BGSU softball plays its fourth series of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) season against Kent State on the weekend of Easter Sunday. The Golden Flashes are just one game ahead of Bowling Green in the conference standings through nine games and three weeks of MAC play.
Bowling Green comes off their first mid-week non-conference game of MAC play against Ohio State, an 18-7 loss that evened their record at 15-15. Ohio State hit six home runs in their four offensive half-innings on their path to the victory, the most runs given up by BG’s staff since 2016.
Despite some extenuating circumstances favoring OSU over Bowling Green, the Falcons managed to put up seven runs against Big Ten pitching and knocked a .304 batting average with eight walks, the most in a game since pre-MAC play.
Senior Hannah Hunt’s only hit was a triple, her first of the season and on her birthday, and she had two walks in her other three plate appearances. BG’s second baseman began conference competition with four hits in seven games, now with five hits in the last three games on just eight at-bats.
Sophomore pitcher Morgan Beckham’s book read four runs on only 1.2 innings pitched. However, she was the only pitcher for either team to record more than two outs in a row (she got five) and has just one earned run in her four MAC appearances this season (17.2 innings).
The Falcons have yet to put an at-times stellar offense and an often-stellar pitching staff together consistently. Now in the middle of conference play, Kent State is a chance for head coach Michelle Gardner to nudge her team on track.
Kent State
The Golden Flashes (4-5 MAC) have one more win than BG (3-6 MAC), seeking a MAC Tournament appearance that would be their first since 2021. Third-season head coach Jessica O’Donnell and her team performed a sweep of last-place UMass before losing a series to Buffalo and being swept by Miami (OH).
Possibly having played less competition than Bowling Green, KSU has a common opponent with the Falcons in Buffalo, a team both have played three times.
On the road, Kent State was run-ruled 14-1, lost 6-4, and won 7-1, being outscored 21-12 that weekend. Bowling Green lost 5-4 and 7-4 before run-ruling 9-1, outscoring Buffalo 17-13.
O’Donnell has impressed with her team offensively, actively hitting above .300 in MAC play with one of the better team OPSs. Two conference leaders in conference batting have been much of the reason for the team’s success.
Freshman shortstop Alex Trevena has been a standout, leading the team in conference batting average at .421 with a 1.100+ OPS. She has started just seven of the nine games in MAC play, but has a hit in four straight and six of the seven.
Junior outfielder Aaralyn Nogay transferred from Bowling Green after a MAC All-Freshman Team and All-MAC Second Team freshman season in 2024. She is now hitting .467 in nine MAC starts, scoring 11 runs, stealing five bases, and striking out just once.
Although five starters claim a batting average above .300 for Kent State, only three of their pitchers claim any stats, and none below a 3.9 ERA.
Four starts have gone to freshman Riley Miller, who has a 5+ ERA overall and eight earned runs in her last 7.2 innings. Redshirt junior Alena Hillyard has not eclipsed an inning and allowed seven runs in her last three starts, and freshman Meadow Ferri has seven appearances and 17 earned runs.
The Falcons will face the Golden Flashes in a doubleheader on Friday starting at 10:00 a.m., then a single game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network will have the recap of series on bgfalconmedia.com.
