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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head to MAC Tournament as Number-Three Seed
May 09, 2006 | Softball
May 9, 2006
BGSU's MAC Tournament notes, stats, etc. (26 pages) in PDF Format
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University softball team, after earning a Mid-American Conference Tournament berth for the eighth time in the last nine years, heads to Midland, Mich., to open league tourney play ... the Falcons of eighth-year head coach Leigh Ross (35-21, 16-6 MAC) will begin play in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament Wednesday morning (May 10) ... BGSU, seeded third, will take on the sixth-seeded University of Akron in the first game of the day, with the first pitch set for 11:00 a.m. ... all tourney games will be played at Currie Stadium.
Wednesday's second contest, between second-seeded Kent State University and seventh-seeded Northern Illinois University, will begin at 1:30 p.m. ... the winner of the BGSU-UA game will advance to face the KSU-NIU victor on Thursday (May 11) at 5:00 p.m. ... the losing teams from those two Wednesday games will meet in an elimination game on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. ... the complete MAC Tournament bracket follows ...
2006 MAC TOURNAMENT
Currie Stadium; Midland, Mich.
Wednesday, May 10 G1 - #3 BGSU vs. #6 Akron, 11 a.m. G2 - #2 Kent St. vs. #7 NIU, 1:30 p.m. G3 - #4 CMU vs. #5 EMU, 5 p.m. G4 - #1 WMU vs. #8 Ohio, 7:30 p.m.Thursday, May 11 G5 - BGSU/UA loser vs. KSU/NIU loser, 11 a.m. G6 - CMU/EMU loser vs. WMU/Ohio loser, 1:30 p.m. G7 - BGSU/UA winner vs. KSU/NIU winner, 5 p.m. G8 - CMU/EMU winner vs. WMU/Ohio winner, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 12 G9 - G6 winner vs. G7 loser, 11 a.m. G10 - G5 winner vs. G8 loser, 1:30 p.m. G11 - G7 winner vs. G10 winner, 5 p.m. G12 - G8 winner vs. G9 winner, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 13 G13* - G12 participants, 10 a.m. G14* - G11 participants, 12:30 p.m. G15 - G11/13 winner vs. G12/14 winner, 3:00 p.m.
* if necessary
MAC'S MAY MADNESS MOVES TO MIDLAND
The MAC Tournament will be held in Midland, Mich., after five seasons at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio ... Currie Stadium, which has played host to the U.S. Olympic Women's softball team, was the site of this year's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament last week ... admission to all games and sessions is free.
LAST WEEKEND
The Falcons won three of four games on the road over the weekend ... BGSU split a Friday (May 5) doubleheader at Western Michigan, downing the eventual MAC regular-season champions by a 2-1 count, before losing the nightcap, 7-2 ... then, the Falcons played late into the night on Saturday (May 6), downing Northern Illinois, 6-3, on a grand slam by senior Abby Habicht in the 12th inning ... the next day, junior Ashley Zirkle hit a grand slam of her own, as BG exploded for a 10-1, five-inning victory over the Huskies.
BGSU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons are appearing in the MAC Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, the eighth time in the last nine years, and the 11th time in school history ... this year marks the 16th MAC Tournament ... a league tourney was held each year from 1982-86 before a hiatus of nearly a decade (the tournament resumed in 1996, but that year's tourney was suspended in the third game due to inclement weather) ... Bowling Green has compiled an all-time tourney mark of 16-19, including a 5-1 record and the school's first MAC Tournament championship in 2004 ... last year, the Falcons were 2-2 in the first season of the eight-team format ... BGSU has gone 1-2 on six of the 10 occasions the Falcons have qualified ... BG was 1-2 in the first four trips, 0-2 in 1999 and 3-2 (with a runner-up finish) in 2000 ... the Falcons posted a 1-2 mark at the 2001 tourney, and again won one of three games in 2003 ... BG participated in the league tourney in 1982, 1985 and 1986, prior to the four-year run from 1998-2001 ... the Falcons just missed making the tourney in '02, but now have qualified in each of the last four seasons ... a complete game-by-game listing, with opponent, result and score, can be found in the pdf version of this release.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
THE REST OF THE FIELD (noting the opponents)
Akron, BGSU's first MAC Tournament opponent, enters the league tourney with an overall record of 26-23 ... the Zips finished the MAC schedule with a 13-9 mark, good for a third-place finish in the East Division and the sixth seed for the tourney ... UA dropped three of last weekend's four road games, splitting at Central Michigan before losing a pair against Eastern Michigan ... individually, Carrese Moody leads the Zips with a .292 batting average ... in the circle, Megan MacKenzie is 14-15 with a 1.99 ERA, while Julie Boyes is 12-8 with an ERA of 2.23 ... web: www.GoZips.com.
