Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, February 25
Kennesaw, Ga.
1:00 pm
Bowling Green State University
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MISSISSIPPI STATE
Falcons Head To Georgia For Phyllis Rafter Memorial
February 22, 2011 | Softball
The Bowling Green State University softball team heads to Kennesaw, Ga. for the Phyllis Rafter Memorial Tournament, hosted by Kennesaw State University, this weekend. The Falcons are looking for their first win after an 0-5 start two weekends ago. Despite the winless start, there are some positives. Sophomore shortstop Hannah Fulk was named to the LSU Tiger Classic All-Tournament Team after hitting .538 and freshman Erika Stratton batted .286 in her first collegiate weekend. Senior pitchers Zada Lines and Melissa Bott have improved their ERA's from a year ago. Lines has a 2.62 ERA and Bott is at 4.00 after posting seasons of 5.02 and 5.14 respectively in 2010.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Bowling Green will face five opponents this weekend, including fellow MAC school Ball State. The Falcons will start the event against Mississippi State, a team that is off to a 4-5 start, including a 3-2 win over Louisiana Tech, a team that beat BGSU twice in the season-opening tournament. Courtney Nesbit is the key to the team's lineup and is hitting .419 with eight extra base hits (three doubles, three triples and two home runs) while slugging .903.
Georgia State is off to a 5-5 start but just announced this week that long-time head coach Bob Heck will step down, effective immediately, and assistant coach Roger Kincaid will take the reigns for the remainder of the season. Freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Medlam is off to a 3-0 start on the mound with a perfect 0.00 ERA in 14.1 innings thus far.
Mercer is 6-4 on the season but that includes a 2-0 loss to fellow MAC school Ohio. The Bears enter the weekend on a three-game winning streak and Sara Stukes has been a big piece by hitting .414 with a pair of homers in the first 10 games.
Kennesaw State is the host school for the tournament and is off to a 6-3 start with a potent offense that has scored an average of 5.0 runs per game. On the mound, freshman Amanda Henderson has been particularly effective, posting a 1-0 record and a 0.84 ERA in 16.2 innings.
Ball State was picked as the preseason favorite to win the MAC West Division and the Cardinals are 2-2 so far, scoring at least eight runs in both wins. Alicia Barkley and Alyssa Collins have made for a tough duo in the lineup, hitting .429 and .417 respectively. As a team, Ball State has a 1.80 ERA in the early going.
RED HOT
Sophomore shortstop Hannah Fulk went 7-for-13 with a double during the team's opening weekend and enters the Phyllis Rafter Memorial Tournament with a six-game hitting streak dating back to last year. She is one of only three players in the conference to be hitting over .500 in the early going and is second in the league at .538. Fulk is also second in the MAC with a .563 on-base percentage and fourth in slugging at .692.
LINES LEADING LEAGUE
Senior pitcher Zada Lines is tied for first in the MAC in the early stages of the season in ERA. She pitched at least an inning in four of the first five games with a 2.62 ERA. Her longest outing came in the second game against Louisiana Tech when Lines threw 2.0 innings, striking out two and allowing no runs.
FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND
Bowling Green committed just three errors in five games to open the season and leads the MAC with a .980 fielding percentage. On top of that, the Falcons turned a league-leading three double plays and threw out a league-high five base stealers. Adrienne Dick was especially impressive behind the plate, throwing out 3-of-4 runners who tried to steal on her.
FALCONS PICKED FOURTH IN MAC EAST
Bowling Green was picked to finish fourth in the MAC East Division in the preseason coach's poll. Miami was selected first, followed by Ohio and Kent State. After Bowling Green, Buffalo was picked fifth and Akron sixth. In the West Division, Ball State was selected to win the division, followed by Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Toledo.
NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
The Bowling Green softball team had the second-highest grade point average in NCAA Division I a year ago, with a 3.571 grade point average. The Falcons had 15 players honored as girls got game/NFCA Scholar Athletes for having at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average, the second-most in the country.
