Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, April 30
Akron, Ohio
1:00 p.m.
Bowling Green State University
at
Akron
Falcons Face Akron, Ohio This Weekend
April 29, 2010 | Softball
Complete Weekend Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats at Akron
Falcons Gear Up For Home Stretch
With just two weekends of Mid-American Conference softball play remaining, teams are jockeying for position for the MAC Tournament. Only eight teams advance to Firestone Stadium in Akron May 12-15 and for the Falcons to be one of those teams, they need a strong showing this weekend. Bowling Green is tied with Western Michigan for seventh place and leads Akron by just one game, so Friday's doubleheader with the Zips has even more importance. Bowling Green boasts winning records all-time against both of its opponents this weekend, compiling a 42-21-1 mark against Akron and a 51-37 record against Ohio. The Falcons split with both teams a year ago.
Scouting the Competition
Akron enters the weekend with a lot of work to do. At 18-28 overall and 5-9 in Mid-American Conference play, the Zips sit in ninth place, just one game behind Bowling Green and Western Michigan for the final spot in the MAC Tournament.
Akron relies on its speed to generate offense and the Zips are second in the MAC with 84 stolen bases on the year. However, the team has been caught stealing a conference-high 31 times. Akron hits for little power, ranking near the bottom of the league in homers and slugging percentage, but hits for a solid .272 batting average and then uses that speed to work batters into scoring position. Alex Feltes is key to the offense, leading the team in batting average (.370) and on-base percentage (.446), while stealing 13 bases.
On the mound, Akron splits time between three pitchers. Heather Bower is 7-6 with a 3.51 ERA and is the flamethrower of the group with 78 strikeouts in 89.2 innings. Alex Riedman has the best ERA of the trio at 2.88, while Andrea Arney is 6-12 with a 3.91 ERA.
Akron Head Coach Julie Jones is in her fourth season leading the Zips after spending a decade as the head coach at Cleveland State. A year ago, Akron had its best season under Jones, finishing 35-24.
After facing Akron, the Falcons will play Ohio Saturday and Sunday. The Bobcats enter the weekend just 14-27 overall but 9-5 in MAC play, currently sitting fourth in the league.
Ohio has succeeded in MAC action with solid pitching as the Bobcats have a 2.14 ERA in 14 conference games. Melissa Bonner is the defending MAC East Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 with three complete games last weekend. She is 7-1 with a 1.35 ERA against conference opponents.
Offensively, Ohio uses a balanced attack led by Shalene Petrich. She leads the team with a .351 batting average but has just two extra base hits on the season. Emily Wethington's six homers and six doubles provide much of the pop for the Bobcats and she slugs .568.
Head Coach Jody Hermanek is in her second season leading the charge after four years as the coach at Southern Utah.
Last Time Out
Bowling Green faced No. 25 Notre Dame in its final non-conference games of the year Wednesday, losing 4-1 and 10-5. ND pitcher Jody Valdivia entered the day leading the country in wins and she did not disappoint, holding the Falcons to just two hits in the opener. One of those hits, however, was Susan Sontag's 17th career home run to break up a shutout bid in the seventh. In game two, the Falcons stormed out of the gates with two runs in the top of the first but Notre Dame scored three in each of the first two innings and the Falcons were unable to get back in the game. Sontag added two more hits and an RBI in that contest, while Karmen Coffey and Missy Bowman also had two hits.
Fresh Faces At The Dish
For much of the season, Bowling Green's offense has revolved around freshmen. In fact, 18 of the team's 24 homers have come from players who are putting on a collegiate uniform for the first time this year. Paige Berger leads the way with 11 bombs, but Hannah Fulk has added four, Adrienne Dick has two, and Andrea Arney has one. Of the team's 56 extra base hits, 33 have come from freshmen.
Speed Kills
Senior Karmen Coffey stole her 15th base of the year Wednesday at Notre Dame. In fact, she has done that in just 16 attempts. Among MAC players with at least 15 stolen bases, only Central Michigan's Christina Novak (21-of-22) and Buffalo's Ashley Bertot (18-of-19) have a better stolen base percentage.
Records Are Made To Be Broken
Freshman Paige Berger has an opportunity to place her name among the single season all-time leaders in five different statistical categories. She is already tied for the single season record with 11 homers and her .790 slugging percentage is on pace to obliterate the program record of .746. She also has a chance to move into the top 10 in batting average, RBI, and walks.
Fulk's Not Far Behind
Freshman Hannah Fulk also has a chance to work her way into the record book as she is on pace to finish in the top 15 single season leaders in four statistical categories. With 10 doubles, four homers, a .575 slugging percentage, and a team-best 19 walks, she could rank among the best Falcons ever in each of those stats.
