Bowling Green State University Athletics
Thursday, February 23
Lafayette, LA
3:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
Drake
Katee Hinkle & the Falcons take a 6-3 record into Thursday's tourney opener in Lafayette
Falcons Head to Louisiana for Mardi Gras Invitational
February 22, 2017 | Softball
BGSU to play five games in tourney hosted by nationally-ranked Lafayette
LEADING OFF
• The Bowling Green State University softball team heads south for a third tournament in as many weekends. Head coach Sarah Willis and the Falcons will compete in the Mardi Gras Invitational in Lafayette, La., with BGSU playing a total of five games from Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 23-25).
• The Falcons will face Drake as well as the host school, nationally-ranked Louisiana, on Thursday, before taking on Maryland and Bradley on Friday. BG will meet Drake for a second time on Saturday morning before returning to Northwest Ohio.
• The four-day tournament includes totals of seven schools and 18 games (three games on both Thursday and Sunday, six each on Friday and Saturday).
BGSUÂ SOFTBALLÂ LINKS
NOTES/WEB SITE: BGSU (PDF Notes) | Bradley | Drake | Louisiana | Maryland
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Mardi Gras Invitational
BGSU 2017 Quick Facts
MARDI GRAS INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY DOUBLETREE
(live stats will be available for all games; with live audio & video for all games involving Louisiana – all BGSU-related links will be available right here at BGSUFalcons.com)
Thursday, Feb. 23 (all times Eastern)
Bowling Green vs. Drake, 3:00 p.m.
Drake at Louisiana, 5:30 p.m.
Bowling Green at Louisiana, 7:45 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24
Drake vs. Dartmouth, 10:00 a.m.
Drake vs. Maryland, 12:15 p.m.
Bowling Green vs. Maryland, 2:30 p.m.
Dartmouth at Louisiana, 4:45 p.m.
Bowling Green vs. Bradley, 7:00 p.m.  Â
Bradley vs. Mississippi Valley, 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25
Bowling Green vs. Drake, 9:30 a.m.
Mississippi Valley vs. Drake, 11:30 a.m.
Bradley vs. Maryland, 1:45 p.m.
Maryland at Louisiana, 4:00 p.m.
Bradley vs. Dartmouth, 6:15 p.m.
Mississippi Valley vs. Dartmouth, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 26
Dartmouth vs. Maryland, 10:00 a.m.
Bradley at Louisiana, 12:15 p.m.
Mississippi Valley at Louisiana, 2:30 p.m.
NOTING THE FALCONS
• The Falcons currently lead the Mid-American Conference in batting average, as BG is hitting .339 through nine games. BGSU is ranked 45th in the country in fielding percentage (.975) and 54th in earned-run average (2.17). Redshirt junior Chelsea Raker is hitting .467 to rank second in the MAC, and she is 12th in the nation in doubles per game (0.67) and 15th in runs batted in (14).
• The Falcons are 6-3 on the young season. BGSU went a perfect 4-0 at the CSU Dome Tournament, hosted by Cleveland State, on Feb. 11-12. Then, the Brown and Orange competed in Charlotte's First Pitch Classic last weekend (Feb. 17-19), advancing to the championship game of that four-team tournament before losing to the host 49ers.
• Raker hit .611 last weekend, going 11-for-18 in the five games in Charlotte. She had four multiple-hit games, including three three-hit games, in the five contests, with an on-base percentage of .650 and a slugging pct. of .833.
• Raker was 3-for-4 with a double in Friday's game vs. host Charlotte, then went a combined 5-for-7 in Saturday's two wins over St. Bonaventure. Raker drove in six runs in those two games. In the opener, she was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Then, in the nightcap, Raker was 3-for-3 and tied a school record with three doubles. She scored a run and had four RBI in the 5-4 victory. In her fourth plate appearance of the game, she was intentionally walked. Raker capped the weekend by going 3-for-4 with an RBI vs. Charlotte on Sunday.
• On the season, Raker is hitting a team-best .467, and she also paces the Falcons in hits (14), doubles (six), RBI (14), on-base pct. (.529) and slugging pct. (.767).
• Raker's three doubles in Saturday's second game, as mentioned, tied the BGSU single-game record. Raker matched the mark set by Erin Zwinck (March 12, 1999, vs. Illinois State) and tied by Renee Rosemeier (April 28, 2002, vs. Buffalo).
