Falcons Head to Cleveland as the 2016 Season Commences

Saturday, February 13

Cleveland, OH

9:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

Morehead State

Oct 18 2015 intrasquad - Mike Cihon photo

Senior Marisa Shook & the Falcons begin the 2016 season with 4 games in Cleveland this weekend

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

February 11, 2016 | Softball

BGSU is set for four games in the CSU Dome Invitational

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

C O M I N G U P I N F A L C O N S O F T B A L L
CSU Dome Invitational \|\| Sat.-Sun., Feb. 13-14 \|\| Cleveland, Ohio
BGSU vs. Morehead State	Sat., Feb. 13 \| 9:00 a.m.
BGSU vs. Niagara	Sat., Feb. 13 \| 2:00 p.m.
BGSU at Cleveland State	Sun., Feb. 14 \| 11:30 a.m.
BGSU vs. Robert Morris	Sun., Feb. 14 \| 2:00 p.m.

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LEADING OFF
The Bowling Green State University softball team begins the 2016 season this weekend. The Falcons kick off the Sarah Willis Era by heading to Cleveland for four games in the CSU Dome Invitational. BGSU faces Morehead State and Niagara on Saturday (Feb. 13), before taking on host Cleveland State and Robert Morris on Sunday (Feb. 14). The complete tournament schedule follows...

CSU DOME INVITATIONAL
Friday, Feb. 12
1:00 p.m. -- Cleveland State vs. Morehead State
3:30 p.m. -- Cleveland State vs. Niagara
6:00 p.m. -- Morehead State vs. Niagara

Saturday, Feb. 13
9:00 a.m. -- Bowling Green vs. Morehead State
11:30 a.m. -- Morehead State vs. Robert Morris
2:00 p.m. -- Bowling Green vs. Niagara
4:30 p.m. -- Robert Morris vs. Niagara

Sunday, Feb. 14
9:00 a.m. -- Cleveland State vs. Robert Morris
11:30 a.m. -- Cleveland State vs. Bowling Green
2:00 p.m. -- Robert Morris vs. Bowling Green

BG BEGINS IN CLEVELAND FOR THE THIRD-STRAIGHT SEASON
The Falcons are opening the season inside Cleveland State's dome for the third consecutive February. Two years ago, BGSU went 4-0 in the Vikings' tourney. Last season, playing three of the same four teams they met in 2014, the Brown and Orange went 3-1 at the CSU Dome Invitational.

WILLIS ERA BEGINS
Saturday marks the collegiate head-coaching debut of Sarah Willis. Willis was hired at BGSU on July 1, 2015, after a highly-successful stint on the staff at the University of Dayton. During the 2015 season, her first with UD, Willis helped the Flyers to a 39-14 overall record and an Atlantic 10 Conference mark of 20-2. UD broke the school record for wins in a season, and the Flyers earned the first A-10 regular-season title in program history. Dayton also advanced to the A-10 Tournament Championship final for the first time in history.

Willis joined the Dayton program after spending two seasons (2012-14) as an assistant coach as Southeast Missouri State University. She also spent several years (2010-12) as an assistant coach at Princeton University. Willis began her coaching career as a student assistant coach at Texas Tech University, her alma mater. She pitched for the Red Raiders from 2005-08, and finished her career with 22 wins and 298 strikeouts in 113 appearances. She was named to the Texas Tech dean's and president's honor lists. In 2007, Willis had the highest GPA of any female athlete at the school.

Willis graduated from Texas Tech in 2008, with a bachelor's degree in psychology. She went on to earn her master's degree in exercise and sport sciences from TTU in 2010.

THE COACHING STAFF
Brittany Lastrapes and Tiffany Ricks have joined the BGSU coaching staff, while BGSU softball alumna Kolleen Kopchak enters her third season on the staff.

Lastrapes came to BGSU after spending three years on the staff at Miami University. where she began her coaching career after a stellar playing career at the University of Arizona. A leftfielder, she earned All-America honors in all four seasons for the Wildcats, including first-team accolades in 2009, '10 and '11 after earning All-America Third-Team honors as a freshman. Lastrapes batted .417 during her four-year career, and graduated as the school's record-holder in career doubles (66). She started all 223 of the Wildcats' games during her four years. Additionally, Lastrapes was a member of the U.S. National Team from 2007-10.

