Bowling Green State University Athletics
Searle, Schrock and Wheeler Take Home Awards at Softball Banquet
May 11, 2017 | Softball
Senior Haley Schrock, redshirt junior Aspen Searle and freshman Kendyl Wheeler took home awards as the Bowling Green State University softball program held its 2017 banquet on Monday (May 8). The event took place inside the Bowen-Thompson Student Union on the BGSU campus.
Searle was named the Falcons' Offensive Player of the Year, while Schrock was voted the team's Defensive Player of the Year. Wheeler took home the Meserve Award, named after Dr. Lee Meserve, BGSU's Faculty Athletics Representative, and his wife, Marge. The Falcons' home field also bears their name.
Searle, a native of Brantford, Ontario (Bishop Tonnos), was one of four Falcons to start all 56 games on the year, playing every 2017 game at shortstop. She finished second on the team in batting, with a .324 average, and led the Falcons in hits (58), doubles (14) and total bases (87). Searle tied for the team's RBI lead (35), and was second on the club in at-bats (179), runs scored (25), homers (five) and slugging percentage (.486). She drew 15 walks on the season, and was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen-base attempts. Searle led the Falcons in both multiple-hit games (16) and multi-RBI contests (eight), and she has already added her name to the BGSU career record book in multiple categories. With one year still remaining in her BGSU career, Searle is ranked among BG's career top-10 on no fewer than nine lists. She is sixth in school history in batting average, slugging percentage, homers and RBI, and she is ranked between eighth and 10th on the BG lists for runs, hits, doubles, total bases and sacrifice flies.
Schrock, who hails from Goshen, Ind. (Northridge H.S.), also started every game in 2017, making 56 starts at third base. She hit .266 to rank fifth on the team, with her total of 38 hits including nine that went for extra bases. Schrock had seven doubles and a pair of homers, ranking third on the Falcons in both categories. She set a school record with seven sacrifice flies on the season, and also led the team with nine sac bunts. Schrock had nine career sac flies, breaking that school record as well. She scored 14 runs and had 14 RBI in 2017, ranking fourth on the team in the latter category. Schrock tied for second on the Falcons with 23 walks, and was hit by a pitch on five occasions. In the field, Schrock had just five errors in 199 total chances, for a fielding percentage of .975. She played in 206 career games as a Falcon, tying her for 11th on that BGSU career list. Schrock started all 206 of those games, ranking her fourth in school history in games started. She also ended her career ranked third in BG annals with 85 career walks, and she tied for 15th in sac bunts, with 19.
The Meserve Award is presented to the BGSU softball student-athlete who demonstrated the following qualities throughout the season:Â passion, leadership, competitive spirit, 'teamsmanship,' athletic and academic excellence, and resiliency.
Wheeler, a native of Plainfield, Ind. (Plainfield H.S.), was named to the MAC's All-Freshman Team in her initial season with the Falcons. She played in 44 games on the year, starting them all, led the Falcons in hitting, with a .328 batting average. Her 43 hits included six for extra bases, as she led the Falcons with three triples, and also had two doubles and a homer. Wheeler scored 14 runs and drove in 10, and she was fourth on the team in both hits (43) and total bases (54), despite missing the final 10 games of the season due to injury. She was third on the team in stolen bases, going 5-for-7, and had an on-base pct. of .346 and a slugging pct. of .412. Her total of 14 multiple-hit games ranked fourth on the Falcons. Wheeler led the Orange and Brown in hitting in MAC games as well, batting .366 against conference competition, and she also paced BG in slugging pct. (.512) and on-base pct. (.381) in league action. Wheeler started all but two of BG's first 46 games in right field, before suffering the injury that sidelined her for the remainder of the season.
Head coach Sarah Willis and assistant coaches Katie Reiff, Lauren Gambone and Lyndsey Clark handed out various Mid-American Conference and regional awards earned by the student-athletes over the past year, and the coaching staff also presented the team's five seniors with framed jerseys at the banquet. The senior class includes Schrock, Briana Combs, Katee Hinkle, Sami Parave and Chelsea Raker.
Additionally, underclass members of the program presented both the seniors and the coaching staff with gifts.
The Falcons, picked to finish sixth in the MAC's East Division, finished with records of 24-32 overall and 10-14 in conference play. BGSU won six more games in 2017 than in '16, and the team's MAC win total was four victories higher than the previous year.