• Sophomore Alex Sorgi is hitting .429 on the season, while redshirt junior Aspen Searle is batting .406. Sorgi leads the team in walks and runs, and is second on the Falcons with an on-base percentage of .515. Searle leads the team with two homers and is second in hits (13), homers (two), RBI (11) and slugging pct. (.625). Searle – like Raker – is hitting .533 (8-for-15) when batting with two outs this season.
• Sorgi hit .500 last weekend in Charlotte, going 9-of-18, and scored a team-high six runs in the five games.
• Sorgi, primarily a pinch-runner last year, was hitless in eight at-bats as a freshman in 2016. She was 0-for-3 in the 2017 season opener, but now has an eight-game hitting streak, and is batting .480 (12-for-25) in that time. She went 3-for-4, for the first three-hit game of her collegiate career, on Sunday vs. Charlotte.
• Sorgi has scored at least one run in seven of the last eight games, with two runs scored in four of those contests.
• BGSU banged out a total of 11 hits in each of the last three games in Charlotte. The Falcons had a double-digit hit total nine times during the entire 2016 campaign, but BG has had 10 or more hits four times in nine games in 2017. And, the Falcons have pounded out a total of at least eight hits in every game this year to date.
• The Falcons had a total of 23 stolen bases during all of 2016 (54 games). Through nine games in 2017, BGSU has stolen 12 bases in 13 attempts.
• Freshman Kendyl Wheeler is hitting .387 to rank fourth on the Falcons, while junior Katee Hinkle is batting .333. Senior Haley Schrock (.321) and freshman Logan Everett (.308) also are batting over .300 this season.
• In the circle, sophomore Kiley Sosby has a 3-2 record and a team-leading 1.80 earned-run average, while classmate Meredith Miller is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA. Sosby leads the BG staff in appearances and games started, with five of each. She has a team-high 32 strikeouts and has allowed opponents to hit just .167 against her.
• Miller is allowing foes to bat just .218 against her, and has 20 strikeouts and just five walks. Both Sosby and Miller have two complete games, including one shutout apiece, this year.
• Miller was perfect through five innings in her appearance vs. St. Bonaventure, and did not allow an earned run in that win.
• Senior Briana Combs is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA. Combs is ranked 35th in the nation in fewest walks per seven innings (0.62). Sophomore Brooke Parker has made two appearances in relief, and has thrown three scoreless innings to date.
• The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 44-24, this year, and BG has 85 hits to the foes' 43. BG scored 24 runs to the opponents' two in the four games in Cleveland, with a 35-11 hits advantage on the weekend. In Charlotte, the Falcons outhit the opposition, 50-32, in the five games.
• Seven players – Hinkle, Raker, Schrock, Searle, Sorgi, Wheeler and sophomore Hannah Giammarino – have started all nine games, while junior Laine Simmons has made seven starts and Everett and junior Kayla Gregory five apiece.
• Head coach Sarah Willis and her staff – assistant coaches Katie Reiff and Lauren Gambone, volunteer assistant Lyndsey Clark and alumnae coordinator Kolleen Kopchak – welcomed back 12 letterwinners, including five starters, from a year ago.
• BGSU was picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference East Division according to the MAC's preseason coaches' poll.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
• Drake enters the weekend with a 7-4 record. The Bulldogs went 4-1 in the UNI Dome Tournament two weekends ago, before going 2-3 at Arizona's Wildcat Invitational last weekend. Two of the three losses came to then-#10 Arizona.
• Megan Sowa is the lone player hitting over .300, with a .382 batting average on the year. Sarah Maddox is hitting .290, and leads the Bulldogs with eight runs scored, three homers and eight RBI. Nicole Newman is 5-2 with an ERA of just 0.98 in the circle, and she leads the entire nation with 69 strikeouts.
• Head coach Rich Calvert's Bulldogs went 30-24 overall last year, finishing second in both the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season standings and at the MVC Tournament. The Bulldogs were picked to win the conference title in 2017, according to the league's preseason poll.
• Louisiana is 6-3 on the season, and the Ragin' Cajuns are ranked 16th in the nation in both of the major national polls. Louisiana has been ranked in at least one national poll for 57-straight weeks.
• The Rajin' Cajuns are in the midst of a 23-game homestand to open the season. Last weekend, Louisiana won two of three games against then-#4 Alabama, capturing the final two games by a combined score of 18-2.
• Freshman pitcher Alyssa Denham was named USA Softball's National Player of the Week on Tuesday. She threw a two-hit shutout against 'Bama, and is 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA this season. Kelli Martinez is hitting a team-best .370 to pace a balanced offensive attack.
