added to the team as Horizon League Pitcher of Year
% tie in the voting

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