After 20 games on the road and 11 others canceled, the Falcon softball team will finally host their home opener.
BG was scheduled to open at home with Oakland University in a double-header. However, with Bowling Green’s notoriously unpredictable weather, Mother Nature got the best of the teams.
“We’ve done all we can,” pitcher Paris Imholz said. “So now it’s just time to go out there and get the job done”
The Falcons are attempting to shake off a tough 9-1 loss to Michigan on Wednesday. It moved BG’s overall win percentage to .600, allowing Ohio to tie them for first in the Mid-American Conference.
Imholz took the loss with just over an inning of work. The nationally-ranked Wolverines got the best of BG’s bullpen as all three Falcons pitched.
Despite the loss, Imholz earned her third-straight MAC pitcher of the week honors.
This past season, the Falcons shocked everyone in the MAC with their out-of-nowhere record, earning them a second-place finish in the regular season.
“We’re excited, I know I’m excited,” Imholz said. “I can just see in all of our faces, and we’re just ready to play, especially with Ball State and Miami.”
If this past season was a super-run, then Ball State was clearly the Falcons’ kryptonite.
The Cardinals defeated the Falcons in all three contests, including the elimination game of the MAC Tournament.
The Falcons will try to get even in a doubleheader Friday. The Cardinals come in 14-10 compared to the 12-8 Falcons, averaging seven runs a game for a total of 167 this season.
“I think we are really prepared,” Imholz said. “We worked so hard this offseason and with the games we did have this preseason, I think we are just ready to go.”
The Falcons’ bats look tame in comparison as they have mustered 55 runs this season, yet it has been enough to win games.
Ball State has not won a game at Meserve Field since 2009, and the Falcons are riding a four-game home win streak against the Cardinals.
Following the double-header with Ball State, the Falcons will continue MAC play with Miami Saturday and Sunday to wrap up their four-game home stand.
Miami and the Falcons only saw each other twice this past season and split results. The RedHawks faced BG during the Falcons’ peak playing as the series was held in the final week of the regular season.
Miami enters the game in last place in the MAC with a 4-18 record overall. The RedHawks are allowing 7.4 runs a game while scoring less than four.
“With Ball State and Miami, we are going into to play with everything we’ve got,” Imholz said. “It doesn’t matter their record, we haven’t even paid attention to that.”
Contrary to the Ball State series, Miami is actually on a four-game winning streak when playing in Bowling Green. The Falcons’ last home win against Miami came in 2007.
“It will be good for us to start fresh,” Imholz said. “If they bring everything they got, then we’ll do the same.”
