Bowling Green State University Athletics
Wednesday, March 30
Ann Arbor, Mich.
4:00 pm
Bowling Green State University
at
Michigan
Photo by: Doug Sampson
Falcons Play At No. 4 Michigan; Open MAC Play
March 28, 2011 | Softball
The Bowling Green softball team is scheduled to play five games this week, including four Mid-American Conference contests and the team's home opener Friday. The Falcons will be on the road to face Michigan Wednesday before four home games over the weekend, opening conference play with a doubleheader Friday against Kent State and then playing single games Saturday and Sunday against Buffalo.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Bowling Green's game at Michigan Wednesday will be streamed live on the internet at BigTenNetwork.com. Friday's doubleheader with Kent State will be televised locally on tape delay by BCSN. Both games on Friday and Saturday's game vs. Buffalo will be broadcast by BGRSO and the live audio can be heard online at BGSUFalcons.com. As well, all games are available for live stat viewing at BGSUFalcons.com.
THE COMPETITION
The Falcons will face their toughest competition of the season when Bowling Green plays at Michigan Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Wolverines are 31-2 and ranked No. 4 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. On the mound, Jordan Taylor is 14-2 with a 0.88 ERA and 159 strikeouts in 111.2 innings, while Stephanie Speierman is 14-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 82.1 innings. Five players are hitting at least .370 and two (Dorian Shaw and Ashley Lane) have already pounded at least 10 home runs.
Kent State heads into the week with a record of 9-16 overall. The Golden Flashes have shown a solid offensive attack this year, hitting .293 as a team with 20 homers in 25 games. Abbey Ledford is hitting .404 to lead a lineup that has four batters over .370 on the season. Jessica Carmichael is the team's biggest power presence with seven homers and 26 RBI. On the mound, Kent State has a 4.47 ERA, led by Danielle Abernathy. She is 4-3 with a 3.81 ERA, while Laurn McNeil is 2-7 with a 3.35 ERA.
Buffalo is 5-19 on the year and the Bulls have struggled in all three phases this year. No Bulls regular is hitting better than .245 and the team is hitting just .217 as a team with only three homers. On the mound, Buffalo boasts a 6.76 team ERA and Holly Johnson is 4-7 with a 5.79 ERA. Tori Speckman is 1-7 with a 5.03 ERA.
LINES DEALING
Senior pitcher Zada Lines has shown some of the most improvement in a two-year stretch of any pitcher in BGSU history. As a sophomore, Lines threw 24.2 innings and had a 9.08 ERA but she came back to Bowling Green as a junior and improved tremendously. Her ERA was more than four runs better the next year at 5.02. Again, Lines has made a huge jump in 2011 as a senior. Currently, she leads the team with a 2.68 ERA and holds a 3-1 record. In her only start of the year, she posted a complete game, allowing no earned runs in a 4-2 victory over Belmont. Her 2.68 ERA is the best single-season mark since current pitching coach Hayley Wiemer had a 1.76 ERA in the 2008 season.
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Bowling Green is 0-2 against ranked teams this year, losing to then-No. 19 LSU 5-0 and 6-0 early in the season. In fact, the Falcons have lost 14 consecutive games against ranked teams since defeating No. 13 Washington 3-1 on March 5, 2006.
GOTTA HAVE GLOVE
Bowling Green's .971 fielding percentage is on pace to be the best single-season in program history. The Falcons fielded at a .940 clip a year ago and set the team record with a .966 fielding percentage during the 2005 season.
RED HOT
Sophomore infielder Andrea Arney has begun to heat up at the plate. She is 4-for-6 with five runs scored in the past two games and is batting .500 in the last five contests (6-for-12). Arney had just six hits in the team's first 11 games total but has raised her average to .300 on the season.
RUBBER ARMS?
Senior pitchers Melissa Bott and Zada Lines have both thrown in 13 of the team's 16 games this year. Freshman Erin Greenwalt has been just about as reliable, hitting the mound 11 times on the season.
MAC RANKINGS
Listed below are Bowling Green's rankings in the MAC:
Individual Stats (Top 10)
Home runs – T6. Paige Berger, 4
Triples – T1. Rachel Proehl, 2
Opponent's Batting Average – 10. Zada Lines, .246
Team Stats (Top 5)
Triples – T1. Bowling Green, 3
Fielding Percentage – 2. Bowling Green, .971
Fielding Double Plays – T2. Bowling Green, 5
Caught Stealing Opponents – 4. Bowling Green, 9
ADDING TO THE LEGEND
Freshmen aren't usually legends but when a player breaks a program's single-season home run record in their first collegiate season, exceptions can be made. Paige Berger set the program record with 12 home runs as a freshman a year ago and she has added four more this year for a total of 16 in her career. That total places her fifth in school history and just two homers behind both Allison Vallas (18 home runs from 2005-08) and Susan Sontag (18 homers from 2007-10). Current pitching coach Hayley Wiemer holds the school record with 32 career homers from 2006-09.
