BGSU Heads to The Plains For Five Games this Weekend

UP NEXT IN FALCON SOFTBALL
• BGSU at Jane B. Moore Memorial Tournament •
• March 3-5 • Auburn, Ala. •

SETTING THE SCENE
• The Bowling Green State University softball team will participate in a fourth tournament in as many weekends, heading to Auburn, Ala., for the Jane B. Moore Memorial Tournament. Head coach Candace Fenton-Bockbrader and the Falcons will play five games in the tourney, including two against nationally-ranked Auburn.

• BGSU will also play two contests against Tennessee Tech and one against South Alabama. The tourney begins on Friday (March 3) and runs through Sunday (March 5).

• Live stats will be available for all tournament games, with twitter updates at @BGSUSoftball. And, Sunday's game vs. Auburn will be streamed via SEC Network+.

• The Falcons are 5-9 on the young season. BGSU opened the 2023 schedule by going 2-3 at the DePaul Dome Tournament in Rosemont Ill. Among the wins was a 3-2 victory over Detroit Mercy in the season opener (Feb. 10), the first win of Fenton-Bockbrader's collegiate head-coaching career.

• Then, BGSU played four games at the T-Mobile Tournament, hosted by Florida. The Falcons posted a run-rule win over Delaware State, and gave third-ranked Florida a scare before falling, 10-7.

• Last weekend, the Orange and Brown went 2-3 at the Aces Home Tournament #2, hosted by Evansville. BGSU posted a pair of wins over St. Thomas, and hit .254 to the opponents' .235 on the weekend.

HUTTER'S A HITTER
• On Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 28), Falcon freshman Katie Hutter was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week. The Mount Pleasant, Pa., native hit .545 with a 1.000 slugging percentage in the Falcons' five games in Evansville. She reached base 10 times in 17 plate appearances, with six hits and four walks.

• Hutter went 2-for-2 with a run and four RBI, the highest total of her young career, on Sunday (Feb. 26) vs. host UE. She walked in that game, and hit her first collegiate homer.

• That performance came after she went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, a sac fly and two RBI in a win over St. Thomas on Saturday evening (Feb. 25). Hutter also doubled in BG's first meeting with Evansville, and she went 1-for-2 with a walk, a run and two stolen bases in the first matchup (also a win) with St. Thomas on Friday (Feb. 24).

• Hutter was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts over the weekend, and also led the Falcons with six RBI at the tournament.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• Fenton-Bockbrader and assistant coaches Erinn Gankosky and Jacob Jeffries welcomed back 13 returning letterwinners from last year's club. The 2022 Falcons went 34-21 (.618) overall and 16-11 (.593) in Mid-American Conference play, good for fourth place in the 11-team league.

• BGSU's total of 34 victories was the program's highest in a decade, and the Falcons' overall and league-only winning percentages also were the best since 2012.

• The Falcons qualified for the 2022 MAC Tournament and advanced all the way to the championship game. Then, BG participated in national postseason play, heading to Fort Collins, Colo., and winning two games in the National Invitational Softball Championship. Those wins, over Stephen F. Austin and George Washington, were the first national postseason victories in BGSU softball history.

• In the classroom, a school-record 13 Falcons were named to the Academic All-MAC Team, while 15 team members were named Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes for the 2021-22 academic year.

THIS SEASON SO FAR
• The Falcons are 5-9 after three weekends of play. BGSU picked up wins over Detroit Mercy and Valparaiso at the DePaul Dome Tournament, and posted a run-rule win over Delaware State at the T-Mobile Tournament in Gainesville, Fla.

• At the latter tournament, the Falcons gave then number-3 Florida everything the Gators wanted and more (Feb. 18). The Falcons twice rallied from multiple-run deficits, and BGSU took the lead in the fifth inning, but the hosts ultimately came away with a 10-7 win.

• The Falcons pounded out 12 hits against three Florida pitchers in the contest, rallying from an early deficit with a four-run third inning that briefly tied the score.

• The Gators retook the lead, but BGSU pushed three runs across the board in the fifth to go ahead by a 7-6 score. It marked the first time Florida had trailed this season. But, the nationally-ranked hosts countered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, then added a run in the sixth for the final margin.

• The Gators had entered that game with a 6-0 record on the season, and Florida had outscored opponents, 74-5, in those six games. BGSU outscored those six opponents combined.