Western Michigan has earned the top seed for the league tournament ... the Broncos are 31-13 overall and finished MAC play with an 18-4 ledger ... last weekend, Western split a home DH with the Falcons before sweeping Toledo ... Kristi Strange is hitting .328, while Krysten Shumaker is 16-5 in the circle with a 1.13 ERA ... web: www.wmubroncos.com.
Kent State won the MAC's East Division and earned the tourney's number-two seed ... the Golden Flashes won four home games over the weekend, sweeping Miami and Ball State, to finish the regular season with a 16-5 MAC record, a half-game ahead of the Falcons ... KSU, 28-22 overall, has won eight consecutive games vs. MAC opponents, and the Flashes are 14-2 vs. conference foes since starting MAC play with a 2-3 mark ... Jessica Toocheck is hitting .316 on the year, and is one of three KSU players with at least eight homers ... Brittany Robinson is 26-11 in the circle, with a 1.17 ERA and a MAC-record 373 strikeouts ... web: www.kentstatesports.com.
Fourth-seeded Central Michigan is 22-25 heading into Wednesday's action ... the Chippewas finished second in the West Division with a 13-7 league mark ... Central won three out of four games, splitting with Akron before sweeping Ohio in home action over the weekend ... Amy Hudson is hitting .414 on the season, while Ali Pettit paces the CMU pitchers with a record of 8-4 and a 2.48 ERA ... Jessica Garvin (7-6, 2.58 ERA) and Jill DeRoche (6-11, 3.13 ERA) each have started 17 games this season ... web: cmuchippewas.com.
Eastern Michigan is 26-26 this season to date ... the Eagles finished the MAC schedule with a 14-8 record, good for third place in the West and the fifth overall tourney seed ... Eastern has won six of the last seven MAC games, including a 3-1 record last weekend ... the Eagles split with Ohio before sweeping visiting Akron ... Lauren Clark is batting .370 with 12 homers and 39 RBI, while Aimee Woodrum has a team-low 1.95 ERA and a record of 8-6 ... web: www.emueagles.com.
Northern Illinois has a record of 22-26 on the year, and the Huskies posted a 10-12 MAC record to secure the seventh seed for the tournament ... Northern swept UT in a pair of games on Friday, before dropping two contests to the Falcons at home ... Ellen Stoddard is batting .293 for the Huskies, while Lindsey LaChiana has a 12-8 record and a 2.54 ERA this year ... prior to the two losses to BG, the Huskies had won four consecutive MAC games and seven of the last nine league contests after a 3-8 start ... web: www.niuhuskies.com.
Ohio has a 26-38 record, and the Bobcats finished 7-15 in MAC games ... Ohio tied for fourth place in the East Division with Miami, but the 'Cats earned the eighth and final seed for the league tourney ... over the weekend, Ohio dropped three of four games on the road, splitting a Friday twinbill at EMU before falling in two contests at CMU ... Marian Davis has a .302 batting average to pace the OU hitters, while Michelle Sauter has a 12-16 record and a 1.97 ERA ... web: ohiobobcats.com.
THE SERIES
BGSU leads Akron, 37-20-1, in the all-time series between the teams ... in this season's meetings, the Falcons and Zips split an April 7 doubleheader at the BGSU Softball Field, with UA taking a 3-1 win in the opener and BG rebounding for a 3-0 victory in the nightcap ... the Falcons hold a 7-2 advantage in neutral-site meetings with the Zips, and BGSU won the lone prior MAC Tournament meeting, a 2-0 decision in DeKalb, Ill., on May 13, 2000.
