Mastodons, Rockets Up Next for Falcons

Wednesday, March 27

Fort Wayne, IN

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Purdue Fort Wayne

Taylor Blevins Lauren Gambone 2018 season

March 26, 2019 | Softball

BGSU Notes

BGSU heads to Fort Wayne before renewing Battle of I-75

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

THIS WEEK IN BGSU SOFTBALL
Date Opponent First Pitch*
Wed., March 27 at Purdue Fort Wayne (DH) 3:00 p.m.
Fri., March 29 TOLEDO 3:00 p.m.
Sat., March 30 TOLEDO (DH) 1:00 p.m.
* all times Eastern

SETTING THE SCENE
• The Bowling Green State University softball team, for the second-straight week, will hit the road for a pair of non-conference midweek matchups. Head coach Sarah Willis and the Falcons will face Purdue Fort Wayne in a Wednesday (March 27) doubleheader, with first pitch set for 3:00 p.m. at the Purdue Fort Wayne Softball Field.

• Then, the Falcons will begin the home portion of the Mid-American Conference schedule with a three-game series vs. arch-rival Toledo this weekend. The Falcons and Rockets are set for a Friday (March 29) single game and a Saturday (March 30) twinbill at Meserve Field.

TOUCH 'EM ALL (FOUR FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT THE FALCONS)
• A total of 16 different players have driven in at least one run this season to date. That ties the school record. The 1998 team also featured 16 different players who had at least one RBI.

• Junior Madi McCoy is batting .486 over the last nine games, having gone 19-for-37 at the plate in that time. She has seven multiple-hit games over the last nine contests, with a total 18 RBI. McCoy has homered in four of the last five games.

• Sophomore Nikki Sorgi had a total of nine hits during her freshman season. Sorgi has nearly tripled that total this year, with 24 hits in 2019, and she has eight multiple-hit games to tie for the team lead in that category.

• Another soph, Payton Hamm, had four hits during all of her freshman campaign, and has nearly quadrupled that mark in 2019, with 15 hits entering Wednesday's DH. Hamm and Nikki Sorgi combined for two extra-base hits during all of last season, but have a total of 18 this season.

DINGERS
• The Falcons hit a total of six home runs over the first 15 games of the season. In the last 11 contests, BG batters have homered 19 times. BG has had seven multiple-homer games in that 11-game span.

• BGSU had gone over three years without having a player homer twice in a game prior to two weeks ago. Then, it happened twice in a three-game span. Senior Kellie Natham hit two round-trippers in the home opener vs. Oakland. Then, Evelyn Loyola had her first multiple-homer game as a Falcon in a win over St. Bonaventure.

• Eight different BG players homered during all of last season. This season, a total of nine different Falcons have hit at least one homer.

• Junior Madi McCoy leads the team with six homers this year to date, while Loyola and Natham have four apiece and sophomore Nikki Sorgi three.

TRIPLE PLAY
• Sophomore Payton Hamm tripled in back-to-back plate appearances in the Falcons' game vs. Wright State last Wednesday (March 20). Hamm tied the school record for triples in a game.

• BGSU single-game records are incomplete, but Hamm is just the fourth Falcon since 2002 to triple twice in the same game.

• No Mid-American Conference player has ever had three triples in a game.
BGSU RECORD BOOK – MOST TRIPLES, GAME (since 2002)
No. Player Date, Opponent
2 Payton Hamm March 20, 2019, at Wright State
2 Melissa West April 4, 2009, at Northern Illinois (game 2)
2 Jeanine Baca April 4, 2005, at Valparaiso
2 Crystal Wilson Feb. 22, 2002, at Tennessee State

SISTER ACT
• Senior Alex Sorgi and her sister, sophomore Nikki Sorgi, are tied for the team lead with eight multiple-hit games each.

TAYLOR MADE
• Junior Taylor Blevins had a total of nine hits in her first two years with the Falcons. This season, she has 18 hits, including five in the MAC-opening three-game series at Ohio last weekend. Blevins tied for the team lead with a .417 batting average in that series, and she is hitting .353 on the season to tie for second on the team.

RECORD WATCH
• Senior Alex Sorgi scored her 100th career run in Saturday's first game at Ohio, and now has 101 as a Falcon. She is ranked eighth in school history on that list.