FALCONS ADD FIVE
BGSU head coach Shannon Salsburg announced that five players have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Falcons in 2012. Shelby Fink (Sunbury, Ohio/Big Walnut High School), Emily McClelland (Union Grove, Wisc./Union Grove High School), Chloe Giordano (White Plains, N.Y./School of the Holy Child), Jamie Kertes (Carnegie, Pa./Bishop Canevin High School), and Paris Imholz (Antioch, Calif./Antioch High School) are set to become Falcons next year.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Bowling Green will face five opponents this weekend, including fellow MAC school Ball State. The Falcons will start the event against Mississippi State, a team that is off to a 4-5 start, including a 3-2 win over Louisiana Tech, a team that beat BGSU twice in the season-opening tournament. Courtney Nesbit is the key to the team's lineup and is hitting .419 with eight extra base hits (three doubles, three triples and two home runs) while slugging .903.
Georgia State is off to a 5-5 start but just announced this week that long-time head coach Bob Heck will step down, effective immediately, and assistant coach Roger Kincaid will take the reigns for the remainder of the season. Freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Medlam is off to a 3-0 start on the mound with a perfect 0.00 ERA in 14.1 innings thus far.
Mercer is 6-4 on the season but that includes a 2-0 loss to fellow MAC school Ohio. The Bears enter the weekend on a three-game winning streak and Sara Stukes has been a big piece by hitting .414 with a pair of homers in the first 10 games.
Kennesaw State is the host school for the tournament and is off to a 6-3 start with a potent offense that has scored an average of 5.0 runs per game. On the mound, freshman Amanda Henderson has been particularly effective, posting a 1-0 record and a 0.84 ERA in 16.2 innings.
Ball State was picked as the preseason favorite to win the MAC West Division and the Cardinals are 2-2 so far, scoring at least eight runs in both wins. Alicia Barkley and Alyssa Collins have made for a tough duo in the lineup, hitting .429 and .417 respectively. As a team, Ball State has a 1.80 ERA in the early going.
RED HOT
Sophomore shortstop Hannah Fulk went 7-for-13 with a double during the team's opening weekend and enters the Phyllis Rafter Memorial Tournament with a six-game hitting streak dating back to last year. She is one of only three players in the conference to be hitting over .500 in the early going and is second in the league at .538. Fulk is also second in the MAC with a .563 on-base percentage and fourth in slugging at .692.
LINES LEADING LEAGUE
Senior pitcher Zada Lines is tied for first in the MAC in the early stages of the season in ERA. She pitched at least an inning in four of the first five games with a 2.62 ERA. Her longest outing came in the second game against Louisiana Tech when Lines threw 2.0 innings, striking out two and allowing no runs.
FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND
Bowling Green committed just three errors in five games to open the season and leads the MAC with a .980 fielding percentage. On top of that, the Falcons turned a league-leading three double plays and threw out a league-high five base stealers. Adrienne Dick was especially impressive behind the plate, throwing out 3-of-4 runners who tried to steal on her.
FALCONS PICKED FOURTH IN MAC EAST
Bowling Green was picked to finish fourth in the MAC East Division in the preseason coach's poll. Miami was selected first, followed by Ohio and Kent State. After Bowling Green, Buffalo was picked fifth and Akron sixth. In the West Division, Ball State was selected to win the division, followed by Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Toledo.
NATIONAL RUNNER-UP
The Bowling Green softball team had the second-highest grade point average in NCAA Division I a year ago, with a 3.571 grade point average. The Falcons had 15 players honored as girls got game/NFCA Scholar Athletes for having at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average, the second-most in the country.
FALCONS ADD FIVE
BGSU head coach Shannon Salsburg announced that five players have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Falcons in 2012. Shelby Fink (Sunbury, Ohio/Big Walnut High School), Emily McClelland (Union Grove, Wisc./Union Grove High School), Chloe Giordano (White Plains, N.Y./School of the Holy Child), Jamie Kertes (Carnegie, Pa./Bishop Canevin High School), and Paris Imholz (Antioch, Calif./Antioch High School) are set to become Falcons next year.
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