With only five games left in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, Falcon softball (15-30, 7-14 MAC) heads into their final road series at Scott Park Softball Complex against Toledo (14-26, 7-12 MAC) in a weekend that embraces the unexpected.
After the MAC preseason poll slated the northwest Ohio squads on opposite sides of the success spectrum, both teams find themselves just outside of the playoff picture. Toledo, who was predicted to finish third by MAC coaches, sits at seventh with their 7-12 conference record and an equal win total to the Falcons, who were predicted as the overwhelming favorites to finish at the bottom of the standings.
With only six teams making the 2025 MAC Softball Tournament, both squads will need help from either the Akron Zips (23-20, 10-7 MAC) or the Northern Illinois Huskies (17-24, 11-9 MAC) in a series between the sides in Dekalb over the weekend.
If either Toledo or BG wants to make the tournament, they will most likely need to complete a sweep of their respective opponents and see either Akron or NIU swept. BG will especially need to earn three victories in the series if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive, with only two more opportunities to get MAC victories coming against Miami (OH) (26-23, 15-7 MAC) compared to five more conference games for Toledo.
Game one of the series will take place on Friday, April 25 at noon after it was moved up in an attempt to avoid inclement weather, and games two and three will be on Saturday, April 26 in a doubleheader that begins with game one at 1 p.m.
Falcon Forecast
The Falcons will be happy to see even pitching competition in the Battles of I-75 after facing Ohio (31-14, 14-4 MAC) and Central Michigan (23-20, 15-5 MAC) in their last two series, teams that lead the MAC at first and second in team ERA respectively. The Falcons averaged just over two runs per game in five games against the top teams in the conference and enter the weekend on a five-game losing streak.
Falcon leaders on the offensive side will look to get back in the scoring mindset in the series, as infielders Hannah Hunt and Addie Martin who are second and first on the team in RBIs both failed to register one in the past week’s matches.
It has been the true freshman who has kept the Falcon offense alive through the tough week, with catcher Ava McKee entering the series on a five-game on-base streak and outfielder Hanna Massaro earning back-to-back games with hits in games two and three against CMU.
Sophomore infielder Taylor Behrendt led Falcon players in hits throughout the week, earning five including two multi-hit games, and joining fellow teammates as the fourth Falcon with six or more multi-hit games in 2025.
The Falcon pitching staff naturally struggled against two of the top offenses in the MAC, giving up 32 runs across the five games after a home series against Western Michigan (11-33, 5-14 MAC) where they allowed only one run across a three-game series at Meserve Field.
Sophomore Alyvia Roth was the bright spot for the Orange and Brown, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings in the latter half of a 7-0 loss against Central Michigan on Saturday, April 19.
Despite her 5.08 ERA which is third best on BG and 21st in the MAC, freshman pitcher Morgan Beckham leads the team with a .259 opposing batting average and 40 strikeouts, 10 more than junior Mackenzie Krafcik in second place with 30.
Krafcik’s finesse-oriented pitching style has kept her earned run average near four despite 130 hits allowed in 89.1 innings pitched, the fourth most hits allowed of any pitcher in the conference and only the 11th most innings pitched. Krafcik has allowed only 52 earned runs in that span, a mark that ranks 17th in the MAC.
Talking Toledo
The Rockets have had an up-and-down year, especially in conference play and no span says it better than their past couple weeks, as they followed up an impressive series win against Ohio and a split of a midweek doubleheader with CMU with a confusing series loss against Buffalo (14-28, 7-12 MAC) where they gave up 29 runs in two losses against a Bull offense that would be the worst in the MAC if their team batting average was one point lower.
Senior ace Sophia Knight got UT back on track with a 3-1 win in the final game of the series, throwing seven innings with one earned run after giving up 14 earned runs only a day earlier against the same Buffalo team in an outing that inflated her ERA from 3.65 to 4.31.
Knight has thrown the second most innings of any pitcher in the conference with 133.2, and she’s led a Rocket pitching staff that has dropped from fourth best in 2024 to seventh in 2025 after a significant quality decline in outings that feature pitchers Mady Yackee and Kylee Graham.
Rocket fans were happy to see senior shortstop Eli Enriquez back on the field in conference play after she missed more than a month due to injury. The California native has gone hitless in only two of her 25 games played, and her .442 batting average is second-best in the conference.
Freshman outfielder Audrey Miller has burst onto the scene by leading the team in nearly every cumulative offensive category, earning 43 hits, 14 walks, 37 RBIs, and nine home runs en route to a .350 batting average and a 1.056 OPS that is eighth in the MAC.
The Rockets will be looking for a repeat of the 2024 series against Bowling Green where they swept the Falcons, outscoring them 27-7 in three games at Meserve Field.
