Falcons Fly to Texas for Seven Games in Five Days

Friday, March 2

Lubbock, TX

11:30 AM ET

Bowling Green State University

UTSA

Kali Holcomb, one of three Texas natives on the roster, & the Falcons head to Lubbock this weekend

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

March 01, 2018 | Softball

BGSU heads to Texas Tech's tourney, then faces Abilene Christian Tuesday

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

• The Bowling Green State University softball team heads to Texas to play five games in this weekend's Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic, hosted by Texas Tech. Head coach Sarah Willis and the Falcons are scheduled to play two games each against host TTU and UTSA, along with one contest vs. New Mexico. All games in the three-day tourney, which begins Friday morning (March 2), will be held at Rocky Johnson Field in Lubbock, Texas.

• Then, the Brown and Orange will head to Abilene for a Tuesday (March 6) doubleheader vs. Abilene Christian. That twinbill is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. ET) at Wells Field.

BGSU SOFTBALL LINKS
BGSU Weekly Notes: PDF
Jeannine McHaney Tournament Central
2018 Schedule | 2018 Record Book

FOUR THINGS TO KNOW
• The Falcons head to Texas with a 9-1 record. BGSU's start is the best in program history. BG has outscored the opponents by a combined 67-17, and the Falcons have hit .353 as a team to the foes' .176.

• BGSU has three Texas natives on the 2018 roster. Junior Meredith Miller is in her second season as a Falcon after spending her freshman year at Southern Mississippi. Fellow juniors Kali Holcomb and Kaylee Parker each are in their first year at BG after playing at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas.

• Additionally, BGSU head coach Sarah Willis is a two-time graduate of Texas Tech, having earned a bachelor's degree in 2008 and a master's degree from the school in 2010. She pitched for the Red Raiders from 2005-08, and finished her career with 22 wins and 298 strikeouts in 113 appearances. Willis then began her coaching career as a student assistant coach at TTU.

• Freshman 2B Sammy Dees leads the Falcons in hitting, with a .486 batting average, and she has an on-base percentage of .538 and a slugging pct. of .829 to pace the team in those categories as well. Dees has recorded seven multiple-hit games in her first 10 contests as a Falcon.

SCHOOL-RECORD START
• As mentioned earlier, the Falcons are off to a school-record start. This year's team was just the second in school history to begin the year with a 6-0 mark, and no other BG squad has won nine of the season's first 10 games. A list of the best 10-game starts in program history...
TOP TEAMS THROUGH TEN GAMES
2018   9-1
2007    8-2
2000 7-3
2017      6-4
2012 6-4
2006 6-4
2003 6-4
1983 5-4-1
Seven times 5-5

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• BGSU opened the season by going 5-0 at the CSU Dome Tournament in Cleveland, and the Falcons posted a 4-1 mark at the Elon Classic the following weekend.

• The Falcons have four starters, including three newcomers, who are hitting over .400, slugging over .600 and have at least five extra-base hits this year to date.

• Junior Kali Holcomb enters the weekend's action in her home state with a 10-game hitting streak, having picked up at least one hit in every game she has played as a Falcon. Holcomb is second on the club in batting, with a .441 average.

• Freshman Sarah Gonzalez did not get a hit in the season opener, but has put together a nine-game hitting streak since that time. Gonzalez is batting .429 in her first year as a Falcon.

• Another freshman, Sammy Dees, is hitting a team-high .486. As mentioned earlier, she has seven multi-hit games in her first 10 contests as a Falcon, with four two-hit games and three three-hit contests.

• The Falcons' win over North Texas, in the first game of the Elon Classic, capped a stellar three-game stretch for Dees. In those three contests, all victories, she reached base in 10 out of 13 plate appearances, hitting .727 (8-of-11) with five doubles, two homers and a slugging pct. of 1.727.

• Senior Aspen Searle is batting .429 and has scored a team-high 12 runs. Searle is rapidly moving up the BGSU career lists in multiple offensive categories.

• Through 10 games, BGSU has 103 hits to the opponents' 41. BG has 31 extra-base hits, compared to 11 for Falcon foes.

• Four other Falcons are hitting .300 or better. Sophomore Logan Everett is hitting .375 in limited action, while junior Kellie Natham played in all five of BG's games at the Elon Classic and hit .333.

