Falcons Host Zips in Key Conference Series

Friday, April 28

Bowling Green, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Akron

April 27, 2017 | Softball

Due to the forecast, the teams will play a Friday DH & a Saturday single game

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

• The Bowling Green State University softball team concludes the home portion of the 2017 schedule this weekend. Head coach Sarah Willis and the Falcons welcome the University of Akron to Meserve Field for a three-game weekend series. NOTE: Due to rain in the weekend forecast, the teams are now scheduled to play a Friday (April 28) doubleheader, starting at 1:00 p.m., followed by a Saturday (April 29) single game. The first pitch of Saturday's game is also scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

• Saturday's game is scheduled to be broadcast by BCSN in the Toledo area, and is also scheduled to be available on ESPN3.com. Additionally, live stats will be available for all three games. And, twitter updates for all BG softball action, both home and away, can be found at @BGSUSoftball on your twitter-related device.

BGSU SOFTBALL LINKS
THIS WEEK'S NOTES: BGSU
BGSU 2017 Media Guide
THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENT: Akron
VIDEO: Falcons Ready for Pivotal MAC Series (Sentinel-Tribune)

SENIOR DAY
• Saturday will be Senior Day for the Falcon softball program, with five student-athletes recognized in ceremonies prior to that day's game. That quintet includes Briana Combs, Katee Hinkle, Sami Parave, Chelsea Raker and Haley Schrock.

THE FALCONS & THE MAC RACE
With two weekends left in the regular season, the Falcons are one of four teams tied for sixth in the overall MAC standings. Eight teams will qualify for the MAC Tournament, which begins on May 10 at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. The complete standings, along with each team's remaining MAC schedule, follows...

MAC STANDINGS & REMAINING SCHEDULE
Team (Overall)    W-L   Pct.   Remaining MAC Series*
1. Ball State (29-21) 13-5   .722   at CMU, at WMU
Central Michigan (31-13) 13-5   .722   vs. Ball State, at EMU
3. Miami (27-18)    12-6   .667   at Ohio, vs. Akron
4. Ohio (30-14)   11-7   .611   vs. Miami, at Buffalo
5. Northern Illinois (24-18) 10-8   .556   vs. EMU, vs. Toledo
6. Bowling Green (23-27) 9-9   .500   vs. Akron, at Kent State
   Akron (23-25) 9-9   .500   at BGSU, at Miami
   Kent State (21-24) 9-9   .500   at Buffalo, vs. BGSU
   Toledo (22-30)    9-9   .500   vs. WMU, at NIU
10. Western Michigan (19-24)   7-11 .389   at Toledo, vs. Ball State
11. Buffalo (8-40)    3-15   .167   vs. Kent State, vs. Ohio
   Eastern Michigan (15-29)   3-15 .167   at NIU, vs. CMU
* each series is three games

TRUST THE PROCESS
• BGSU has shattered last year's win totals in multiple categories. The Falcons have bested last season's overall and MAC victory totals, and BG has more than doubled last year's home win total. The latter feat is even more impressive given the fact that the 2017 team has played just eight games at Meserve Field this spring.
SHOWING IMPROVEMENT
Year   Overall   MAC   Home
2016 18-36 6-17   3-11
2017 23-27   9- 9   7- 1

NOTING THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 23-27 on the season, and BGSU is 9-9 in the Mid-American Conference. BG, picked to finish sixth (i.e., last) in the MAC's East Division in the preseason coaches poll, is currently tied with Akron and Kent State – the Falcons' two remaining opponents – for third place.

• Just three games separate the top five teams in the division, as Miami is 12-6, Ohio 11-7 and BGSU, UA and KSU all are 9-9. To put it another way, only three games separate the teams tied for third in the overall MAC standings from the team currently in ninth. Eight teams will qualify for the MAC Tournament.

• BGSU will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak, as the Falcons were swept at Ohio last weekend before dropping a midweek game at Fort Wayne.

• BGSU, as mentioned earlier, is 7-1 at home this season to date. Falcon pitchers have thrown four shutouts in the last seven games at Meserve Field.

• Redshirt junior Aspen Searle is hitting .350 to lead the Falcons. In addition to batting average, she also paces the Brown and Orange in hits (56), doubles (13), total bases (84), on-base percentage (.410) and slugging pct. (.525), and the shortstop is second in homers (five), runs scored (23) and RBI (32).

• Freshman RF Kendyl Wheeler is hitting .328 in her initial collegiate campaign, with a team-leading total of three triples. Wheeler is third on the club in total bases and stolen bases.

• Redshirt junior 1b Chelsea Raker is batting .318, while sophomore LF Alex Sorgi is hitting .309. Raker has team-leading totals of six homers and 34 RBI, and she is second on the club in hits (48), doubles (11), total bases (77), on-base pct. (.400), slugging pct. (.510) and walks (22).

• Sorgi leads the Falcons in runs (35), walks (23) and stolen bases (15). She is second on the team in hits (50), third in on-base pct. (.395) and tied for third in total bases (54).

• Senior 3B Haley Schrock is batting .277 on the season, and is third on the team in doubles, homers and walks. Sorgi has 15 RBI and Schrock 14, ranking them third and fourth, respectively, in that category.

• Schrock has seven sacrifice flies this year, a new school single-season record. She leads the MAC and is tied for first in the entire nation in that category.

• Junior C Laine Simmons and sophomore CF Hannah Giammarino are hitting .264 and .250, respectively. Simmons has six doubles on the year.

• In the circle, four different Falcons have made at least four starts, and all four have thrown at least one complete game.

