Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Battle #6 Michigan
April 09, 2008 | Softball
April 8, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Falcons will finish their 27 game opening road trip this week as they take a quick break from Mid-American Conference play to face #6 Michigan in a weekday tilt Wednesday (April 2) in Ann Arbor, Michigan at 4:00 p.m. Salsburg and company will then return to MAC play as they host Eastern Michigan on Friday (April 11) in a double-header for the 2008 home opener with the first pitching scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The Falcons will then welcome Central Michigan in a two game series Saturday (April 12) at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday (April 13) at 1:00 p.m. BGSU softball will play their 10 home games of the 2008 season in 10 straight days begin with their home opener.
FALCONS LIVE FROM THE ROAD
For all Falcon fans that can't make it to the live action in Ann Arbor, Michigan the Falcons will be live via the internet all weekend. Fans can watch or listen to the Falcons battle #6 Michigan via live stats and radio broadcasting by visiting www.MGoBlue.com.
MATCH-UPS ON THE DIAMOND
#6 University of Michigan - Wolverines - (4/9 - 4:00 p.m.)
The Falcons will take a quick break from league play to take on Big Ten regional opponent #6 Michigan ... the Wolverines are currently 32-4, on a three game winning streak after losing their first game in the Big Ten play this season ... the Wolverines split with Iowa losing game one (1-2) and shutting them out in game two (3-0) and then came back to shut out Illinois in a sweep (8-0, 5-0) ... Michigan leads the all-time series 5-25 ... the last meeting between the Falcons and the Wolverines (Mar. 28, 2006), BG fell to Michigan 0-3 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
ALL "HAIL"EY WIEMER, MAC EAST PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Hayley Wiemer, Sylvania, Ohio native, was named Mid-American Conference East division Pitcher of the Week announced by the conference office April 8, after recording three wins in three against Miami and Ball State. Wiemer led the Falcons to an 8-3 win over the undefeated RedHawks, giving them their first loss in the MAC. She topped her performance in her next two outings from the mound sweeping Ball State in a 3-0 shutout on Saturday (April 5) and an 8-4 victory on Sunday (April 6). In the shut out against the Cardinals, Wiemer allowed only one batter to reach first base in the first three innings on a base-on-balls, with no runner getting past second base the entire game. For the weekend Wiemer struck out 14 batters in 18.1 innings of play posting a 2.29 ERA. Wiemer is now 4-3 overall and 4-0 in the MAC from the circle.
MAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK VS. BIG TEN PICTHER OF THE WEEK
As the Falcons are set to take on #6 Michigan, it is though the two teams are twins separated only by conferences. Both the Falcons and the Wolverines posted a 3-1 record this past weekend in conference play. Also both teams pitching staffs were honored by their respective conferences with BGSU's Hayley Wiemer being named MAC East Pitcher of the Week and Michigan's Jordan Taylor being named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.
SWEEP OF BALL STATE LEADS TO A NEW STATE BIRD
The Falcons earned their 45th and 46th program wins and extended their winning streak to 14 games over the Ball State Cardinals. The Falcons started the two game series out with a shut out, 3-0, in game one (April 5). BG then came right back to sweep the Cardinals winning game two (April 6), 8-4. As the Falcons won the battle of the birds soaring over the Cardinals be on the look out for Ohio's new state bird, the FALCONS.
DEFEAT THE UNDEFEATED
The Falcons picked up their golden victory over Miami as they handed the RedHawks their first MAC loss of the season. The Falcons picked up their 50th program victory over the RedHawks with a decisive 8-3 win over the formerly undefeated Miami RedHawks in game one of the double-header (April 5).
FEAR THE "V"
Falcons' clean-up hitter Allison Vallas is feared among other Mid-American Conference pitching staffs, which was obvious as Ball State intentionally walked her twice this past weekend as the Falcons swept the Cardinals in a two game series. This was the first time in her career being intentionally walked. Vallas' .328 batting average and .531 slugging percentage and 21 hits are the second best on the team. She is tied with teammate Hayley Wiemer to lead the Falcons with 13 RBIs.
