Falcons Venture to Georgia for Rafter Memorial

Friday, February 19

Kennesaw, GA

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Rutgers

Oct 18 2015 intrasquad - Mike Cihon photo

Chelsea Raker & the Falcons will play 4 games in this weekend's Rafter Memorial

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

February 18, 2016 | Softball

BGSU to play four games in Kennesaw State's weekend tourney

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
Rafter Memorial Tournament \|\| Fri.-Sun., Feb. 19-21 \|\| Kennesaw, Ga.
BGSU vs. Rutgers	Fri., Feb. 19 \| 3:00 p.m.
BGSU at Kennesaw State	Fri., Feb. 19 \| 5:30 p.m.
BGSU vs. Morehead State	Sat., Feb. 20 \| 12:30 p.m.
BGSU vs. Bradley	Sun., Feb. 21 \| 10:00 a.m.

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LEADING OFF
The Bowling Green State University softball team ventures to Georgia this weekend, for the second of six scheduled non-conference tournaments in the 2016 season. The Falcons of head coach Sarah Willis head to Kennesaw, Ga., for four games in the Rafter Memorial Tournament, hosted by Kennesaw State. BGSU will meet Rutgers and the host school on Friday (Feb. 19), before facing Morehead State Saturday (Feb. 20) and Bradley Sunday morning (Feb. 21). The complete tournament schedule follows...

RAFTER MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Friday, Feb. 19
10:00 a.m. -- Morehead State vs. Bradley
12:30 p.m. -- Rutgers at Kennesaw State
3:00 p.m. -- Bowling Green vs. Rutgers
5:30 p.m. -- Bowling Green at Kennesaw State

Saturday, Feb. 20
10:00 a.m. -- Rutgers vs. Morehead State
12:30 p.m. -- Bowling Green vs. Morehead State
3:00 p.m. -- Bradley at Kennesaw State
5:30 p.m. -- Bradley at Kennesaw State

Sunday, Feb. 21
10:00 a.m. -- Bradley vs. Bowling Green
12:30 p.m. -- Bradley vs. Rutgers
3:00 p.m. -- Morehead State at Kennesaw State

QUOTING COACH WILLIS
"We will be seeing some good competition this weekend at Kennesaw State. A lot of players gained valuable experience last week at the Cleveland State tournament. We are excited to hit the road again, to get a chance to play a few games outside, and to continue the momentum built from last weekend."

ALL SHOOK UP
Falcon senior Marisa Shook has definitely gotten her season off to a successful start. Shook hit .455 with an on-base percentage of .538 and a slugging pct. of 1.182 in four games at last weekend's CSU Dome Invitational. Shook, who had six hits (none for extra bases) and one run batted in during all of last season, had five hits and five RBI over the weekend. She had one extra-base hit in each of BGSU's four games, with two doubles and two homers.

MORE ABOUT MARISA
A few more pieces of information about senior Marisa Shook's start to the season...

• As mentioned, Shook had totals of six hits (none for extra bases) and one run batted in during all of last season, but she had five hits and five RBI in the four games in Cleveland.

• After one at-bat this season, she had matched her RBI total for last year. Shook's first plate appearance of the 2015 season was a solo homer vs. Morehead State.

• Shook scored four runs last weekend after scoring two during all of last year.

• She had three career homers in her first three years as a Falcon, before homering twice at CSU.

WILLIS ERA BEGINS
Last weekend marked the collegiate head-coaching debut of Sarah Willis, and Sunday's (Feb. 14) 7-1 win over Robert Morris was her first win. 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.

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

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 1-3 on the young season. BGSU opened the year at the CSU Dome Invitational, with losses to Morehead State, Niagara and host Cleveland State and a 7-1 win vs. Robert Morris.

• BGSU was outscored by a narrow 19-18 count on the weekend, and the Falcons had a total of 33 hits to the opponents' 30.

• Seven Falcons started all four games last weekend. That group included seniors Marina Cobbs, Molly Holliday and Marisa Shook, junior Haley Schrock, redshirt sophomore Chelsea Raker and true sophs Katee Hinkle and Kayla Koch.

• Shook, as mentioned earlier, led the team with a .455 batting average on the weekend. She also paces the Falcons in runs (four), hits (five - tied for team lead), doubles (two - tied for team lead), homers (two) and runs batted in (five). Shook had an on-base percentage of .538 and an eye-popping slugging percentage of 1.182 on the weekend.

• Cobbs hit .333, while Schrock and Holliday each hit .308. Raker and Hinkle each are batting .300.

• Raker returned to the field after missing all of the 2015 season due to injury. She was an All-Mid-American Conference Second-Team selection as a freshman in '14.

• Four different pitchers, including two freshmen, saw action at CSU. First-year Falcons Kiley Sosby and Brooke Parker have earned-run averages of 1.75 and 3.50, respectively. Sosby leads the team in innings pitched (12) and strikeouts (10), and threw BG's lone complete game of the weekend.

• Junior Briana Combs and senior Braiden Dillow each allowed opponents to hit .250 against them, while Sosby has an opponent batting average of .275 and Parker .294. Combs struck out six batters and Dillow five, as they each saw five-plus innings of work.

• A total of 17 different players saw action at CSU, with 13 of those 17 making at least one start.

A FEW MORE NOTES FROM LAST WEEKEND
• A total of four Falcons made their respective collegiate debuts last weekend. That quartet included freshmen Hannah Giammarino, Brooke Parker, Alex Sorgi and Kiley Sosby.

• Sophomore Kayla Gregory picked up the first hit of her career, with an RBI single in the Niagara game.

