FIRST PITCH...
• The BGSU softball team wraps up the pre-conference schedule this weekend, heading to Bloomington, Ind., for the Hoosier Classic. Head coach Michelle Gardner and the Falcons will play five games in the tourney, which runs from Friday through Sunday (March 7-9).

• The Falcons will play two games each against UIC and the host school, Indiana, and BGSU also will face IU Indy. All games will take place at Andy Mohr Stadium, and every tournament game will be streamed on Big Ten Network+.

HOOSIER CLASSIC - TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

WELCOME (BACK)!
• Michelle Gardner made her official Falcon head-coaching debut in early February, but she is certainly no stranger to Bowling Green. Gardner's coaching career began at BGSU in 1992, as an assistant under head coach Jacquie Joseph.

• That 1992 team went 37-16 overall, setting school records for wins and winning percentage (.698). The '92 squad is still tied for the most wins in a season in BGSU history, while the winning percentage ranks second.

• The '92 team finished second in the MAC, and the 1993 season saw Joseph, Gardner and the Falcons win a MAC title and advance to the NCAA Championships. That team went 34-18 overall and 26-9 in conference play.

• Gardner's wealth of coaching experience includes head-coaching tenures at both Nevada (2003-08) and Indiana (2009-17), as well as time on the staffs at Arizona State, Florida State and Coastal Carolina.

REUNION TOUR
• Michelle Gardner returned to BG this year, as mentioned, and several other reunions are on the docket for the head coach. Last weekend, Gardner and the Falcons played in a tournament at Coastal Carolina, where she served as associate head coach before coming to BGSU.

• This weekend, Gardner returns to Indiana, where she spent nine years (2008-17) as head coach. While with the Hoosiers, Gardner guided the team into the top 25 and led IU to back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in over two decades.

NOTEWORTHY
• Katie Hutter and Addie Martin led off Monday night's (March 3) game at Coastal Carolina with back-to-back homers. It marked the second time this season that BGSU homered twice in the same inning. Peyton Steffes and Hannah Hunt both went deep in the fifth inning of a win over Monmouth on Feb. 8.

• Monday night marked the first time BGSU had hit back-to-back dingers in over three years, since Feb. 26, 2022. The Falcons played two games at the NC State Invitational that day, and had back-to-back jacks in both games.

• On that date, Peyton Dolejs and Bailey Sample had back-to-back homers against Central Connecticut State, with Reagan Williamson and Lexi Carver doing the same against Delaware.

• The Falcons have hit 10 homers in 16 games this season, topping the total for all of last year. The 2024 club had eight round-trippers in 44 games.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 3-13 on the young season. BGSU began the season with five games at the Spartan Classic, hosted by USC Upstate (Feb. 7-9), and the Orange and Brown picked up a pair of wins over Monmouth in that tourney, including a 9-1 victory on day two.

• Then, BGSU went 1-4 at the Norman Tournament, turning some heads on the final day of that tourney (Feb. 24). The Falcons battled #2/2 Oklahoma to extra innings before falling, 8-5. Then, BG headed to a different field to turn around and immediately play a Tulsa team that had blanked the Falcons, 7-0, the previous day.

• BG fell behind on two occasions vs. the Golden Hurricane, but rallied for two runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth to post a 9-4 win. Seven-straight batters reached base in that pivotal sixth frame, with a Kendal Mathews triple plating the tying run and Katie Hutter's single scoring Mathews to give BG the lead for good.

• The Oklahoma game had seen the Falcons jump out to a three-run lead in the top of the first. Then, after the Sooners scored four times in the second to take the lead, reliever Scarlet Anderson pitched three-and-one-third innings of one-run, three-hit relief to keep the contest close before BG tied it up in the fourth. The Falcons took the lead in the sixth inning, and after the Sooners tied it with a run in the bottom of that inning. Mackenzie Krafcik held the hosts scoreless for two-and-two-thirds innings, until a walk-off homer gave OU the win.

• At the plate, BGSU matched the Sooners with eight hits in the game. Both Ashley Chevalier and Hanna Massaro had two hits vs. the second-ranked team in the nation.

• Addie Martin (3-for-3 with a homer) and Taylor Behrendt (3-for-4) each had three hits vs. Tulsa later that day, with Behrendt and Kaufman driving in three runs apiece.