Ricks is in her first season as a collegiate coach after wrapping up an incredibly successful playing career last spring. A graduate of the University of Dayton, Ricks was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year in '15, after batting .393, including .446 against A-10 opponents. She led the league in home runs (12), RBI (36) and runs scored (33). Ricks, a first baseman, was named to the NFCA Mid-Atlantic Region Team in each of her last two seasons. She was named to the All-Atlantic 10 Team three times, and finished as UD's career leader in RBI (126) and slugging percentage (.660). Ricks ranks second all-time in career homers at Dayton, with 36.

Kopchak was a standout on the diamond for the Falcons from 1991-95, and the four-year letterwinner from Ashland, Ohio, had a career year in 1993. A left-handed slapper, she appeared in 49 games that spring, hitting .304 (41-for-135), scoring 26 runs (second most on the team) and recording seven RBI as the Falcons won a MAC title. She also accounted for three doubles and four triples on the season, earning second team All-MAC honors. Kopchak coached at the high-school level in Northwest Ohio for over a decade before joining the BG staff.

THE RETURNEES
• A total of 14 letterwinners from a year ago return in 2016. That group includes eight starters. The returning players accounted for the following ...
   • 82.8% of the team's at-bats last year;
   • 87.1% of the runs scored;
   • 85.2% of the Falcons' hits;
   • 81.1% of the runs batted in; and
   • 92.3% (26-of-27) of the team's home runs in 2015.

• Additionally, two of the three pitchers who saw time in the circle last year return. That duo, senior Braiden Dillow and junior Briana Combs, combined for 50% of the team's starts, 50% of the Falcons' wins and 75% of BGSU's saves a year ago.

• Senior Molly Holliday and junior Aspen Searle each started all 48 games a year ago, and ranked one-two on the team in batting. Holliday hit a BG-best .354 last spring, stealing a team-high 15 bases and making just one error in 73 chances in the field (.986 fielding pct.).

• Searle hit .344 last year and led the Falcons in a multitude of categories, including at-bats (157), runs (35), hits (54), homers (nine), RBI (28) and slugging percentage (618). She tied for the team lead in both doubles (10) and triples (three).

• Senior Marina Cobbs also started every game last year, and hit .314 to rank third on the club. She stole 12 bases, the second-highest total on the Falcons, and scored 21 runs to tie Holliday for second on the team in that category.

• Junior Haley Schrock and sophomore Morgan Evangelista each started 46 games last year, while sophomore Kayla Koch (36 starts) and junior Trista Mokienko (31) both were in the starting lineup more than 30 times.

• Schrock drew 22 walks to lead the Falcons in that category by a wide margin. Evangelista and Koch each had five homers as freshmen, tying for second on the team, while Mokienko homered four times in 2015.

• Sophomore Katee Hinkle missed six weeks due to an injury suffered in the opening weekend of the 2015 season, but still made 26 starts in the infield. Senior Marisa Shook and juniors Combs, Amanda Durham and Sami Parave each saw action in 50% or more of the Falcons' contests last spring.

• Sophomore Kayla Gregory rounds out the returning letterwinners.

• In addition to the 14 aforementioned letterwinners from a year ago, redshirt sophomore Chelsea Raker also returns to action this spring. Raker was named to the All-MAC Second Team and the league's all-freshman team in 2014, after starting all 52 games and hitting a team-leading .325 on the year. She missed all of 2015 due to injury.

• Other returning players include seniors Chandler Scott and Katie Turski and sophomores Alivia Forshey and Cassandra Plageman.

THE NEWCOMERS
A total of six freshman have joined the Falcons for the 2015-16 academic year. The list of newcomers includes Carly Allen, Hannah Giammarino, Brooke Parker, Alex Sorgi, Kiley Sosby and Paige Summers.

SIX OF ONE, HALF A DOZEN OF THE OTHER (& THE OTHER, & THE OTHER)
The Falcons' 2016 roster could not be more evenly distributed among the four classes. The 25-player group features six seniors, six juniors, six true sophomores (plus one redshirt sophomore) and six freshmen.

SEARLE EARNS PRESEASON HONORS FROM CSM
Junior Aspen Searle was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team by the College Sports Madness web site. Searle, as mentioned earlier, led the Falcons in a veritable plethora of categories a year ago, including at-bats, hits, home runs, runs scored, RBI, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging pct. She made 27 starts at shortstop and 21 at second base last season, and was second on the team with a .344 batting average. Searle has started all 100 of BGSU's games during her first two seasons on campus, and has hit .322 in that time.

SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE
• Morehead State finished with an overall record of 22-24 and an Ohio Valley Conference mark of 11-11 a year ago.
• Head coach David Williams has a pair of BGSU softball alums on his staff, as 2014 graduates Erika Stratton and Katie Yoho are assistant coaches for the Eagles.
• Williams and his staff of former Falcons return 13 letterwinners, including seven positional starters and a pair of pitchers, from last year's team.
• Three MSU players – sophomore P Mackenzie Grossmann, senior IF Dana Hutchins and junior OF Kayla McGuffey – were named to the Preseason All-OVC Team by College Sports Madness.
• Grossmann made a team-high 21 starts in the circle last year, and led the Eagles with 12 wins and a 2.85 ERA.
•McGuffey started all 46 games and led the team with a .353 batting average and 15 stolen bases, while Hutchins hit .303 with three homers and 18 RBI.

SCOUTING NIAGARA
• Niagara finished with an overall record of 4-40 and a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference mark of 4-16 a year ago.
• The Purple Eagles were picked to finish 10th in the MAAC in 2016, according to the league's preseason coaches poll.
• Head coach Larry Puzan enters his third season as head coach following 18 years as an assistant at Niagara.
• The Purple Eagles return 15 letterwinners, including seven starters, from the 2015 team.
• Redshirt sophomore Bridget Hogan was an All-MAAC Second-Team selection in 2014 before redshirting in '15.
• Junior SS/2B Chanelle Ward started all 44 games last spring, hitting .248 with six doubles to tie for the team lead, and 12 RBI to rank second on the club.
• Senior P Sydney Smyers led the Purple Eagles' pitchers in games started (23), ERA (5.86) and strikeouts (74) a year ago.

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
• Cleveland State went 23-29 overall and 8-12 in Horizon League play last spring.
• Senior C/IF Erica McNew hit .429 last season, with 12 homers and 37 RBI. She led the team with 34 walks and a .562 on-base percentage.
• Senior Susan Knight led Viking pitchers in starts (26), wins (11) and ERA (3.29) last season.
• Head coach Becky Norris welcomes back 14 letterwinners, including six starters, from a year ago.
• CSU freshman Bailee Gray was a high-school teammate of BGSU sophomore catcher Morgan Evangelista at Elk Grove H.S. in Elk Grove, Calif.

SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
• Robert Morris posted an overall record of 26-23 and a Northeast Conference mark of 13-3, capturing the league title.
• The Colonials of head coach Craig Coleman have won the NEC regular-season title in four of the last five seasons. Coleman and his assistants were named the NEC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2015.
• RMU returns seven letterwinners, including six starters, from the 2015 team.
• Junior IF/C Jordan Gurganus hit a team-high .384 last spring, while senior OF Ashley Gerhart was second on the club with a .351 batting average.
• Another senior OF, Kristen Gabelt, led the team with nine homers and 85 total bases a year ago.
• Senior Haileigh Stocks is the lone returning player to have seen any time in the circle for the Colonials a year ago. She was 4-8 with a 5.27 ERA and five complete games in 11 starts.
• Gerhart was named to the All-NEC First Team last year, while Gabelt, Gurganus and Stocks all were chosen to the all-league second team.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Morehead State, 3-0-1, in the all-time series between the teams. The Falcons and Eagles met three times from 2003-04, and BGSU posted a 6-3 victory over MSU in the 2012 Hilltopper Classic in Bowling Green, Ky.

• BGSU and Niagara have met just once on the softball diamond. Just over a year ago, the Falcons picked up a 9-1 win in the 2015 season opener inside the dome in Cleveland (Feb. 7, 2015.

• The Falcons lead Cleveland State, 19-7, in that series. BGSU won the first eight series meetings, and CSU has never won two games in a row vs. the Brown and Orange. The teams met at least once in every year from 1997 to 2004, then went a decade without facing off. The most recent matchup saw the Vikings come away with a 5-3 win in CSU's tourney two years ago (Feb. 8, 2014).

• BGSU holds a 3-2 series lead over Robert Morris. All five meetings have come at neutral sites, including the last two in Cleveland. Two seasons ago (Feb. 8, 2014), the Colonials came away with a 3-2 win. Then, exactly a year later, the Falcons returned the favor with a 3-2 victory at the CSU Dome Invitational.

COMING UP...
Following the weekend trip to Cleveland, the Falcons will travel to Georgia to take part in the Rafter Memorial Tournament, hosted by Kennesaw State, from Feb. 19-21. BGSU will play four games in the tourney, facing Rutgers and the host school on Friday (Feb. 19), Morehead State on Saturday (Feb. 20) and Bradley on Sunday morning (Feb. 21).

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