• Three sophomores have three or more wins apiece. Meredith Miller owns a 13-8 record and a 2.58 earned-run average. In addition to wins and ERA, Miller leads the Falcons in innings pitched (141 1/3), strikeouts (107), complete games (15) and shutouts (four).

• Sophomore Brooke Parker has six wins and has won three of her last four decisions. She is 6-12 on the year and has a 3.22 ERA, 50 strikeouts and a save. Another soph, Kiley Sosby, is 3-4 with a 4.65 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings. She has allowed opponents to hit just .200 against her.

• Senior Briana Combs is 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA. She has made eight appearances, starting four games, this spring.

• The Falcons have 357 hits to the foes' 344 this year, with a team batting average of .270 to the opponents' .269.

• Four players – Raker, Schrock, Searle and Sorgi – have started all 50 games, while Wheeler has made 44 starts, Giammarino 41 and junior 2B Katee Hinkle 39. The catching platoon of Simmons and freshman Logan Everett have started 34 and 24 times, respectively, and senior OF/DP Sami Parave has made 29 starts.

• BGSU has records of 4-18 in true road games and 12-8 in neutral-site contests this season to date.

• 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.

ADDITIONAL FALCON FACTS
• The Falcons are 7-1 at Meserve Field after finishing with a 3-11 home mark last year. Pitching has been a big reason for that home success. In those eight games, sophomores Meredith Miller and Brooke Parker have combined for eight complete games and an ERA of just 0.74. Miller and Parker each have thrown two shutouts at Meserve Field.

• All of BGSU's remaining MAC games are against East Division opponents. The Falcons went 5-4 against MAC West Division foes, and BG is currently 4-5 in intra-divisional games.

• The Falcons have not been at .500 or higher in league action this late in the year since the 2012 team finished the regular season with a 15-7 conference record.

• BG's nine MAC wins are the Falcons' most since the 2014 team went 9-11 in league play. No BG team has won more than nine games since that 2012 campaign.

• Senior 3B Haley Schrock, as mentioned earlier, has seven sacrifice flies this season, a new school record. Schrock has broken the BGSU career record as well, with nine. Redshirt junior 1B Chelsea Raker has eight career sac flies, tying her for second in BG history.

• Schrock is ranked third in BGSU history with 79 career walks.

• Schrock has played in exactly 200 games in her BGSU career, starting them all. She is tied for seventh in school history in career games started, and could move into fourth on that list by the end of the 2017 regular season.

• Redshirt juniors Chelsea Raker and Aspen Searle each have made their mark on the program, both in 2017 and over the previous few years. Raker has 34 RBI this year, and is just eight shy of tying the school single-season record.

• Searle, with 13 doubles, is just five away from matching that BG single-season mark. Both records (doubles and RBI) are held by Gina Rango.

• Searle is 11th in BGSU history with 174 hits, and is just two away from tying one of her coaches, Kolleen Kopchak, for 10th on that BG career list. Searle is sixth in school history in homers (19), seventh in RBI (90), 10th in runs (90) and 11th in doubles (33).

• Raker is tied for seventh in career homers (18), and she is deadlocked for eighth in RBI (87) and knotted for 14th in doubles (28).

• Freshman RF Kendyl Wheeler is batting a BG-best .366 in MAC games to date, while Searle is hitting .345 in league play. Sophomore Hannah Giammarino is batting .333 against conference competition, and freshman C Logan Everett also is hitting .333 in 18 at-bats vs. league foes.

• Sophomore OF Alex Sorgi is hitting .323 in MAC games, and has a team-leading nine runs in league action. With eight RBI, Sorgi is second on the Falcons – two behind Searle – in that category.

SCOUTING AKRON
• Akron is 23-25 on the year, and the Zips, like the Falcons, are 9-9 in MAC play entering this weekend's series. After dropping two of three games to visiting Kent State over the weekend, the Zips began an eight-game road swing with a pair of two-run wins at Niagara on Wednesday.

• Akron is 6-9 at home, 9-10 on the road and 8-6 in neutral-site games this year. In league action, the Zips are 5-6 at home and 4-3 on the road.

• Ashley Sims leads the team with a .393 batting average, while Savannah Fruin is hitting .328 with UA-best totals of 10 homers and 41 RBI. Sims entered the week ranked 11th in the nation in stolen bases per game, and she now has a total of 39 steals on the season.

• In the circle, Lexie Handley has started 29 of UA's 48 games, and is 17-14 with a 2.30 ERA, 164 strikeouts and seven shutouts. Kooper Vertz is 4-4 with a 3.58 ERA, while Nicole Best is 2-3 with a 4.30 ERA.

• Junior 3B Caitlin Gambone, who has started all 48 games, is the sister of BGSU assistant coach Lauren Gambone.

• Head coach Julie Jones and the Zips welcomed back a total of 10 letterwinners. The 2016 team finished with an overall record of 30-25-1 and a MAC mark of 9-10-1.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Akron, 52-26-1, in the all-time series between the teams, and the Falcons went to Northeast Ohio and captured two of three games last year, bouncing back from a shutout loss to post wins by scores of 9-5 and 5-3.. Two years ago, however, the Zips came to Meserve Field and swept a doubleheader by a combined score of 14-1. The Falcons are 20-13-1 at home, 24-12 on the road and 8-1 in neutral-site meetings with the Zips over the years.

COMING UP...
• Following the Akron series, the Falcons will close the regular season with a trip to Kent State. BGSU will meet the Golden Flashes in a single game on Friday, May 5, followed by a doubleheader the following day at the Diamond at Dix. Then, the top-eight teams in the final MAC regular-season standings will head to Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, for the MAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 10.