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.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Bowling Green's game at Michigan Wednesday will be streamed live on the internet at BigTenNetwork.com. Friday's doubleheader with Kent State will be televised locally on tape delay by BCSN. Both games on Friday and Saturday's game vs. Buffalo will be broadcast by BGRSO and the live audio can be heard online at BGSUFalcons.com. As well, all games are available for live stat viewing at BGSUFalcons.com.
THE COMPETITION
The Falcons will face their toughest competition of the season when Bowling Green plays at Michigan Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Wolverines are 31-2 and ranked No. 4 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. On the mound, Jordan Taylor is 14-2 with a 0.88 ERA and 159 strikeouts in 111.2 innings, while Stephanie Speierman is 14-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 82.1 innings. Five players are hitting at least .370 and two (Dorian Shaw and Ashley Lane) have already pounded at least 10 home runs.
Kent State heads into the week with a record of 9-16 overall. The Golden Flashes have shown a solid offensive attack this year, hitting .293 as a team with 20 homers in 25 games. Abbey Ledford is hitting .404 to lead a lineup that has four batters over .370 on the season. Jessica Carmichael is the team's biggest power presence with seven homers and 26 RBI. On the mound, Kent State has a 4.47 ERA, led by Danielle Abernathy. She is 4-3 with a 3.81 ERA, while Laurn McNeil is 2-7 with a 3.35 ERA.
Buffalo is 5-19 on the year and the Bulls have struggled in all three phases this year. No Bulls regular is hitting better than .245 and the team is hitting just .217 as a team with only three homers. On the mound, Buffalo boasts a 6.76 team ERA and Holly Johnson is 4-7 with a 5.79 ERA. Tori Speckman is 1-7 with a 5.03 ERA.
LINES DEALING
Senior pitcher Zada Lines has shown some of the most improvement in a two-year stretch of any pitcher in BGSU history. As a sophomore, Lines threw 24.2 innings and had a 9.08 ERA but she came back to Bowling Green as a junior and improved tremendously. Her ERA was more than four runs better the next year at 5.02. Again, Lines has made a huge jump in 2011 as a senior. Currently, she leads the team with a 2.68 ERA and holds a 3-1 record. In her only start of the year, she posted a complete game, allowing no earned runs in a 4-2 victory over Belmont. Her 2.68 ERA is the best single-season mark since current pitching coach Hayley Wiemer had a 1.76 ERA in the 2008 season.
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Bowling Green is 0-2 against ranked teams this year, losing to then-No. 19 LSU 5-0 and 6-0 early in the season. In fact, the Falcons have lost 14 consecutive games against ranked teams since defeating No. 13 Washington 3-1 on March 5, 2006.
GOTTA HAVE GLOVE
Bowling Green's .971 fielding percentage is on pace to be the best single-season in program history. The Falcons fielded at a .940 clip a year ago and set the team record with a .966 fielding percentage during the 2005 season.
RED HOT
Sophomore infielder Andrea Arney has begun to heat up at the plate. She is 4-for-6 with five runs scored in the past two games and is batting .500 in the last five contests (6-for-12). Arney had just six hits in the team's first 11 games total but has raised her average to .300 on the season.
RUBBER ARMS?
Senior pitchers Melissa Bott and Zada Lines have both thrown in 13 of the team's 16 games this year. Freshman Erin Greenwalt has been just about as reliable, hitting the mound 11 times on the season.
MAC RANKINGS
Listed below are Bowling Green's rankings in the MAC:
Individual Stats (Top 10)
Home runs – T6. Paige Berger, 4
Triples – T1. Rachel Proehl, 2
Opponent's Batting Average – 10. Zada Lines, .246
Team Stats (Top 5)
Triples – T1. Bowling Green, 3
Fielding Percentage – 2. Bowling Green, .971
Fielding Double Plays – T2. Bowling Green, 5
Caught Stealing Opponents – 4. Bowling Green, 9
ADDING TO THE LEGEND
Freshmen aren't usually legends but when a player breaks a program's single-season home run record in their first collegiate season, exceptions can be made. Paige Berger set the program record with 12 home runs as a freshman a year ago and she has added four more this year for a total of 16 in her career. That total places her fifth in school history and just two homers behind both Allison Vallas (18 home runs from 2005-08) and Susan Sontag (18 homers from 2007-10). Current pitching coach Hayley Wiemer holds the school record with 32 career homers from 2006-09.
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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