The Falcons trail Western Michigan, 38-24, in that series ... the teams played last Friday (May 5), splitting a twinbill in Kalamazoo ... BGSU won the opener, 2-1, but the Broncos captured the second game by a 7-2 final ... the Falcons hold a 2-1 advantage in neutral-site games, with all three such games coming in the last two league tournaments in Akron, Ohio ... overall, the Falcons and Broncos are tied 2-2 in MAC Tournament meetings, including a 4-0 BG win last year (May 13, 2005), as Liz Vrabel fired a one-hitter.
Kent State leads BGSU, 44-40-1, in their series, but the Falcons captured a pair of wild games this season ... BG captured a 10-8, eight-inning win on April 1, then posted a 7-6 victory the following day at the KSU Softball Field ... the teams are deadlocked, 3-3, in neutral-site games, and Kent State holds a 2-1 lead in league tourney games ... the Falcons picked up a 6-0 win in the teams' last MAC Tournament matchup, on May 14, 2004, at Firestone Stadium.
Central Michigan holds a commanding 61-14 lead over BGSU, and the Chippewas posted 3-2 and 10-4 wins at the BGSU Softball Field last month (April 21) ... Central is 8-1 against the Brown and Orange in neutral-site games, and the Chippewas lead BG by a 6-1 count in MAC Tournament games ... the Falcons' lone league tourney win over CMU came in the last such meeting, a 3-0 triumph at Firestone Stadium on May 14, 2004.
BGSU is 44-30 vs. Eastern Michigan, and the Falcons captured a pair of walk-off, extra-inning wins over the Eagles this year ... BG won a 2-1, 10-inning affair on April 22, before posting a 3-2 win in nine innings the following day ... the Falcons have won the last three matchups between the schools ... EMU, however, is 4-1 in neutral-site meetings, and the teams are tied, 1-1, in MAC Tournament games ... Eastern posted a 1-0 win in the 1999 league tourney in DeKalb, Ill., while the Falcons picked up a 2-1 victory in last year's tournament (May 12, 2005).
BGSU holds a 16-11 lead over Northern Illinois in that series, after picking up two wins in DeKalb last weekend ... the Brown and Orange got a grand slam in each game, with Abby Habicht doing the honors in Saturday's (May 6) 6-3, 12-inning affair, and Ashley Zirkle homering with the bases full in Sunday's 10-1, five-inning triumph ... the Falcons hold a 4-2 edge in neutral-site games, and BGSU is 4-1 in MAC Tournament games vs. the Huskies ... BG picked up a 7-2 win at Firestone in the teams' last tourney meeting, three years ago (May 8, 2003).
The Falcons hold a 45-32 series lead over Ohio, and the teams split two games at the BGSU Softball Field last month (April 8-9) ... the Bobcats scored twice in the 12th inning for a 3-1 win in the first game, before BG picked up a 3-2, walk-off win the following afternoon ... the Falcons are 6-3 in neutral-site games vs. the Bobcats, and the teams have split the two prior MAC Tournament games, with both requiring extra innings in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. ... Ohio picked up a 3-2 win in nine innings in the 1986 tournament, and BG scored five times in the 10th inning for a 6-1 win five years ago (May 11, 2001).
FALCONS VS. THE FIELD IN 2006
This season, the Falcons have posted an aggregate record of 9-5 vs. the other teams in the MAC Tournament field ... Central Michigan was the only MAC team to sweep the Falcons this season ... BGSU picked up sweeps in the series vs. Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Northern Illinois, and the Falcons split with Akron, Ohio and Western Michigan ... five of the 14 games required extra innings, with BG winning four of those contests ... seniors Lindsay Heimrich (.419), Gina Rango (.400) and Abby Habicht (.378) led BGSU in hitting in the 14 games vs. the other teams in the field.
RANGO'S RAMPAGE THROUGH RECORD BOOKS
Senior Gina Rango already owns numerous BGSU career records, and continues to add to that list ... Rango, the 2005 MAC Player of the Year, is the school's all-time leader in games played (225), games started (225), at-bats (700), hits (261), RBI (132), doubles (51), homeruns (26) and total bases (404), and she currently ranks first in career batting average (.373) and slugging percentage (.577) ... Rango is near the top of several other BGSU career records lists as well ... of the 16 positive offensive career categories kept in the BGSU recordbooks, Rango is ranked on no fewer than 14 of them (all except sacrifice flies and sac bunts) ... the lists can be found in the pdf version o' this release.