Nice Of You To Stop By
After playing the first 15 games of the season on the road, the Bowling Green softball team finally settled down at Meserve Softball Field for the home opener on April 2. Over the next 16 days, the Falcons played 10 home games, winning six times. But April 18 was the last chance for Falcon fans to see the softball team play at home as the team hit the road for the final 14 games of the regular season, including 12 MAC road games in a row to conclude the year.
The Awards Keep Piling Up
Zada Lines and Paige Berger swept the weekly MAC awards on April 13, being named Pitcher and Player of the Week. Lines went 2-0 against Toledo and popped her first homer of the season. Berger hit .750 during the series, including a home run to help the Falcons to the sweep.
Earlier in the season, Melissa Bott was named MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week for her performance from March 29 through April 4. She had a 0.93 ERA in 15 innings that week, going 2-1 with 10 scoreless innings on the mound in the team's sweep of Central Michigan. She has a 3.75 grade point average in middle childhood education.
Even earlier than that, freshman Hannah Fulk was named MAC Player of the Week on Feb. 23 after leading the team to a 2-2 record at the Red and Black Classic in Athena, Ga. She had three doubles and her first career home run on the week to bat .500 with an 1.100 slugging percentage. She also went 2-for-2 on the basepaths and walked five times.
Falcons Selected Sixth
The Mid-American Conference preseason poll was released Wed., Feb. 3, 2010, and the Falcons were picked to finish sixth in the conference, as chosen by the league's head coaches. In the East, the Miami Redhawks, who took first at the 2009 MAC Championships, were predicted to finish first for the second year in a row. Kent, Ohio, Akron and Buffalo followed in second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Falcons Face Tough Competition in 2010
The Falcons will, as always, face tough competition in the preseason as well as in MAC competition as they are set to compete against four schools that were nationally ranked by both the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll. The 2010 Orange and Brown squad will also be battling it out against six schools that competed in the 2009 NCAA Softball Championship; two of which went on to fight for the 2009 Softball World Series title.
Salsburg Fronts the Falcons for a Fourth Season
Shannon Salsburg returns to the helm of the BGSU softball team for a fourth season. In her previous three seasons with the Falcons, Salsburg has racked up an overall record of 65-69 (.485) and an impressive overall Mid-American Conference record of 36-25 (.590). Salsburg's record in the MAC makes her the second winningest head coach in the conference. In 2009, Salsburg led the Falcons to an overall record of 13-33 and 8-14 in the the MAC. The Falcons found success against non-conference rivals including North Florida, Bradley, Texas-Arlington and Purdue, as well as MAC opponenets, Toledo, Akron, Ohio, Buffalo, Kent, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Lani Shaffer will be returning as assistant coach for her third season with Falcon softball program.
From the Batter's Box to the Coaches Box
Hayley Wiemer joined Salsburg and Shaffer as the third member of the coaching staff in fall 2009 and will work primarily as a pitching coach but will assist with all aspects of the team. Wiemer graduated from BGSU in 2009 and is one of the most decorated softball players in program history. As a player, Wiemer secured spots on the BGSU careers list and racked up a number of honors and awards. On her career, Wiemer ranks first in homeruns (32), slugging percentage (.600) and walks (121); second in strikeouts (557) and appearances (140); and third in RBI's (109), wins (53), strikeouts (20) and saves (7). She has been slected as an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American (2008), ESPN the Magazine Academic ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District (2007, 2008, 2009), All-MAC First-Team (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), Academic All-MAC (2007, 2008, 2009), MAC All-Tournament Team (2007, 2008), MAC East Player of the Week, MAC East Pitcher of the Week, MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week and Lowe's Senior CLASS Candidate (2009).
About the Falcons
Coach Shannon Salsburg's 2010 Falcons are comprised of eleven returning players and six newcomers. Veteran Falcons include 2009 co-captain Karmen Coffey, 2009 ESPN the Magazine All District selection, Melissa Bott, All-MAC First-Team and All-MAC Freshman Team candidate, Melissa West and Academic All-MAC nominee, Susan Sontag. Also returning for the Falcon squad is Carley Riepenhoff and Missy Bowman who each remained flawless on the field with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 2009 and 2008, respectively. Rachel Proehl who led the 2009 Falcons in batting average will also be returning for the 2010 season. Falcon freshmen include junior Lindsay Arney's younger sister, Andrea
Arney who will play infield; Paige Berger and Hannah Fulk who will also see playing time in the dirt; Adrienne Dick and Courtney Cox who will be behind the plate catching for the Falcons; and Jessica Odell who will join Zada Lines and Bott in the circle. Salsburg and the Falcons will look to use the tight-knit group chemistry and the players tough work ethic to make the 2010 season a successful and unforgettable one.
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