Softball to Face Tough Competition This Weekend in a Battle of the Birds

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio--Head coach Shannon Salsburg and the Bowling Green State University Falcon softball team will pack their bags for their first set of Mid-American Conference games on the road this season. The Falcons will meet the 2009 MAC Champions, the Ball State Cardinals, on the diamond for a doubleheader on Fri., April 23, in Muncie, Ind., starting at 1:00 p.m., followed by back-to-back games in Oxford, Ohio, against the Miami Redhawks on Sat., April 24, and Sun., April 25; games scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively.

Following BGSU's pair of wins and pair of losses against the Western Michigan Broncos and the Northern Illinois Huskies last weekend (April 16-18), the Falcons are now tied for second in the MAC East, with an overall record of 10-16 and a 6-4 record in the MAC.

Scouting the Competition
The Ball State Cardinals are currently in second in the MAC West division, matching the Falcons conference record of 6-4 and an overall record of 28-11. The Cardinals are most recently coming off a pair of wins against the Buffalo Bulls as well as a pair of losses against the Kent State Golden Flashes.

When the Falcons and Cardinals last met in April 2009, Ball State swept a doubleheader against BGSU at Meserve Softball Field, winning the first game 7-2 and the second 10-2 in just five innings. The Cardinals ended the 2009 campaign with a 29-24 overall record and an 18-3 record in the MAC . After winning the MAC in 2009, Ball State lost only three starters and returned six.

Over the years, the Falcons have tallied a winning history against the Cardinals, recording a 47-30 record against the MAC West foes since they first competed in 1981.
The Cardinal softball program is led by head coach Craig Nicholson who is in his fifth season at the helm of the team. Since becoming a softball head coach, Nicholson has tallied an overall record of 810-180 .

The Falcons will then travel to Oxford, Ohio, to take on the Miami RedHawks. Following a pair of losses to Kent State, and splitting a two-game series with Buffalo, the Redhawks maintain the fourth seat in the MAC East, recording an even 5-5 record in the MAC and a 20-19 record overall.

When the Falcons and RedHawks last met in April 2009, Miami defeated BGSU in both games of the two-game series at Merserve Softball Field, winning 1-0 and 7-1. The RedHawks finished second in the MAC East in 2009, tallying a 13-9 MAC record and 33-24 overall record. Miami then went on to compete in the NCAA Regionals, where they went 1-2 in postseason contests. Following the team's second NCAA appearance, the Redhawks lost only two starters and have returned seven in 2010.

Again, the Falcons have a long, successful history against the RedHawks, recording 50-38 record against the MAC East rivals since 1979.

The RedHawk softball program is led by head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly who is in her fourth year. Since arriving at Miami, Kovach Schoenly has accumulated a 82-86-1 record.

No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes Sweep Falcons in Columbus
The BGSU softball squad dropped a doubleheader to the No. 20 Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday night (April 14), falling 4-0 in the first game and 10-0 in five innings in the second. Following the twinbill, the Falcons are now 8-14 overall. BGSU remains 4-2 in MAC competition heading into the weekend.

Orange and Brown Sluggers Sweep Weekly MAC Awards
The Orange and Brown sluggers swept the MAC weekly awards, nabbing both player and pitcher of the week, as announced by the conference office on April 13. Junior Zada Lines earned the pitcher's award while freshman Paige Berger earned player of the week. Lines, from Akron, Ohio, tallied a win-loss record of 2-0 from the mound in BGSU's weekend sweep of Toledo. She fanned 13 batters and walked only three people in the nine innings she pitched. Entering the first game on Saturday in the fourth inning, she faced 15 batters striking out three and keeping the Rockets hitless and scoreless each inning. She ended the weekend with a 0.78 ERA. Offensively, she smashed her first homer of the season (her second career homer), racked up a 1.000 slugging percentage, had a .400 on-base percentage and maintained a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Overall, she has a 4.47 ERA, has a 4-6 win-loss record and has 52 strikeouts on the season.

