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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Open 2008 at Chattanooga Classic
February 21, 2008 | Softball
Feb. 21, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Complete Release in PDF Format
Head Coach Shannon Salsburg and the Falcons will open their 2008 campaign in the familiar confines of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga competing in the Chattanooga Classic, a six game tournament. This will mark the fourth consecutive trip to Chattanooga, where Orange and Brown will open the season against Bradley on Friday, Feb. 22 at high noon followed by their second game of the tournament against Lipscomb at 2:15 p.m. The Falcons will return to the diamond on Saturday, Feb. 23 to take on East Tennessee State and host Chattanooga, once again at 12:00 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. BGSU will wrap-up the weekend against Iowa State and St. Francis (PA) on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 12:00 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.
THE FALCONS RETURN
The Falcons return to Tennessee for the 2008 opening weekend as the two-time reigning champions of the Chattanooga Classic ... in 2007 to open head coach Shannon Salsburg's first season at the helm of the Falcons they were crowned the Panera Bread Challenge champions ... she became the first head coach in softball history to post a winning record in the first weekend of play of her first season with a 4-1 record ... in 2006 the Falcons won their first Panera Bread Challenge crown with a perfect 6-0 outing ... the Falcons return to Chattanooga for their fourth consecutive season in search of their third championship and a successful opening weekend to the 2008 campaign.
MATCH-UPS ON THE DIAMOND
Bradley University Braves (2/22 at 12:00 p.m.)
The Falcons will open the 2008 season against Bradley University ... the Braves open the season at the UNLV Louisville Slugger Tournament posting a 3-2 record, defeating Wisconsin (3-2), UTEP (4-3) and Oregon (11-3) and losing to #23 UNLV (1-7) and Cal State-Bakersfield (0-5) ... the Braves lead the all-times series, 2-3 ... the last time the Falcons faced off against the Braves was in 2005 at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. when the Falcons fell to the Braves 2-7.
Lipscomb University Lady Bisons (2/22 at 2:15 p.m.)
The Orange and Brown will take on the Lady Bisons for the first time in program history ... this will be the first of two meetings between the teams this season ... the Lady Bisons are 2-4 overall after breaking even, 1-1, at the Birmingham Southern Tourney ... the Lady Bisons beat host Birmingham-Southern (4-3) while falling to South Alabama (1-3).
East Tennessee State University Bucs (2/23 at 12:00 p.m.)
BGSU will match-up against the ETSU for the second time in Chattanooga, Tenn. ... the Bucs are currently 1-6 after going win-less in Gainesville, Fla. ... the Bucs fell to #11 Florida twice, Stetson and College of Charleston ... BG won the first meeting between the teams in 2006, 11-2 in six innings.
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Lady Mocs (2/23 at 2:15 p.m.)
The Falcons will be pitted against host Chattanooga to end day two of the three day showcase ... the Lady Mocs are currently 5-6 after losing a double-header to Jacksonville State (6-7, 5-7) ... the Falcons are on a two game win-streak against the Lady Mocs after beating them last season at the USF Speedline Tournament and at the Panera Bread Challenge during the 2006 season ... in both tournaments when BG beat Chattanooga they were crowned tournament champs.
Iowa State University Cyclones (2/24 at 12:00 p.m.)
The Orange and Brown will start off day three against Iowa State ... the Cyclones are currently 6-1, only losing to North Dakota State (1-3) ... the Cyclones finished the Mardi Gras Classic a perfect 3-0 after beating Central Arkansas (10-2 in 5 innings), Southeast Missouri State (8-1) and Louisiana-Monroe (1-0) ... the Cyclones lead the Falcons in the all-times series 1-2 with the last meeting between the two in 1993.
St. Francis University RedFlash (2/24 at 2:15 p.m.)
Salsburg and the Falcons will wrap-up opening weekend against the RedFlash in their second consecutive meeting in Chattanooga, Tenn. ... St. Francis like BG will open their 2008 season with the Chattanooga Classic ... the Orange and Brown lead the all-times series 1-0 after an 8-0 five inning win over the RedFlash last season.
2008 OUTLOOK
Shannon Salsburg will enter the dugout for her second season at the helm of the Bowling Green softball team on February 22, 2008 at the Chattanooga Classic. Salsburg and the Falcons look to build on the success of last year's record breaking season of 33-12, posting the highest winning percentage (.733) in BGSU softball history.
In her first season with the Falcons, Salsburg recorded the most wins and fewest losses of any other BGSU head softball coach in their first year. Salsburg's Falcons are comprised of the sweet 16, eight returners, including four All-MAC players and a All-Region selection, and eight rookies that bring a great amount of depth to the Orange and Brown.
