BGSU softball (2-3) concluded the first tournament under new head coach Michelle Gardner with a 7-2 loss to Akron (4-1) on Sunday morning, and although their record shows in the negative, improvements were seen in every category of the Bowling Green squad.
All five games included five intriguing storylines, with each game teaching us more and more of what we can expect from the Falcon squad when they return to Bowling Green for the home opener on March 18.
USC Upstate over Bowling Green 6-4
Bowling Green over Monmouth 5-4
Bowling Green over Monmouth 9-1
USC Upstate over Bowling Green 8-0
Akron over Bowling Green 7-2
The Good
With BGSU’s 9-1 victory over Monmouth (0-5) on Saturday afternoon, the Falcons reached the two-win mark in only two days and three games, a feat that last year’s team didn’t achieve till March 15th of 2024, 16 games into their season.
The team scored 20 runs across their five games in Spartanburg, a feat the program hasn’t achieved in an early season tournament since the T-Mobile Tournament in 2023.
The pitching staff has shown signs of improvement as well, with the team allowing only 5.2 runs per game in the Spartan Classic compared to 7.5 in the 2024 Battle of the Beach and eight per game in the Hoosier Classic.
Gardner wasn’t shy in using a wide variety of players in a wide variety of situations, with six of the seven pitchers getting at least an inning of run and twelve position players being utilized in a batting order that was unique for all five games played.
The redshirt freshman didn’t skip a beat after her injury that sidelined her for all but ten games in 2024 after a weekend that saw her earn six runs and four RBIs on five hits, meaning she contributed to exactly half of BGSU’s 20-run weekend.
Martin hit her first career home run in Friday’s win over Monmouth, her first of her career, and one of BG’s five hits on the weekend compared to eight long shots through all 44 games of the 2024 season.
Quickly solidifying herself at a key third position in the Falcon lineup, Martin will look to continue her hot start into the Norman Tournament in two weeks.
The freshman from Zanesville, Ohio caught the eye of MAC softball fans with her commanding outing in Friday’s match with the Hawks, throwing six innings of one-run ball with one strikeout and only three hits given up, allowing senior Madi Young to come in and throw a scoreless seventh as the Falcons earned their first victory of the year.
Marshall’s performance is promising when considering the much-needed pitching improvements that were marked as necessary for a successful Orange and Brown team, and if the freshman can follow up her performance with yet another solid outing in a couple of weeks, we may have an ace on our hands.
Honorable Mentions
Senior pitcher Scarlet Anderson headed three outings for the Falcons on Friday and Saturday, starting the year by throwing 3.1 innings with a strikeout and a run allowed, keeping USC Upstate (4-1) at bay and allowing the Falcons to pitch a comeback in the seventh inning, as they scored four before ultimately being bested by Upstate ace Sierra Maness.
Anderson followed the outing up with 3.2 innings of work against Monmouth on the same day, following up Alyvia Roth’s two runs allowed with a two-run outing of her own that allowed the Hawks to squeak by with the 5-4 victory.
Freshman right fielder Hanna Massaro hit her first career home run in the season opener, sending a blast over the Cyrill Softball Stadium fence in the seventh that sparked the rally that nearly brought the Falcons back into the game late.
The Bad
The Falcons were stifled behind the plate in the final two games of the series, finishing Friday night on a mercy rule from the USC Upstate Spartans and junior pitcher Maddie Drerup, who threw a stifling five-inning one-hitter shutout with three strikeouts and two lone walks allowed.
Akron continued the BG offensive struggle with a complete game from Akron pitcher Madie Jamrog, who allowed only four hits through seven innings and only one earned run out of the two scored by Bowling Green.
Pitchers saw struggles throughout the weekend as well, especially in the final two games, as freshman pitcher Morgan Beckham’s Spartan Classic resume featured 2.2 inning outing against USC Upstate on Friday that saw five earned runs cross the plate.
The outing was followed up on Sunday by four scoreless innings of work against Akron before a blow-up fifth where Beckham failed to register an out, allowing four earned runs that would put the Zips up by multiple runs late in the game.
Up Next
The Falcons take a week off before travelling Norman, Oklahoma for the Norman Tournament on Feb. 21 where the Falcons will play two each against Tulsa (3-2) and Wichita State (5-0) as well as a Saturday afternoon meeting with the four straight national championship winning Oklahoma Sooners (6-0).
A week after the stint in Oklahoma, BG will head to Conway, South Carolina, for the Chanticleer Showdown on Feb. 28.