• The Falcons played six games in Conway, S.C., last weekend, including five at the Chanticleer Showdown.

• Head coach Michelle Gardner and her staff – Greg McQuillin, Tegan Cortelletti and Indya Smith – have 15 returning letterwinners, including four positional starters, from the 2024 club. Additionally, five of the seven pitchers from a season ago are on the '25 roster.

• The Falcons' youthful opening-day lineup included two true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, three sophomores and four juniors.

• Six Falcons have started all 16 games this season to date. That group includes Behrendt, Hutter, Kaufman, Martin, Hannah Hunt and Peyton Steffes. Massaro has made 15 starts, Chevalier 14 and Mathews 11.

• Hunt leads the Falcons with a .327 batting average, while Hutter and Behrendt are hitting .326 and .311, respectively. Hunt has 10 RBI, while Kaufman has driven in nine teammates to date.

• Martin leads the team with 15 runs scored (no Falcon had more than 14 during all of last season), four homers, five stolen bases and a .625 slugging percentage. Behrendt paces the Orange and Brown with an on-base pct. of .415.

• In the circle, six different players have made at least one start, with a pair of freshmen combing to start nine games. Morgan Beckham has made five starts and Marshall four. Anderson has a team-low 4.43 ERA and a team-high 30 innings pitched to date.

• A total of 10 returnees made at least 10 starts last spring. Sophomores Kaufman and Behrendt started 40 and 28 games, respectively, as freshmen a year ago. Kaufman, a shortstop, hit .234 to lead the BG returnees. Wynnie Reid (26), Chevalier (24) and Anderson (22) each made over 20 starts in '24.

• In the circle, Krafcik made 16 appearances, including 12 starts, and threw 58 2/3 innings last season, leading the returning pitchers in all three categories.

THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
• UIC is 4-15 on the season. Dee Dee Caskey is hitting a team-high .395 in the early going, with a .509 on-base pct. In the circle, Alyssa McIntosh has a team-low 4.97 ERA and team-high totals of six complete games and 26 strikeouts. Jamie Buksa was named the team's interim head coach on Feb. 4, 2025, after eight years as an assistant coach for the Flames. Last season, UIC went 19-35 overall and 12-15 in Missouri Valley Conference action.

• Indiana has a 12-5 record this season to date. The Hoosiers are hitting .369 as a team, with Madalyn Strader batting a team-best .500. Seven starters are hitting over .300. In the circle, Jenae Berry is 6-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 31 innings of work. Head Coach Shonda Stanton's team went 40-20 overall and 12-11 in Big Ten Conference play a year ago, advancing to the championship game of the conference tournament before heading to an NCAA regional.

• IU Indy is 3-13 this season. Molly Kable is hitting .381 and Callie Dickerson .353 at the plate. Clara Phariss, one of three pitchers who has made at least four starts, has a team-low ERA of 6.93, along with team-best totals of 33 1/3 innings pitched and three complete games. Coach Elisabeth Beirne's team went 13-37 overall and 9-14 in Horizon League play in 2024.

• The Falcons trail UIC, 3-1, in the all-time series, and the teams last met at the Hoosier Classic in 2017, with the Flames picking up two wins. BGSU's series win came in 1986, and the teams' other meeting was in the 2004 NCAA Tournament, as UIC posted a 2-1, eight-inning victory in Ann Arbor, Mich.

• BGSU trails Indiana by a 12-0 count in that series, with 10 of the 12 meetings taking place in Bloomington. Most recently, the Hoosiers captured 7-3 and 8-0 victories at last season's Hoosier Classic.

• The Falcons and IU Indy are tied, 2-2, in that series. BGSU posted a pair of wins over the Jags, 7-3 and 4-3, in Nashville, Tenn., in March of 2018. Prior to that, the teams had not met since 1982.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Hoosier Classic, BGSU will head to Western New York to begin the Mid-American Conference schedule with three games vs. Buffalo. The Falcons and Bulls are scheduled to meet on March 14-15, with a Friday single game followed by a Saturday doubleheader.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will open the home portion of the schedule with a doubleheader vs. Green Bay on Tuesday, March 18. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Meserve Field. Weather permitting, that twinbill begins a 10-game homestand for the Falcons.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• For more information on the BGSU softball team, follow the Falcons on Twitter/X (@BGAthletics and @BGSUSoftball) and Instagram (@bgsu_softball) as well as on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.