SENIOR STREAKS
Seniors Dawnjene DeLong and Emily Gouge are going out with a bang as both of them are on a four game hitting streak and have recorded a double in both of the Falcons' last two games. DeLong is on her third four game hitting streak and leads the Falcon offense with a .338 batting average and a .535 slugging percentage. In her four game hitting streak Gouge recorded more hits than in the past three seasons, she has 10 hits on the season thus far.
NO CLOWNING AROUND
Between freshman Katelynn Boso's unique last name and bubbly personality she makes people laugh but there is no clowning around when it comes to her play on the field. Boso recorded her first collegiate grand slam and homer against Ball State (April 6) lifting the Falcons to an 8-4 victory over the Cardinals.
THE FALCON RALLY CAW
Most opponents think when they have two outs in an inning, the inning is just about over but when the Falcons are at the plate they are only getting started. The Falcons have scored over half of their RBIs this season on 15 two-out rallies. The Falcons have scored 37 of their 59 RBIs on two-out rallies.
ALL THINGS BIGGER IN TEXAS
Freshman Haleigh Bielstein, a native of Inez, Texas hit her first collegiate homer in the Falcons 8-5 win over Kent State. The three-run long ball to center field was the eighth for the Falcons as a team this season and tied junior Hayley Wiemer's three-run homer for the second most RBIs on one hit.
FALCONS UPSET KENT STATE TO PICK UP IN FIRST WIN
Head Coach Shannon Salsburg and the Falcons opened BG's 26th season of Mid-American Conference play with a decisive 8-5 win over East division rival Kent State in game one of the double-header and falling to the Golden Flashes in game two in a one run battle that was decided in the bottom of the seventh, 3-2. Kent State was picked as the favorite to win the MAC East division, finishing ahead of the Falcons, and to win the MAC Tournament. The win for Salsburg and company marks the first win of the season and the first victory for Salsburg against her former team.
ROOKIE BATS ON HOT STREAK
The Falcon rookies' bats have gotten hot as seven of the eight freshman have recorded at least one hit while combined they have totaled 48 of the Falcons' 126 hits. The seniors are the only class to have more hits than rookies as they have combined for 55 of the Falcons hits.
CAREER HOME RUN RACE
Falcon big guns Allison Vallas and Hayley Wiemer were neck-in-neck last season as they were in the race for the BGSU single season home run record, which Wiemer now holds. Both veterans are now in the race for the BGSU career home run record. The record is currently held by Gina Rango with 26 career homers. Wiemer now has the second most career long balls (15) after her third homer of the season against Kent State. Vallas is tied for the third most homers with 14, she has two homers on the season.
FREQUENT FALCON MILES
The Falcons opened the 2008 season like every other season in program history on the road. However, the difference this year is that the Falcons will play 27 road games before their season opener on the BGSU softball field, which is the longest opening road trip in program history. The Falcons will rack up an estimated 7,022 miles to compete in seven different states, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, New York, Indiana, and in other areas of Ohio before returning to Bowling Green April 11 for their home opener.
FALCONS BATTLE THE BIG TEN
The Falcons will match-up against four of the 11 Big Ten teams this season, including three of the top four teams, 2007 Big Ten Champions and current #24 Ohio State, #5 Michigan, Iowa, who is one of the 13 teams receiving votes not in the top 25, and Michigan State. In the next four weeks the Falcons will take on one or more Big Ten team each week. BG will start their battle against the Big Ten at the Stetson Spring Classic taking on Iowa on Mar. 15 and Michigan State on Mar. 16. The following weekend the Orange and Brown will match-up against state rival Ohio State at the Buckeye Invitational on Mar. 22. Salsburg and company will make a trip up to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play the Wolverines on April 9. Due to weather the Falcons will now finish up their series against the Big Ten taking on the Spartans for the second time this season in East Lansing, Michigan on April 22.