• Coach Michael Lotief's Rajin' Cajuns were picked to win the Sun Belt Conference in 2017, after going 46-9 overall and 21-2 in the conference last season.
• Maryland is 1-8 entering the weekend, but that one win was a big one, to say the least. The Terrapins snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating then-#1 Florida, 4-2, in Gainesville on Saturday.
• Madison Martin is hitting .529, while three teammates are batting between .379 and .393 on the season. The Terps have hit .286 as a team. Martin has a team-low 4.05 ERA in the circle, while Hannah Dewey picked up the win over Florida.
• Maryland head coach Julie Wright is a graduate of Ohio University and served as an assistant coach for the Bobcats and the head coach at Akron. Last year's team went 12-40 overall.
• Bradley enters the weekend with a 4-6 overall record, after winning three of five games in the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, N.M., last weekend. The Braves have scored 59 runs and allowed 63 in 10 games this season.
• Caitlyn McCarron is hitting .577, having gone 15-for-26 on the season, while Kelly Kapp is batting .400 with a team-leading 10 runs scored. Five pitchers have seen action in at least three games apiece for the Braves.
• Bradley was picked to tie for seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference this year, according to the league preseason poll. The Braves went 18-30 overall and 12-14 in the MVC a year ago.
THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Drake, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams. The only previous meeting was a 4-2 Falcon win in April of 1986.
• The Falcons trail Louisiana, 3-0, in that series. All three meetings came between 1993 and 1999. That '93 matchup came in the NCAA Regionals in Ann Arbor, Mich., when the Rajin' Cajuns (then Southwestern Louisiana) posted a 7-3 win.
• BGSU trails Bradley, 4-3, in that series. The Braves captured a 9-8 decision last season in the Phyllis Rafter Memorial at Kennesaw, Ga. Prior to that, the teams had not met since 2009, when BG won an 8-6 outcome.
• The Falcons and Maryland will be meeting for the first time on the softball diamond.
COMING UP...
• Following the five games in Lafayette, the Falcons will head to Louisville, Ky., to take part in the Red & Black Tournament (March 3-5). BGSU will play a total of five games in that tourney, facing Green Bay and Indiana State twice each while also playing one game against host Louisville.
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• The Bowling Green State University softball team heads south for a third tournament in as many weekends. Head coach Sarah Willis and the Falcons will compete in the Mardi Gras Invitational in Lafayette, La., with BGSU playing a total of five games from Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 23-25).
• The Falcons will face Drake as well as the host school, nationally-ranked Louisiana, on Thursday, before taking on Maryland and Bradley on Friday. BG will meet Drake for a second time on Saturday morning before returning to Northwest Ohio.
• The four-day tournament includes totals of seven schools and 18 games (three games on both Thursday and Sunday, six each on Friday and Saturday).
BGSUÂ SOFTBALLÂ LINKS
NOTES/WEB SITE: BGSU (PDF Notes) | Bradley | Drake | Louisiana | Maryland
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Mardi Gras Invitational
BGSU 2017 Quick Facts
MARDI GRAS INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY DOUBLETREE
(live stats will be available for all games; with live audio & video for all games involving Louisiana – all BGSU-related links will be available right here at BGSUFalcons.com)
Thursday, Feb. 23 (all times Eastern)
Bowling Green vs. Drake, 3:00 p.m.
Drake at Louisiana, 5:30 p.m.
Bowling Green at Louisiana, 7:45 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24
Drake vs. Dartmouth, 10:00 a.m.
Drake vs. Maryland, 12:15 p.m.
Bowling Green vs. Maryland, 2:30 p.m.
Dartmouth at Louisiana, 4:45 p.m.
Bowling Green vs. Bradley, 7:00 p.m.  Â
Bradley vs. Mississippi Valley, 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25
Bowling Green vs. Drake, 9:30 a.m.
Mississippi Valley vs. Drake, 11:30 a.m.
Bradley vs. Maryland, 1:45 p.m.
Maryland at Louisiana, 4:00 p.m.
Bradley vs. Dartmouth, 6:15 p.m.
Mississippi Valley vs. Dartmouth, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 26
Dartmouth vs. Maryland, 10:00 a.m.
Bradley at Louisiana, 12:15 p.m.
Mississippi Valley at Louisiana, 2:30 p.m.