Berger, a native of Rootstown, Ohio, continues to lead her Falcon squad in batting averages and slugging percentages, tallying a team-high .340 batting average and .849 slugging percentage. In BGSU's weekend sweep of the Toledo Rockets, Berger played in and started 2-of-2 games. On the weekend she racked up a .750 batting average and posted three hits that resulted in two runs, including her eighth home run of the season. She tallied a team-high 1.500 slugging percentage, a .833 on-base percentage and was perfect in the field. Berger was the most walked Falcon this weekend (being walked twice), including one intentional walk on Sunday when the bases were loaded and Berger threatened crushing a grand slam after nailing a long ball in her last at-bat. Defensively, Berger maintained a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage at first base and is almost perfect (.955 fielding percentage) on the season.

Falcons Sweep Toledo
The Falcons swept a two-game series against the Toledo Rockets this weekend (April 11 and 12), defeating the I-75 rivals 3-1 in the first game and 9-1, in five innings, in the second. On Sunday, three Falcons smashed home runs over the fence, including Paige Berger (8), Susan Sontag (2) and Zada Lines (1). Lines pitched a 0.78 ERA on the weekend and won both games from the mound, improving her pitching record to 4-6 overall. The Falcons pair of wins over Toledo is their second MAC sweep of the 2010 campaign.

Melissa Bott Earns MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week Honors
Melissa Bott, a junior from Dover, Ohio, was named Mid-American Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week for the week of March 29 through April 4, as announced by the conference office this afternoon (April 9). Bott fronts the Falcons from the mound as a starting pitcher. In the opening weekend of MAC play (April 2-4), Bott played in three of Bowling Green State University's four contests, starting two. On the weekend, she pitched 15.0 innings for the Falcons and racked up an impressive 0.93 ERA. In her three appearances, Bott fanned nine batters and allowed only two earned runs.She tallied a win-loss record of 2-1 in the first weekend of MAC play and threw ten scoreless innings in BGSU's double-header sweep of Central Michigan on Friday and threw four more against EMU. On the season, Bott has racked up a 4.29 ERA, has started 11 games from the mound and appeared in sixteen of eighteen games. She has tallied a win-loss record of 4-6 and has fanned 41 batters, so far. Bott is also an avid participant in the classroom as she has garnered a 3.75 grade-point average as a middle childhood education major.

The Falcons and the Fighting Irish Postpone Doubleheader
The BGSU and Notre Dame doubleheader that was scheduled to take place yesterday (April 7), was postponed due to inclement weather storming across the midwest. The doubleheader has been tentatively reschedueld for Wed., April 28, 2010, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Falcons Finally Came Home!
After 49 days, three tournaments and 15 contests, the Falcons finally made their season debut at Meserve Softball Field, sweeping a doubleheader against Central Michigan (April 2), winning 6-4 in the first game and 3-2 in the second. BGSU looked to continue its winning streak against the Eastern Michigan Eagles in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday (April 3 and April 4), but came up short each game, losing 2-9 on Saturday and 2-5 on Sunday. In the second game against CMU on April 2, freshman Adrienne Dick smashed her first career homer as a Falcon. Of the 34 contests BGSU will compete in throughout the 2010 campaign, the team is scheduled to host only eight at home.

Hannah Fulk Named MAC Player of the Week
Hannah Fulk, a freshman from Jeromesville, Ohio, was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week, as released by the conference office on Tues., Feb. 23, 2010. Fulk played in and started all four of the Falcon's games at shortstop at the Red and Black Classic in Athens, Ga. She contributed to the Falcons 2-2 tournament record,posting five hits for the team, including three doubles and one homerun—the first of her career as a Falcon-- that resulted in a .500 batting average, a .667 on-base percentage and 1.100 slugging percentage. Fulk's first career home run came in the top of the third inning against the No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs that resulted in two RBI's. Fulk had one double in BGSU's win over Western Carolina and two doubles against Winthrop, one of which helped the Falcons take a 9-7 lead in the top of the sixth, before falling to the Eagles in the bottom of the inning. At the tournament Fulk was a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen bases and was walked a total of five times.

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