Following a career night for senior Jamie Kertes in a win over Valparaiso, the Bowling Green softball team will finish its regular season on the road against Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.
Kertes threw a complete game shutout against the Crusaders on Wednesday to lead her team to a 2-0 victory. Kertes struck out a career-high 10 batters in the game, the last she will play on Meserve Field as a Falcon.
“It was definitely a bittersweet day,” Kertes said. “It was very exciting, and I just tried to enjoy being out on this field and not take it for granted. It’s been an honor to play on this field.”
The Falcons will look to keep that momentum as they head into the weekend for two games apiece against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
“We need to take the way we played today into this weekend,” Kertes said. “We have to keep pushing, one pitch, one hit and one inning at a time.”
To have a chance at making the Mid-American Conference tournament, the team will have to win three out of the four games, something it has not been able to do since its opening weekend in February.
In addition, the team will need the seventh and eighth placed Ohio University and Akron to split their doubleheader this weekend. In the event that either Akron or Ohio sweeps in their series, the Falcons could still take the last tournament spot if they win all four games. That is something they have not done this season.
The first opponent for the Falcons will be Eastern, who currently sits at the second lowest spot in the conference with an overall record of 16-30 and a conference record of 4-11. They are also on a four game losing streak, the last loss coming in an
8-0 shutout.
Central, on the other hand, has won four out of its last five and are sitting in a three way tie for the fourth spot in the MAC. The Chippewas are 22-19 overall and have a 10-6 record in the conference. They have also been scoring the ball in high numbers as of late, sending home a total of 23 runs in their last three wins. The Falcons have not scored that total in their last 10 games.
Despite the odds being stacked heavily against their favor, head coach Shannon Salsburg believes that there is still a chance for post season play.
“We now have to take care of one pitch at a time, but if we play like we did [Wednesday], and we play within ourselves, I know we are capable of having a big weekend and making a heck of a run at it,” she said. “And obviously getting a pitching performance like [Wednesday] never hurts, either.”
The Falcons will begin with Eastern on Friday at 1 p.m. while Akron and Ohio start their doubleheader on Saturday.