NOTING THE FALCONS
• The Falcons currently lead the Mid-American Conference in batting average, as BG is hitting .339 through nine games. BGSU is ranked 45th in the country in fielding percentage (.975) and 54th in earned-run average (2.17). Redshirt junior Chelsea Raker is hitting .467 to rank second in the MAC, and she is 12th in the nation in doubles per game (0.67) and 15th in runs batted in (14).
• The Falcons are 6-3 on the young season. BGSU went a perfect 4-0 at the CSU Dome Tournament, hosted by Cleveland State, on Feb. 11-12. Then, the Brown and Orange competed in Charlotte's First Pitch Classic last weekend (Feb. 17-19), advancing to the championship game of that four-team tournament before losing to the host 49ers.
• Raker hit .611 last weekend, going 11-for-18 in the five games in Charlotte. She had four multiple-hit games, including three three-hit games, in the five contests, with an on-base percentage of .650 and a slugging pct. of .833.
• Raker was 3-for-4 with a double in Friday's game vs. host Charlotte, then went a combined 5-for-7 in Saturday's two wins over St. Bonaventure. Raker drove in six runs in those two games. In the opener, she was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Then, in the nightcap, Raker was 3-for-3 and tied a school record with three doubles. She scored a run and had four RBI in the 5-4 victory. In her fourth plate appearance of the game, she was intentionally walked. Raker capped the weekend by going 3-for-4 with an RBI vs. Charlotte on Sunday.
• On the season, Raker is hitting a team-best .467, and she also paces the Falcons in hits (14), doubles (six), RBI (14), on-base pct. (.529) and slugging pct. (.767).
• Raker's three doubles in Saturday's second game, as mentioned, tied the BGSU single-game record. Raker matched the mark set by Erin Zwinck (March 12, 1999, vs. Illinois State) and tied by Renee Rosemeier (April 28, 2002, vs. Buffalo).
• Sophomore Alex Sorgi is hitting .429 on the season, while redshirt junior Aspen Searle is batting .406. Sorgi leads the team in walks and runs, and is second on the Falcons with an on-base percentage of .515. Searle leads the team with two homers and is second in hits (13), homers (two), RBI (11) and slugging pct. (.625). Searle – like Raker – is hitting .533 (8-for-15) when batting with two outs this season.
• Sorgi hit .500 last weekend in Charlotte, going 9-of-18, and scored a team-high six runs in the five games.
• Sorgi, primarily a pinch-runner last year, was hitless in eight at-bats as a freshman in 2016. She was 0-for-3 in the 2017 season opener, but now has an eight-game hitting streak, and is batting .480 (12-for-25) in that time. She went 3-for-4, for the first three-hit game of her collegiate career, on Sunday vs. Charlotte.
• Sorgi has scored at least one run in seven of the last eight games, with two runs scored in four of those contests.
• BGSU banged out a total of 11 hits in each of the last three games in Charlotte. The Falcons had a double-digit hit total nine times during the entire 2016 campaign, but BG has had 10 or more hits four times in nine games in 2017. And, the Falcons have pounded out a total of at least eight hits in every game this year to date.
• The Falcons had a total of 23 stolen bases during all of 2016 (54 games). Through nine games in 2017, BGSU has stolen 12 bases in 13 attempts.
• Freshman Kendyl Wheeler is hitting .387 to rank fourth on the Falcons, while junior Katee Hinkle is batting .333. Senior Haley Schrock (.321) and freshman Logan Everett (.308) also are batting over .300 this season.
• In the circle, sophomore Kiley Sosby has a 3-2 record and a team-leading 1.80 earned-run average, while classmate Meredith Miller is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA. Sosby leads the BG staff in appearances and games started, with five of each. She has a team-high 32 strikeouts and has allowed opponents to hit just .167 against her.
• Miller is allowing foes to bat just .218 against her, and has 20 strikeouts and just five walks. Both Sosby and Miller have two complete games, including one shutout apiece, this year.
• Miller was perfect through five innings in her appearance vs. St. Bonaventure, and did not allow an earned run in that win.
• Senior Briana Combs is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA. Combs is ranked 35th in the nation in fewest walks per seven innings (0.62). Sophomore Brooke Parker has made two appearances in relief, and has thrown three scoreless innings to date.
• The Falcons have outscored the opponents, 44-24, this year, and BG has 85 hits to the foes' 43. BG scored 24 runs to the opponents' two in the four games in Cleveland, with a 35-11 hits advantage on the weekend. In Charlotte, the Falcons outhit the opposition, 50-32, in the five games.
