Falcons Host League-Leading Ohio on Final Weekend of Regular Season

• The Bowling Green State University softball team wraps up the 2018 regular-season schedule with a three-game series against the Mid-American Conference leaders. Head coach Sarah Willis and the Falcons face Ohio University in a 3:00 p.m. single game on Friday (May 4) and a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (May 5).

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INSIDE THE NEST: Simmons
PHOTO GALLERY: BGSU Seniors
THE OPPONENT: Ohio Softball
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THE FALCONS & THE MAC RACE
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, the Falcons are in ninth place in the overall MAC standings. Eight teams will qualify for the MAC Tournament, which begins Wednesday (May 9) 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. Ohio (32-14) 18-2 .900 at Bowling Green
2. Toledo (31-17) 15-5 .750 vs. Ball State
3. Ball State (32-16) 14-6 .700 at Toledo
4. Kent State (26-20) 12-8 .600 vs. Akron
5. Western Mich. (26-22) 12-9 .571 vs. Eastern Michigan
6. Central Mich. (21-22) 11-9 .550 at Northern Illinois
7. Northern Ill. (19-29) 9-10 .474 vs. Central Michigan
8. Miami (22-22) 9-11 .450 at Buffalo
9. Bowling Green (25-24) 7-12 .368 vs. Ohio
10. Buffalo (15-29) 6-14 .300 vs. Miami
11. Eastern Mich. (10-37) 5-15 .250 at Western Michigan
12. Akron (3-41-1) 2-19 .095 at Kent State

IN THE NEST: SIMMONS

BGSU'S MAC TOURNAMENT POSSIBILITIES
• Entering the final weekend of the regular season, the Falcons sit in ninth place in the overall MAC standings. BGSU (7-12 MAC) trails eighth place Miami (9-11) by a game and a half, and the Falcons are two games behind seventh-place Northern Illinois (9-10). The top eight teams in the final standings, based on winning pct., will head to Akron for the league tourney.

• Miami plays a three-game series at Buffalo this weekend, while NIU hosts Central Michigan and BGSU, obviously, hosts Ohio.

• To qualify for the MAC Tournament, the Falcons need to win two more games than either MU or NIU this weekend. So, BGSU needs to take two of three games from Ohio to have a chance to make the tourney. If BG goes 2-1 vs. Ohio and either NIU or MU gets swept in their weekend series, the Falcons will qualify for the tourney.

• In the event of a BGSU sweep of first-place Ohio, the Falcons would make the MAC Tournament if either NIU or MU goes 1-2 or 0-3 this weekend.

• If all games are played this weekend, it is not possible for BGSU and Miami to finish in a tie in the standings.

• It is possible for BG and NIU to finish in a tie. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head results, and the Falcons and Huskies did not meet in 2018. The second tiebreaker is each team's record against the other MAC teams, starting at the top of the standings. NIU went 1-2 vs. Ohio this season, so if BG wins two or more games vs. the Bobcats this weekend, the Falcons would win a tiebreaker with the Huskies.

THANKS, SENIORS
• Saturday will be Senior Day at Meserve Field, with the Falcons' three seniors recognized in on-field ceremonies prior to the first game of that day's doubleheader. That BGSU trio consists of Alivia Forshey, Aspen Searle and Laine Simmons.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• BGSU enters the weekend with an overall record of 25-24, and the Falcons are 7-12 in MAC play. BG won seven consecutive games from April 11-23, but the Orange and Brown have dropped five-straight contests since that time.

• The seven-game win streak began when BGSU won the second game of a home doubleheader vs. Miami (April 11), then went to Buffalo and swept a twinbill two days later, scoring 18 runs vs. the Bulls. BG then captured three-straight games at Akron the next weekend before earning a run-rule win vs. Detroit.

• Then, however, the Falcons lost at Notre Dame before dropping three games vs. Kent State and one at Wright State. The latter three setbacks came by a combined four runs, including back-to-back one-run losses vs. the Golden Flashes.

• BGSU currently sits in fourth place in the East Division, and the Falcons are ninth in the overall MAC standings. BG is 4-9 in home games, 8-12 in true road contests and 13-3 in neutral-site games this season to date. The Falcons have hit .293 as a team, while allowing the opponents to bat just .242.

• The Falcons have five starters hitting at least .300, with three others batting at least .260. Six of those eight players are slugging .423 or higher, with 10 or more extra-base hits this year.

• Senior Aspen Searle is batting .378 and has scored a team-high 33 runs. Searle paces BG with 62 hits, 23 extra-base knocks, 100 total bases, a .420 on-base percentage and a slugging pct. of .610. She is ranked on the BGSU career lists in nearly every offensive category.

• Junior Alex Sorgi is hitting .331 on the season, and has 54 hits, good for second on the team. Sorgi leads the Falcons in stolen bases (20), and is only the third player in BGSU history to steal as many as 20 bases in a season. She is second on the Falcons in runs (31) and walks (17), in addition to hits.