VRABEL LEAVING HER MARK, TOO
Gina Rango is not the only Falcon senior that won a major MAC award last spring, and she is not the lone player to be at or near the top of numerous career lists ... Liz Vrabel, the 2005 MAC Pitcher of the Year, is the BGSU career leader in victories (65), strikeouts (756), strikeouts per seven innings (7.14), appearances (139) and shutouts (27) ... Vrabel ranks among the top-three in a total of nine categories, and is seventh on one additional pitching chart ... those lists, of course, are in the pdf.
SENIOR PRIDE
Rango and Vrabel are joined by three other fourth-year players - Natalie Armintrout, Abby Habicht and Lindsay Heimrich - on the BGSU roster, and all have contributed to the team's success ... Armintrout hit her first collegiate homer in the Falcons' win at Northern Illinois Sunday (May 7) ... Habicht, a four-year starter and a stellar defensive player for her entire career, has become one of the team's top hitters in 2006 ... she is batting .291 overall, and hit .369 with a slugging percentage of .585 and a .994 fielding pct. in MAC action ... Heimrich, who was slowed by injuries during much of the 2005 season, hit .333 in league games in '06, with a fielding pct. of .977 ... the senior class is just the second in BG history to qualify for the MAC Tournament in all four years ... addtionally, the group has led the Falcons to a total of 124 wins during their tenures, the most victories in a four-year period in school history.
FALCON WIN TOTAL AT 35
The three wins last weekend give BGSU 35 this season, tied for the second-highest total in school history ... the record is 37 wins, amassed by the 1992 Falcons ... the 1988 and 2001 teams each won 35 games ... the Falcons have won at least 30 games for the fourth time in the eight-year Leigh Ross head-coaching tenure, and the seventh time in school history.
DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE, DOUBLE YOUR FUN
The Falcons' total of seven doubles in Sunday's five-inning win over Northern Illinois is believed to be a school record ... additionally, senior Abby Habicht and sophomores Dawnjene DeLong and Allison Vallas each had a pair of two-base hits in the win ... BG single-game records are rather sketchy, but it is believed that Sunday marks the first time three different players had two doubles apiece in the same game.
WALK-OFF MAGIC AT THE BGSU SOFTBALL FIELD
The Falcons ended the home portion of the schedule with four consecutive walk-off wins ... senior Gina Rango provided the dramatics in each of the wins over Toledo on April 29-30 ... Rango singled to leftfield to score junior Jeanine Baca in the seventh inning of the first game, a 3-2 win, then led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a homerun for a 6-5 victory the next day ... the previous weekend, sophomore Allison Vallas and senior Lindsay Heimrich each had had singles up the middle to cap extra-inning wins over Eastern Michigan ... BG had a total of five home walk-off wins in the month of April, as Vallas drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Falcons a win over Ohio (April 9).
IF YOU CHANGE THE 'R' TO AN 'E,' 'GINA RANGO' IS AN ANAGRAM FOR 'GONE AGAIN'
Senior Gina Rango is no stranger to the long ball ... Rango has 10 homeruns this season, breaking her own school record ... she had nine during her sophomore season of 2004 ... no other player in school history has had more than six round-trippers in a season.
FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
HEAD COACH Leigh Ross
Leigh Ross, the winningest coach in school history, is in her eighth season as a collegiate head coach, all with the Falcons ... she currently has an overall record of 235-196-2 (.545) ... Ross is also the school's leader in MAC games, with a league mark of 114-72 (.613) ... she ranks first in BG history in conference winning percentage, and is second in overall win pct., trailing only Sandy Haines (.557; 57-45-3).
Ross, 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 ... Ross is the only head coach in school history with more than two 30-win seasons (she now has four), and continues to set new school marks with each win.
Ross 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, 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.
Kyle Jamieson is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Falcons, while Susan Sargent is in her first year on Ross's coaching staff.