• Seven players – Hinkle, Raker, Schrock, Searle, Sorgi, Wheeler and sophomore Hannah Giammarino – have started all nine games, while junior Laine Simmons has made seven starts and Everett and junior Kayla Gregory five apiece.
• Head coach Sarah Willis and her staff – assistant coaches Katie Reiff and Lauren Gambone, volunteer assistant Lyndsey Clark and alumnae coordinator Kolleen Kopchak – welcomed back 12 letterwinners, including five starters, from a year ago.
• BGSU was picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference East Division according to the MAC's preseason coaches' poll.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
• Drake enters the weekend with a 7-4 record. The Bulldogs went 4-1 in the UNI Dome Tournament two weekends ago, before going 2-3 at Arizona's Wildcat Invitational last weekend. Two of the three losses came to then-#10 Arizona.
• Megan Sowa is the lone player hitting over .300, with a .382 batting average on the year. Sarah Maddox is hitting .290, and leads the Bulldogs with eight runs scored, three homers and eight RBI. Nicole Newman is 5-2 with an ERA of just 0.98 in the circle, and she leads the entire nation with 69 strikeouts.
• Head coach Rich Calvert's Bulldogs went 30-24 overall last year, finishing second in both the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season standings and at the MVC Tournament. The Bulldogs were picked to win the conference title in 2017, according to the league's preseason poll.
• Louisiana is 6-3 on the season, and the Ragin' Cajuns are ranked 16th in the nation in both of the major national polls. Louisiana has been ranked in at least one national poll for 57-straight weeks.
• The Rajin' Cajuns are in the midst of a 23-game homestand to open the season. Last weekend, Louisiana won two of three games against then-#4 Alabama, capturing the final two games by a combined score of 18-2.
• Freshman pitcher Alyssa Denham was named USA Softball's National Player of the Week on Tuesday. She threw a two-hit shutout against 'Bama, and is 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA this season. Kelli Martinez is hitting a team-best .370 to pace a balanced offensive attack.
• Coach Michael Lotief's Rajin' Cajuns were picked to win the Sun Belt Conference in 2017, after going 46-9 overall and 21-2 in the conference last season.
• Maryland is 1-8 entering the weekend, but that one win was a big one, to say the least. The Terrapins snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating then-#1 Florida, 4-2, in Gainesville on Saturday.
• Madison Martin is hitting .529, while three teammates are batting between .379 and .393 on the season. The Terps have hit .286 as a team. Martin has a team-low 4.05 ERA in the circle, while Hannah Dewey picked up the win over Florida.
• Maryland head coach Julie Wright is a graduate of Ohio University and served as an assistant coach for the Bobcats and the head coach at Akron. Last year's team went 12-40 overall.
• Bradley enters the weekend with a 4-6 overall record, after winning three of five games in the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, N.M., last weekend. The Braves have scored 59 runs and allowed 63 in 10 games this season.
• Caitlyn McCarron is hitting .577, having gone 15-for-26 on the season, while Kelly Kapp is batting .400 with a team-leading 10 runs scored. Five pitchers have seen action in at least three games apiece for the Braves.
• Bradley was picked to tie for seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference this year, according to the league preseason poll. The Braves went 18-30 overall and 12-14 in the MVC a year ago.
THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Drake, 1-0, in the all-time series between the teams. The only previous meeting was a 4-2 Falcon win in April of 1986.
• The Falcons trail Louisiana, 3-0, in that series. All three meetings came between 1993 and 1999. That '93 matchup came in the NCAA Regionals in Ann Arbor, Mich., when the Rajin' Cajuns (then Southwestern Louisiana) posted a 7-3 win.
• BGSU trails Bradley, 4-3, in that series. The Braves captured a 9-8 decision last season in the Phyllis Rafter Memorial at Kennesaw, Ga. Prior to that, the teams had not met since 2009, when BG won an 8-6 outcome.
• The Falcons and Maryland will be meeting for the first time on the softball diamond.
COMING UP...
• Following the five games in Lafayette, the Falcons will head to Louisville, Ky., to take part in the Red & Black Tournament (March 3-5). BGSU will play a total of five games in that tourney, facing Green Bay and Indiana State twice each while also playing one game against host Louisville.
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Players Mentioned
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C/IF
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IF
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2B
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1B
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3B
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OF
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P/Util.
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OF
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