• Junior Alex Sorgi is batting .303 with 11 runs scored and a team-leading eight walks. Senior Laine Simmons is hitting an even .300 on the year.

• Junior Kaylee Parker is batting .290 on the season, and has eight RBI to rank third on the team behind Holcomb (16) and Gonzalez (nine).

• In the circle, junior Meredith Miller is 5-0 with an ERA of 1.10 and 51 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings of work. She has allowed opponents to hit just .153 against her.

• Junior Brooke Parker is 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 22 2/3 innings, while classmate Kiley Sosby has pitched six-plus innings and is 1-0 with a 1.05 ERA. Both Parker and Sosby have one save on the young season.

FALCONS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• BGSU can be found all over the latest NCAA statistical rankings. As of Monday (Feb. 26), the Falcons were ranked ninth in the nation in team batting average (.353), and BG was fourth in doubles per game (2.30), 13th in winning pct. (.900), 16th in on-base pct. (.430), 19th in slugging pct. (.510) and 20th in scoring (6.70). BG leads the MAC in all six of those categories.

• BGSU is also ranked among the top-30 in fielding pct. (27th) and ERA (28th).

• Individually, junior Kali Holcomb is sixth in the nation in RBI per game (1.60), while freshman Sammy Dees is 10th in doubles per game (0.60) and 12th in total doubles (six). Dees leads the MAC in both categories.

• Senior Aspen Searle is 24th in the nation in runs per game, while junior Alex Sorgi is 35th in the country in walks and 38th in runs.

• Junior Meredith Miller is ranked among the nation's top-50 pitchers in no fewer than five categories, including shutouts (27th), strikeouts per seven innings (33rd), hits allowed per seven innings (36th), total strikeouts (43rd) and wins (50th).

ASPEN MOVING TOWARD THE SUMMIT: SEARLE RECORD WATCH
• Senior Aspen Searle has added her name to the BGSU record book in many, many categories. Searle enters the Texas Tech tourney tied for fifth in school history in hits (191), and she is ranked sixth in five categories, including batting average (.328), home runs (20), RBI (98), total bases (298) and slugging percentage (.511).

• Searle is ranked seventh in runs scored (104), and she is eighth in doubles (37), tied for eighth in sacrifice flies (four), 14th in at-bats (583) and tied for 17th in walks (48).

A QUICK LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
• UTSA was 7-5 on the season, heading into a Wednesday meeting with Texas State. The Roadrunners' Celeste Loughman is batting a team-high .432, while Bailee Baldwin has seven home runs in 12 games. Lizzy Fox and Madison Nelson each have pitched in eight games this spring. Coach Michelle Cheatham's team went 21-32 overall and 9-15 in Conference USA action last year.

• Texas Tech enters the weekend with an 8-6 record after a DH split vs. New Mexico State on Tuesday. Freshman Erin Edmoundson was named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday. She is 5-1 with an ERA of just 0.88, while Jessica Hartwell is batting a team-best .500 with five homers and 14 RBI. Head coach Adrian Gregory welcomed back nine players from last year's club that went 19-36 overall and 4-14 in conference play.

• New Mexico is 2-13 on the young season. Chelsea Johnson leads the Lobos with a .308 batting average, while three pitchers each have thrown between 21 and 30 innings. First-year coach Paula Congleton has 10 returning letterwinners from last year's club that finished 20-30 overall and 6-18 in the Mountain West Conference.

• Abilene Christian is 4-7 on the year, and the Wildcats are scheduled to play four games in Oklahoma's tournament this weekend before welcoming BG to town. Donelle Johnson is hitting .375 to lead the team, while Hannah Null has all four of the Wildcats' wins, including a no-hitter vs. Southern Illinois. Coach Bobby Reeves welcomed back 12 players, including five preseason all-league selections, from the 2017 team that went 33-22 overall and 20-7 in the Southland Conference.

THE SERIES
• BGSU trails the series with Texas Tech, 1-0. The teams' only meeting saw the Red Raiders pick up a 4-0 win in Houston in 1998.

• The Falcons have never met UTSA, New Mexico or Abilene Christian on the softball diamond.

COMING UP...
• Following the Abilene Christian DH, BGSU will head to Memphis, Tenn., for the UofM Softball Tournament that weekend (March 9-11). BGSU is scheduled to face Indiana State, Mississippi Valley State, Tennessee State, Butler, and the host school, Memphis.

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