• Freshman Sammy Dees and senior Laine Simmons are hitting .313 and .310, respectively. Dees has 13 extra-base hits and 18 RBI this year, while Simmons has six homers, good for a tie for third on the team. Simmons has 17 RBI, including 10 in the last nine games.

• Juniors Kali Holcomb and Kaylee Parker are hitting .307 and .277, respectively, while freshman Sarah Gonzalez is batting .264 and junior Kellie Natham .261. Holcomb leads the Falcons with eight homers and a school-record 45 RBI. She also paces BG with 19 walks, and she has 14 multiple-RBI games, nearly double the total of any of her teammates. Parker is second on the team with 24 RBI, while Gonzalez is second on the Falcons with seven homers.

• Through 49 games, BGSU has a total of 380 hits to the opponents' 291. BG has 102 extra-base hits, compared to 85 for Falcon foes.

• Five Falcons – Dees, Gonzalez, Holcomb, Searle and Alex Sorgi – have started all 49 games, while Kaylee Parker has made 48 starts, Simmons 38 and Natham 37.

• In the circle, junior Meredith Miller is 13-14 with an ERA of 3.15, and she has 145 strikeouts in 153 1/3 innings of work. Miller has allowed opponents to hit just .239 against her.

• Junior Brooke Parker is 10-7 with a 3.22 ERA in 117 1/3 innings, and has topped her win total for all of last season. Classmate Kiley Sosby has pitched 26 innings and is 1-2 with a 4.58 ERA. Parker has three saves and Sosby one, and Sosby has allowed opponents to hit just .191.

• Freshman Madison French has pitched in 12 games, including seven in the MAC, while classmate Olivia Riener has seen action in two games, both in league play. French made her first collegiate start vs. Detroit Mercy, and fired a one-hitter in BG's run-rule win.

ASPEN SEARLE RECORD WATCH
• Senior Aspen Searle's name is all over the BGSU record book, as she is near the top of nearly every career batting list kept by the school. Searle has moved into second place on the BGSU career lists for at-bats (712), hits (238), doubles (48) and total bases (375), and she is third in games played (223) and games started (219). Searle is ranked fourth in runs scored (125) and RBI (116).

• Searle is sixth in home runs (25), batting avg. (.334) and slugging pct. (.527), and she is also on the BG lists for sacrifice flies (T-ninth), triples (T-13th) and walks (15th).

• Additionally, Searle is ranked among the NCAA's active career leaders in five categories. Among current Division-I players, Searle is ranked 28th or better in career games played, at-bats, hits, doubles and total bases.

ALEX ADDS HER NAME TO SEVERAL LISTS, TOO
• Junior Alex Sorgi has etched her name on several BGSU lists as well. Sorgi has moved into third place in school history with 43 career stolen bases, and she is ranked ninth in hitting, with a career batting average of .314 entering the week.

• Sorgi, as mentioned earlier, is just the third player in BG history – and the first in over two decades – to swipe as many as 20 bases on a season. BGSU Hall-of-Famer Amy Lienhardt did so on three occasions, including a school-record 53 thefts in 1988, while Jenny Ranz stole 29 bases in 1997.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE OPPONENT
• Ohio is 32-14 overall, and the Bobcats are 18-2 in MAC play. The 'Cats have clinched at least a tie for the overall MAC regular-season championship, and would clinch the title outright with one win or one Toledo loss this weekend. Ohio has won four-straight games and 14 of the last 15 contests. Last weekend, the Bobcats outscored Buffalo, 34-1, in a three-game sweep. Mikayla Cooper leads the team with a .375 batting average, while Alex Day is hitting .348. Both players have a double-digit home run total and over 100 total bases, and both are hitting over .390 in MAC play. In the circle, Danielle Stiene is 22-5 – including a perfect 11-0 mark in league games – with a 1.80 ERA and 212 strikeouts, while Madi McCrady is 7-6 with a 3.88 ERA. Steine leads the MAC in multiple categories, including wins, strikeouts and shutouts. Last season, head coach Jodi Hermanek's team finished 42-18 overall and 17-7 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• BGSU leads Ohio, 56-52, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bobcats have won six-straight meetings between the clubs. Last year, Ohio captured three games against the Falcons in Athens, winning the final contest by a 1-0 score in nine innings. Two seasons ago, the 'Cats swept a three-game set from the Orange and Brown at Meserve Field. The Falcons are 27-20 in home games, 19-26 on the road and 9-6 in neutral-site matchups with Ohio over the years.

COMING UP...
• For the Falcons, the Ohio series concludes the regular season. Following this weekend's action, the top eight teams in the league standings will head to Akron for the MAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday (May 9) at Firestone Stadium.

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