• Sorgi is third in school history with 54 career stolen bases, and is just three shy of second-place Jenny Ranz (57 steals from 1994-97) on that list. BG Hall-of-Famer Amy Lienhardt (121 steals from 1985-88) has a firm grip on the school record.

• Sorgi is 16th in career walks, while seniors Kali Holcomb and Kellie Natham are ranked in the top-10 on the BG career chart for sacrifice flies.

• Senior pitchers Meredith Miller and Brooke Parker are ranked on numerous BG lists as well. Miller is third in school history in strikeouts per seven innings, and seventh in total strikeouts. She is ninth in both wins and games started, and 10th in innings pitched and complete games.

• Parker is 11th in appearances, and she is tied for sixth in career saves. Parker is 14th in strikeouts as well as K's per seven innings, and she ranks 15th in both games started and innings pitched at BG.

• Fellow senior Kiley Sosby is ranked 16th in career strikeouts.

THE 2019 FALCONS: A QUICK OVERVIEW
• The Falcons are 10-16 overall and 0-3 in the MAC heading into the week. BGSU hit .313 as a team in the three-game conference-opening series at Ohio, and the Falcons are batting .286 to the opponents' .258 on the year.

• BGSU is 2-0 at home, 4-7 on the road and 4-9 at neutral sites to date.

• Four Falcon starters are hitting .300 or better, with four more regulars batting .263 or higher. Junior Madi McCoy leads the way with a .417 BA, and she paces the club with six home runs, 22 RBI and a .750 slugging percentage.

• Both junior Taylor Blevins and sophomore Nikki Sorgi are hitting .353, Sorgi has 10 extra-base hits to tie for the team lead. Her sister, senior Alex Sorgi, is hitting an even .300, and has team-high totals of 27 hits, 18 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.

• In the circle, seniors Meredith Miller and Brooke Parker have combined to start 25 of BG's 26 games. Miller has made 15 starts, and is 7-8 with a 3.67 earned-run average. She has five complete games, one shutout and 89 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings, and has allowed opponents to hit just .243 against her.

• Parker is 3-6 with a team-low 3.13 ERA and one save. She has four complete games, along with an opponent batting average of .276, and has struck out 41 hitters.

• A total of 20 different Falcons have made at least one start this season. Only Alex Sorgi and sophomore Sarah Gonzalez have started all 26 games.

THE OPPONENTS
• Purdue Fort Wayne is 5-19 overall, and the Mastodons are 0-3 in Summit League action after dropping a three-game series to visiting North Dakota State.
• Lacey Wilzbacher is hitting .277 on the year, while Alise Hale and Lauren Watson are batting .269 and .268, respectively.
• Shaina Eyre leads the pitching staff with 10 games started and a 5.23 ERA.
• Coach Germaine Fairchild welcomed back 10 players from last year's team that went 19-35 overall and 3-11 in the conference.

• Toledo is 9-17 on the season, and the Rockets are 1-2 in MAC play. UT is idle until Friday's series opener at Meserve Field.
• Kylie Norwood is batting .356 with a team-leading 19 RBI, while Megan Choate is hitting .304 for the Rockets.
• Six different players have seen time in the circle. Erin Hunt is 5-6 with a 3.26 ERA. She leads the team in wins, innings pitched (66 2/3) and strikeouts (78).
• First-year head coach Joe Abraham inherited 15 letterwinners from last year's club that went 35-23 overall and 16-7 in the MAC.

THE SERIES
• BGSU and Purdue Fort Wayne are tied, 10-10, in the all-time series. The Falcons captured last season's lone meeting by a 1-0 score at Meserve Field. In the teams' last meeting in Fort Wayne, the Dons took a 7-1 decision two years ago. BGSU is 7-4 at home, 2-5 on the road and 1-1 in neutral-site meetings with PFW over the years.

• The Falcons lead Toledo, 67-41, in that series, but the Rockets swept a three-game series in the Glass City last season. The teams have not played at Meserve Field since the Falcons swept a twinbill in March of 2015. All time, the Falcons are 37-13 at home, 24-26 on the road and 6-2 in neutral-site matchups with UT.

DOWN THE ROAD...
• Following the Toledo series, the Falcons will remain home to face Miami in a Tuesday (April 2) twinbill. Game one will begin at 3:00 p.m. at Meserve Field. Then, BG heads to Muncie for a three-game series vs. Ball State next Friday and Saturday, April 5-6.

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