Bowling Green State University Athletics
Softball Announces 2007 Opponent Line-up
December 18, 2006 | Softball
Dec. 18, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University head softball coach Shannon Salsburg has announced the complete 2007 season schedule for the Falcons. BGSU will compete in three non-conference tournaments prior to opening the Mid-American Conference at home against Kent State (Mar. 30.). The Birds of Prey will also challenge Women's College World Series participant Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn.
"The trip to Tennessee will be great experience for us since they such great success last season," said Salsburg. "Overall, this season's schedule is really diverse in that we will face teams from a range of NCAA regions."
The 2007 season kicks-off with a trip to the Panera Bread Challenge hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Last season, the Falcons won the tournament after posting a perfect 6-0 record. This year they will be tested by Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 23), Maine (Feb. 23), and St. Francis (PA) (Feb. 24) in the first three contests of the tournament. The Falcons will close the tournament with early match-ups against fellow MAC competitors Miami (Feb. 24) and Akron (Feb. 25).
The month of March will open as the Falcons take to the air for a trip to Charleston, S.C. for the Charleston Southern Tournament. In a three day span, Bowling Green will face six separate opponents while competing twice a day. The Falcons will remain in Charleston to play a double-header three days after the conclusion of the Charleston Southern Tournament with non-conference opponent St. Bonaventure on March 7.
The tournament season will end as Salsburg's squad travels south to defend their title as the University of South Florida Speedline Tournament champions. Bowling Green has guaranteed opponents in George Mason and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on March 16 and will celebrate St. Patrick's Day (Mar. 17) with a scheduled match-up against Florida International in the morning. BGSU will move into bracket play on March 17 at a time that has yet to be determined and will continue through March 18.
The Birds of Prey will enjoy a much-needed 10-day hiatus between their last tournament decision and a trip to Big Ten country as they face off with Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. Since their first meeting in 1996 the all-time series favors the Falcons 10-6. In their most recent meeting, the Spartans narrowly edged the Falcons 2-1 on the road last season. The Spartans will welcome the squad to Old College Field on March 28.
The conference season will officially begin when the Falcons host MAC Tournament champion Kent State for the home opener on March 30. It will be the first time Salsburg faces her former Flashes in an opposing dugout. The double-header will kick off a full weekend of home action for the Falcons who will also host the University at Buffalo for a pair of games on March 31 and April 1. In the all-time series the Falcons have dominated the UB Bulls with just three loses in fifteen meetings.
The first conference road weekend will pit the Falcons against two eastern divisional opponents. Bowling Green will take on the Bobcats of Ohio University in Athens for a back-to-back game session on April 6 and then will visit Akron (Apr. 7-8) for a two-day road stand. Last season, Akron finished third in the east while OU followed in fourth in the standings. BGSU went on to blank both programs in the conference tournament.
The 2007 schedule is highlighted by mid-week double-header action scheduled to take place in Knoxville, Tenn. on April 11 when the Orange and Brown prepare to battle with the Orange and White Tennessee Lady Vols. The Lady Vols finished the 2006 season in Oklahoma City, Okla. as participants in the Women's College World Series. Tennessee, the fifth seed, was eliminated after losing to third seed Arizona 6-0. The encounter at Tyson Field will be the first for the programs.
Conference competition will resume just two days later when the Falcons welcome the RedHawks of Miami to the BGSU Softball Field. Bowling Green will play the RedHawks twice on April 11 to close their run at the Eastern Division and will begin the divisional crossover portion of their schedule when they host Ball State on April 14-15.
Bowling Green will take a short break from MAC competition for a mid-week pair at the University of Detroit (Apr. 17) and will remain on the road to face two directional Michigan programs and the rival Rockets to complete both their travel schedule and the month of April.
The Falcons will see the likes of the Eagles of Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti twice on April 20. Last season, both games with EMU needed to be taken to extra innings before the Falcons found wins and extended their record to 44-30 all-time. The trip will also include a two-day stop in Mount Pleasant to square off with Central Michigan on April 21-22. In 2006 Central was the only MAC program to post two victories over the Orange and Brown in regular season competition.
The Blue and Gold of the University of Toledo will be the final regular season road test for the Falcons over the April 28-29 weekend. Each of the last two matches between the historical rivals were decided by one run last season with the final game spilling over to an extra inning.
Salsburg and Company will prepare for the conference tournament by finalizing their season with the invasion of Northern Illinois (May 4, DH) and 2006 MAC tournament runner-up Western Michigan (May 5-6) at home in Bowling Green.
The post-season will begin on May 9 at a site that has yet to be determined with the start of the MAC Conference Tournament. The tournament will run through May 12. Last season's appearance in the MAC Tournament was the fourth consecutive and eight overall showing for BGSU in the past nine years.
Bowling Green will be led by captains Jeanine Baca, Ashley Zirkle and Hayley Wiemer. Wiemer was named conference Freshman of the Year during her rookie campaign last season. The unit will return eight letterwinners from the 2006 team which tied the BGSU record for victories with an overall record of 37-23. Their second place finish in the MAC East Division was just a half-game out of first.