• Sosby picked up the first win of her collegiate career as the Falcons downed Robert Morris, 7-1. Sosby threw her first career complete game vs. the Colonials, and had her first and second career hits at the plate in that game.

• Junior Haley Schrock had three hits in the win over RMU, tying a career best. Schrock also had a three-hit game against Northern Illinois in March of 2014.

• Schrock's two doubles in that game set a new career best, and matched her total for all of last season. She had six career doubles entering this season.

• Sophomore Katee Hinkle has three hits and three runs scored this season, after totalling four hits and four runs a year ago. Hinkle missed over a month of her freshman campaign after suffering an injury on the season's opening weekend.

• The Falcons scored three or more runs in an inning four times last weekend. BG outhit the opponents in three of the four games, and had a 33-30 edge in that category.

THE RETURNEES
• A total of 14 letterwinners from a year ago return in 2016. That group includes eight starters. The returning players accounted for 82.8% of the team's at-bats, 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 in '15.

• 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).

• Searle missed the trip to Cleveland due to injury, marking the first time BG played a game without her in the lineup since she began her Falcon career.

• Senior Marina Cobbs also started every game last year, and hit .314 to rank third on the club. 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.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
• Rutgers is 0-5 on the young season, after beginning the season at the UCF Knights Invitational last weekend.
• Four of the Scarlet Knights' losses game to nationally-ranked teams.
• Sophomore IF Rebecca Hall is hitting .467, having gone 7-for-15 last weekend.
• In the circle, four pitchers made at least one start, and all four pitched between 5 2/3 and 11 innings on the weekend.
• Head coach Jay Nelson welcomed back 14 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last year's team that went 29-20 overall and 11-12 in the Big Ten Conference.
• Senior IF Jordan Whitley hit .373 last season to lead all returnees, while junior Shayla Sweeney had a 6-2 record in the circle. Senior Dresden Maddox (a native of Kennesaw, Ga.) was 8-6 with 63 strikeouts, and Maddox (15) and Sweeney (10) combined to make 25 starts last spring.

SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE
• Kennesaw State is off to a 3-0 start this season, after defeating Murray State, North Carolina Center and East Tennessee State last weekend.
• This weekend marks KSU's second of three home tournaments in as many weekends.
• Last weekend, the Owls hit .320 as a team. Senior Hillary Kartman, a transfer from IPFW, led the way, going 5-for-9 (.556) at the plate.
• In the circle, four pitchers saw action, with three of those four pitching in all three games. Junior Logan Viers started all three games and had an ERA of just 1.56 with 10 strikeouts.
• Senior Morgan Sikes had a team-best ERA of 0.81 in 8 2/3 innings. allowing opponents to bat just .206 against her.
• Last season, coach Tory Acheson's club went 32-19 overall and 12-8 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Acheson welcomed back 14 letterwinners from that team.
• Junior Taylor Denton hit .364 last spring to lead the KSU returnees. Kartman had a team-leading 13 homers in 2015.
• Sikes led the pitchers withi a 3.15 ERA a year ago. Viers had eight wins and Sikes seven last season.

SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE
• Morehead State is 3-1 after joining the Falcons at Cleveland State last weekend.
• Sophomore catcher Robyn Leighton hit .500 inside the dome, with three homers among her five hits in the four games. Leighton was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday (Feb. 15).
• Sophomore Mackenzie Grossman led four MSU hurlers with 10 2/3 innings pitched last weekend. She had a 2.62 ERA in three appearances.
• MSU finished with a 22-24 overall record and an OVC 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 – 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.

SCOUTING BRADLEY
• Bradley is 1-4 on the year, after beginning the season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Braves beat Boise Setate, but lost to Nevada, Seattle, Utah State and Northwestern.
• Junior OF Kelly Kapp hit a team-best .529 last weekend, going 9-of-17.
• Junior Jaelen Hull started two games in the circle, and led the Braves in innings pitched (15 2/3), ERA (4.47) and strikeouts (nine).
• Head coach Amy Hayes and the Braves went 22-32 overall and 15-12 in the Missouri Valley Conference a year ago.
• Hayes welcomed back 14 letterwinners, including six starting position players and three pitchers, from last season.
• Sophomore OF Erika Hansen was named to the Preseason All-MVC Team after earning all-conference first-team honors as a freshman. Hanson hit .369 last spring, with an MVC-best 20 doubles and 41 runs batted in.
• Kapp led the team in batting last season, hitting .386.
• In the circle, Hull is the top returnee, having gone 7-10 with six complete games last spring.

THE SERIES
• BGSU trails Rutgers, 3-2, in the all-time series between the teams. All five matchups have taken place at neutral sites, and BGSU has won two-straight games vs. the Scarlet Knights after dropping the first three matchups. The teams' most recent meeting was a 3-0 BG win in Boca Raton, Fla., in 2006.

• Kennesaw State has a 2-0 lead over the Falcons in that series, with both prior meetings taking place at the Rafter Memorial. KSU picked up a 3-1 win in 2001 and a 5-0 victory in '13.

• BGSU leads Morehead State, 3-1-1, in that series, but the Eagles won the most recent meeting. That came just last weekend, a 6-5 MSU triumph in Cleveland on Saturday (Feb. 13). The Falcons and Eagles met three times from 2003-04, and BGSU posted a 6-3 neutral-site victory over MSU in 2012.

• The Falcons and Bradley are tied, 3-3, and BG won the last matchup with the Braves. That game was an 8-6 Falcon win in February of 2009 in Orlando, Fla.

COMING UP...
Following the weekend trip to Georgia, the Falcons will venture to Mobile, Ala., next weekend (Feb. 26-28). BGSU will take part in the South Alabama Invitational, facing Dartmouth and Wichita State twice each and the host school, USA, once.

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