The Bowling Green Falcons are entering the most important weekend of their season.
They face two Mid-American Conference foes and are battling to get into the MAC tourney at the completion of the regular season. BG will play a doubleheader against Akron today and then play games against Ohio Saturday and Sunday.
The Falcons enter the weekend tied for the seventh spot in the MAC standings with Western Michigan at 6-8, and 10-22 overall. Akron stands in the ninth spot at 5-9 just one game behind BG and WMU, meaning the doubleheader on Friday is very important for the Falcons.
The Zips are not a power hitting team, as they rank near the bottom of the league in home runs and slugging percentage. However, they have a speedy offense and are second in the MAC with 84 stolen bases. Alex Feltes leads the way for Akron with a .370 batting average, .446 on-base percentage and 13 stolen bases.
BG leads the overall series with Akron at 42-21-1, and also against the Ohio Bobcats at 51-37. Last season, the Falcons split games with both teams.
Ohio comes into the weekend at just 14-27 overall, but has played well in conference racking up a 9-5 record, and sitting fourth in the league.
The Bobcats win with solid pitching and have a 2.14 ERA in their 14 conference games.
They are led by Melissa Bonner who is the defending MAC East Pitcher of the Week, after going 3-0 with three complete games last weekend. Bonner is 7-1 against MAC opponents with a 1.35 ERA.
The Falcons come into the weekend on a seven-game losing streak and have struggled to score runs in their losses. In 22 losses, the Falcons average a little over two runs a game, while in 10 wins they average five runs a game.
Freshman Paige Berger is tied for the most home runs hit in a season by a freshman with 11, and will have to play well for the Falcons. She has struggled at the plate the last four games going 2-10.
Following this weekend’s action, BG will travel to Buffalo for a doubleheader May 7, and Kent May 8 and 9 to close out the regular season.