• BG became the first team this season to force Florida to play a seven-inning game, and, as mentioned, the Falcons were the first team to take a lead against the Gators in 2023.

• On the year, BGSU has scored 57 runs and allowed 63. Six pitchers have seen action, with five of them allowing opponents to hit between .100 and .265 on the season.

• Hannah Davies has thrown a team-high 39 2/3 innings this year, and also leads BG pitchers in appearances (nine), games started (four – tied for team lead), complete games (two) and strikeouts (31). She has a 4.59 ERA, but that ERA drops to 3.23 when the Florida game is taken out of the mix.

• Scarlet Anderson has a 4-0 record and a 2.49 ERA in 19 2/3 innings of work. She has allowed opponents to hit just .200 against her.

• At the plate, Katie Hutter is hitting .381 and Sophie Weber .372. Hutter, in just 21 at-bats, is tied for the team lead with seven RBI, and has a team-leading .619 slugging percentage. Weber is the lone Falcon to start all 14 games this season to date. She paces the Falcons in at-bats (43), runs (nine - tied for team lead), hits (16), doubles (five) and total bases (24).

• Reagan Williamson is batting .286, while Hannah Hunt and Peyton Dolejs are hitting .280 and .273, respectively. Williamson and Dolejs each have seven RBI to tie Hutter for the team lead. Dolejs, Hutter and Weber each homered on the Evansville trip, for the Falcons' first dingers of 2023.

THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
• Tennessee Tech is 1-10 on the season, and the Golden Eagles are looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Abby Shoulders is hitting a team-leading .370, while Haeli Bryson is batting .300 and has a team-high eight RBI for first-year coach Danielle Penner. TTU has allowed 103 runs in this season's 11 games to date. Last season, the Golden Eagles went 32-22 overall and 13-14 in Ohio Valley Conference action.

• Auburn is 15-1 on the year. The Tigers are ranked No. 19 in the NFCA/USA Today poll, and No. 21 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. Auburn is hitting .377 as a team, with Carlee McCondichie (.522) one of four starters hitting over .400 to date. One of those four, Bri Ellis, was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week on Tuesday. Ellis hit .714 (10-for-14) with seven extra-base hits in the team's Plainsman Invite. In the circle, Maddi Penta is 8-0 and has not allowed an earned run in 39 innings of work. Last season, coach Mickey Dean's club went 40-17 overall and 11-13 in Southeastern Conference play, and advanced to an NCAA Regional.

• South Alabama brings a 9-6 record into the weekend, and the Jaguars have won two games in a row. USA has hosted tournaments in each of the last two weekends, going 7-3. Meredith Keel and Marley Sims are hitting .372 and .344, respectively, and Keel has a team-leading 451 on-base percentage. In the circle, Jenna Hardy has a 4-3 record with a 1.61 ERA, while Olivia Lackie is 5-3 with a 2.18 ERA. Both pitchers have appeared in 11 games, made seven starts and thrown three complete games for head coach Becky Clark. Last season, the Jags went 25-21 overall and 16-6 in Sun Belt Conference action.

• BGSU trails Tennessee Tech, 4-1, in the all-time series. The teams met twice in 2020, with the Falcons capturing a 3-1 decision in Chattanooga on opening day (Feb. 14, 2020), and the Golden Eagles earning a 4-0 win in Johnson City, Tenn., two weekends later (March 1, 2020). The teams have previously met in Auburn, Ala. That matchup came 15 years ago (March 8, 2008), with TTU pulling out a 1-0 victory. The other two meetings came in 2002 and 2005, respectively.

• Auburn leads BGSU, 2-0, in that series. The host Tigers earned a 3-1 win in 2008 and a 10-2, five-inning victory in 2012, with both meetings taking place in Auburn.

• BGSU and South Alabama have met just once before. The Jags captured a 5-0 win at the South Alabama Invitational in 2016.

UP NEXT
• Following this weekend's action in Auburn, the Falcons will be idle until a matchup at Michigan on Wednesday, March 15. That contest is set to start at 4:30 p.m.

• Then, BGSU begins the MAC schedule with a short trip north to face arch-rival Toledo. The teams will play a single game on Friday, March 17, and a doubleheader the following day.

• The Falcons' home opener is set for Friday, March 24, against Ohio.

# BGSU FALCON SOFTBALL #

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Scarlet Anderson

Hannah Davies

Peyton Dolejs

Hannah Hunt

Katie Hutter

Sophie Weber

Reagan Williamson

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