All five members of the senior class have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.41 or higher. Two of the five earned their undergraduate degree in just three years, and all five are either currently enrolled in or have been accepted into graduate school.
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Searle was named the Falcons' Offensive Player of the Year, while Schrock was voted the team's Defensive Player of the Year. Wheeler took home the Meserve Award, named after Dr. Lee Meserve, BGSU's Faculty Athletics Representative, and his wife, Marge. The Falcons' home field also bears their name.
Searle, a native of Brantford, Ontario (Bishop Tonnos), was one of four Falcons to start all 56 games on the year, playing every 2017 game at shortstop. She finished second on the team in batting, with a .324 average, and led the Falcons in hits (58), doubles (14) and total bases (87). Searle tied for the team's RBI lead (35), and was second on the club in at-bats (179), runs scored (25), homers (five) and slugging percentage (.486). She drew 15 walks on the season, and was a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen-base attempts. Searle led the Falcons in both multiple-hit games (16) and multi-RBI contests (eight), and she has already added her name to the BGSU career record book in multiple categories. With one year still remaining in her BGSU career, Searle is ranked among BG's career top-10 on no fewer than nine lists. She is sixth in school history in batting average, slugging percentage, homers and RBI, and she is ranked between eighth and 10th on the BG lists for runs, hits, doubles, total bases and sacrifice flies.
Schrock, who hails from Goshen, Ind. (Northridge H.S.), also started every game in 2017, making 56 starts at third base. She hit .266 to rank fifth on the team, with her total of 38 hits including nine that went for extra bases. Schrock had seven doubles and a pair of homers, ranking third on the Falcons in both categories. She set a school record with seven sacrifice flies on the season, and also led the team with nine sac bunts. Schrock had nine career sac flies, breaking that school record as well. She scored 14 runs and had 14 RBI in 2017, ranking fourth on the team in the latter category. Schrock tied for second on the Falcons with 23 walks, and was hit by a pitch on five occasions. In the field, Schrock had just five errors in 199 total chances, for a fielding percentage of .975. She played in 206 career games as a Falcon, tying her for 11th on that BGSU career list. Schrock started all 206 of those games, ranking her fourth in school history in games started. She also ended her career ranked third in BG annals with 85 career walks, and she tied for 15th in sac bunts, with 19.
The Meserve Award is presented to the BGSU softball student-athlete who demonstrated the following qualities throughout the season:Â passion, leadership, competitive spirit, 'teamsmanship,' athletic and academic excellence, and resiliency.
Wheeler, a native of Plainfield, Ind. (Plainfield H.S.), was named to the MAC's All-Freshman Team in her initial season with the Falcons. She played in 44 games on the year, starting them all, led the Falcons in hitting, with a .328 batting average. Her 43 hits included six for extra bases, as she led the Falcons with three triples, and also had two doubles and a homer. Wheeler scored 14 runs and drove in 10, and she was fourth on the team in both hits (43) and total bases (54), despite missing the final 10 games of the season due to injury. She was third on the team in stolen bases, going 5-for-7, and had an on-base pct. of .346 and a slugging pct. of .412. Her total of 14 multiple-hit games ranked fourth on the Falcons. Wheeler led the Orange and Brown in hitting in MAC games as well, batting .366 against conference competition, and she also paced BG in slugging pct. (.512) and on-base pct. (.381) in league action. Wheeler started all but two of BG's first 46 games in right field, before suffering the injury that sidelined her for the remainder of the season.
Head coach Sarah Willis and assistant coaches Katie Reiff, Lauren Gambone and Lyndsey Clark handed out various Mid-American Conference and regional awards earned by the student-athletes over the past year, and the coaching staff also presented the team's five seniors with framed jerseys at the banquet. The senior class includes Schrock, Briana Combs, Katee Hinkle, Sami Parave and Chelsea Raker.
Additionally, underclass members of the program presented both the seniors and the coaching staff with gifts.
The Falcons, picked to finish sixth in the MAC's East Division, finished with records of 24-32 overall and 10-14 in conference play. BGSU won six more games in 2017 than in '16, and the team's MAC win total was four victories higher than the previous year.
All five members of the senior class have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.41 or higher. Two of the five earned their undergraduate degree in just three years, and all five are either currently enrolled in or have been accepted into graduate school.
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Players Mentioned
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P/Util.
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2B
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1B
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3B
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IF
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OF
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