Along with bringing new life to the rich tradition and history of the Falcon softball team, Salsburg has brought in a new coaching staff with Lani Southwell and Tina McCauley. Both Southwell and McCauley bring with them a great knowledge of the game, experience, and success on the field as collegiate athletes and coaches.
Salsburg looks to bring this new "softball family" together along with a much tougher schedule to propel the Falcons to accomplishing their goal of a MAC championship and reaching the next level as regional champions.
DELONG, VALLAS AND WIEMER NAMED 2008 CAPTAINS
Seniors Dawnjene DeLong and Allison Vallas and junior Hayley Wiemer were named the 2007-08 softball captains ... the three Ohio native captains were elected by a team vote ... all three captains were named to the 2007 All-MAC Team.
SALSBURG FIRST HEAD COACH IN OPENING SEASON TO ...
In her first season at the helm of the Falcons head coach Shannon Salsburg recorded the most wins and fewest losses of any head coach in their first season with a 33-12 record ... she is the only first year head coach to lead her team to more than 25 wins ... the first head coach to post a winning record at the end of her first opening weekend, with a 4-1 record and being crowned the back-to-back champions of the Panera Bread Challenge ... her team is the only team to hit more than 40 homeruns in a single season ... she is the most efficient first year head coach posting on overall winning percentage of .733 with a record of 33-12 and a MAC winning percentage of .700 with a conference record of 14-6 ... Salsburg's .733 overall winning percentage also makes her the most efficient head coach in BGSU softball history.
FALCONS ALL OVER NATIONAL STATISTICS
The Orange and Brown had one of the most successful seasons in BGSU softball history, which was evident as both the team and individual players were ranked in the final 2007 national statistics ... as a team the Falcons were ranked in the top 50 in four categories and in the top 100 in seven categories ... the team was ranked 10th in the nation in ERA (1.54), 17th in win-loss percentage (.733), 26th in the country in homers per game, blasting 47 homers in 45 games (1.04 homers per game), 47th in slugging percentage (.449) ... they were also ranked in the top 100 in scoring (66th, 4.67 runs per game), fielding percentage (86th, .962) and doubles (98th, 1.18 per game) ... Falcon standouts Hayley Wiemer, Emily Gouge and Jeanine Baca represented BGSU in the individual categories ... Wiemer was ranked no fewer than eight times in the final rankings ... at the plate she was 33rd in batting average (.413), which was good for sixth nationally among sophomores, 26th in slugging percentage (.746), 43rd in walks per game (0.62), 58th in RBIs per game (0.87) and 62nd in homeruns per game (0.24 -- a BGSU record of 11 in 45 games) ... on the mound Wiemer ranked 29th in earned-run average (1.45 ERA), 98th in victories (17) and tied for 82nd in saves (2) ... the Falcons were only one of six teams to have two hurlers rank in the top 20 in ERA as Gouge was ranked 48th (1.59 ERA), 61st in strikeouts per seven innings (7.6) and tied for 82nd in saves (2) ... Baca finished her career as a Falcon ranked seventh on the `toughest to strike out' list only whiffing once per 29.4 at-bats (striking out only five time in 147 AB0, was ranked 30th in runs scored (0.96) and 69th in doubles per game (0.27).
`07 FALCONS MOST EFFICIENT TEAM IN PROGRAM HISTORY
The Orange and Brown of 2007 became the most efficient team in BGSU softball program history recording a .733 winning percentage with a record of 33-12 in Salsburg's first year at helm ... `07 squad surpassed the mark of .698 winning percentage set by head coach Jacquie Joseph and the 1992 team with a record of 37-16.
FALCONS SET NEW BGSU RECORD WITH 47 LONG BALLS
The Falcons brought out their big sticks setting a new BGSU record smashing 47 homeruns during the 2007 season ... they tied the record set by the 2006 squad with their 29th homerun of the season in the 29th game of the season against Ball State (April 15, 2007) ... `07 Falcons etched their team in the record books as hit their 30th long ball against Detroit (April 17, 2007) in the 31st game of the season where the `06 squad took 56 games to set the previous record ... they ended the regular season with seven homers in a four game span (May 4-6), including two walk-off homers on the same day (May 4 vs. NIU 10-0 (5), 3-2) ... the Falcons ended last season with a grand total of 47 homers.
The `07 teams wasn't the only one to re-write BGSU history ... sophomore Hayley Wiemer set a new record for homers in a season blasting an amazing 11 homeruns in 2007, surpassing Gina Rango's 2006 mark of 10 homers ... freshman Susan Sontag set a new record for homers by a rookie totaling nine on the season.