MICHIGAN STATE GAME RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 22
The battle between the Falcons and the Spartans has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 22 at Old College Field in East Lansing, Michigan with the first pitch being thrown at 4:00 p.m.
FALCONS AGAINST THE MAC EAST
The Falcons have dominated their MAC East division foes as they own all but one all-time series record. The Falcons lead Akron (39-20-1), Buffalo (14-3), Miami (50-36) and Ohio (49-32). The only team in the MAC East division to lead the Falcons is Kent State (41-49-1). In the MAC West division the Falcons lead four out of the six opponents in the all-time series. The Orange and Brown lead Ball State (46-27), Eastern Michigan (44-34), Northern Illinois (18-12) and arch-rival Toledo (52-33). The only two west teams to lead the Falcons are Central Michigan (15-63) and Western Michigan (26-40).
SALSBURG AGAINST THE MAC
In two seasons at the helm of the Falcons Salsburg holds a record of 18-8 in league play. In her two seasons Salsburg owns or has tied nine of the 11 series in MAC. Salsburg and company lead Akron (1-0), Ball State (4-0), Buffalo (2-0), Miami (4-1), Northern Illinois (2-0), Ohio (2-0) and Toledo (2-0) and are tied with Central Michigan (1-1) and Western Michigan (1-1). The only two teams to lead the Salsburg's squad are Eastern Michigan (0-3) and Kent State (1-4).
FALCONS DOUBLE UP ON DAY TWO OF STETSON SPRING CLASSIC
The Falcons doubled up on day two of the Stetson Spring Classic against Cornell and Iowa hitting five doubles in 11 hits over two games. The Orange and Brown's first three hits against Cornell were doubles to right center by three different Falcons, Emily Gouge, Zada Lines and Missy Bowman each recording their first career double. In the second game of the double-header the Falcons hit two more doubles from Hayley Wiemer and Gouge, each recording their second double of the season and for Gouge her second double of the day. Gouge tied a career high two hits against Cornell with her first multiple hit game of the season, while Lines had her second multiple hit game of the season. Wiemer had her third multiple hit game of the season against Iowa.
VALLAS CONTINES TO PICK-UP HONORS
Allison Vallas picked-up MAC East Player of the Week honors (Mar. 12) for her performance at the War Eagle Classic where she was named to the All-Tournament team. Vallas opened the 2008 season with an eight game hitting streak and has record at least one hit in eight of the nine games for the Falcons with a season high three hits and three RBIs against Lipscomb (Mar. 7).
VALLAS NAMED TO WAR EAGLE CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Senior Allison Vallas was named to the War Eagle Classic All-Tournament team after posting .417 batting average and .667 slugging percentage for the weekend. Vallas tallied five hits in 12 at-bats, including a double, a triple and three RBIs.
VALLAS NAMED LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
Senior tri-captain Allison Vallas was named one of the top thirty softball senior student-athletes in the nation. Vallas, a Perrysburg, Ohio native, is the first Falcon to receive this honor and was one of the three Mid-American Conference student-athletes to be named to this prestigious list. She is an exercise science major with a 3.95 GPA and a two-time All-MAC selection, a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree and has been named to the ESPN the Magazine All-District Team.
FALCON BATS OPEN SEASON WITH A BANG
The Falcons opened the 2008 season hitting .394 batting average as a team, with six players hitting .500 batting average or better, including three players hitting a perfect 1.000.
Senior Dawnjene DeLong went a perfect three-for-three a homer shy of a cycle, with a single, double and triple scoring three runs for the Orange and Brown.
Junior Hayley Wiemer opened the 2008 with bang totaling two homers, a double and a career high seven RBIs in the first game of the season. In her first appearance at the plate of the season Wiemer blasted a two-run homer over the center field wall. In her third at-bat of the game she knocked a double off the left-center field wall. Wiemer's final at bat of the 2008 season opener was a smashing three-run homer over the center field wall.
Freshman Rachel Delp also hit her first career long ball over the left field wall in the Falcons season opener.
