FIRST PITCH...
• The Bowling Green State University softball team begins the second half of a season-long, 10-game homestand on Wednesday (March 26). Head coach Michelle Gardner and the Falcons step outside of Mid-American Conference play for a doubleheader vs. Youngstown State University. First pitch of the first game is set for 2:00 p.m. at Meserve Field.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will return to league action, hosting Ball State University for a three-game weekend series. The Falcons and Cardinals are scheduled to meet in a Friday (March 28) single game, beginning at 3:00 p.m., and a Saturday (March 29) doubleheader that commences at 1:00 p.m.

NOTEWORTHY
• The Falcons enter the Youngstown State series with a record of 10-18 after going 4-1 last week. BGSU has already topped last season's overall and MAC win totals, as BG is 4-2 in conference play after a three-game sweep of visiting Kent State over the weekend. The 2024 club went 6-38 overall and 3-23 in the MAC.

• BGSU posted walk-off wins in both ends of Friday's (March 21) doubleheader against the Golden Flashes. The Falcons batted around in each of the first two innings of the opener, building a 7-0 lead, and in the sixth inning, Hanna Massaro's sac fly scored Peyton Steffes as BG posted a 10-2 win.

• Then, in the nightcap, the Falcons rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Ava McKee tied the game with a two-run single, and Delaney Davis doubled to score pinch-runner Reghan Stephany with the winning run.

• Mackenzie Krafcik picked up the win in both games on Friday, and pitched the first 3 1/3 innings on Saturday, leaving with the Falcons in the lead. Morgan Beckham earned the win in relief as BG posted a 9-7 victory to complete the series sweep.

• Friday had marked the first time the Falcons swept a doubleheader against a MAC opponent since May 4, 2022, when BGSU won a pair of games vs. Central Michigan at Meserve Field. It also was the first time BG won a three-game MAC series since the week prior to that CMU twinbill, when the Falcons had taken two of three games at Ball State (April 29-30, 2022).

• Saturday's win over the Flashes gave the Falcons a three-game sweep in MAC play for the first time in over three years – since BG broomed Toledo on April 1-2, 2022.

• Redshirt freshman Addie Martin homered and stole two bases in Friday's Kent State DH. In the process, she became only the second player in school history to reach double digits in both categories in a season. The list...
    • Addie Martin, 2025 – 10 HR, 10 SB
    • Hannah Fulk, 2012 – 15 HR, 10 SB

• Martin's total of 10 round-trippers this season is the highest total by a Falcon since Madi McCoy hit 11 in 2021.

• Martin's total of 10 dingers ties her for eighth on the BGSU single-season list. Fulk holds the school record with 15 in that aforementioned 2012 season.

• Martin homered in her first two official at-bats at Meserve Field, en route to a 4-for-4 game in last Tuesday's (March 18) win over Green Bay. She had a hit in each of her first six trips to the plate in that twinbill.

• Davis had a streak of six-straight hits. After getting a base knock at Buffalo, the junior had a pinch-hit single in the second game of the KSU series, before the walk-off double in the next inning. The following day, she had hits in her first three at-bats and also had a career-high three RBI as BGSU completed the sweep.

• Davis entered the Kent State series with a career total of four RBI, before driving home four teammates in a span of four at-bats vs. the Flashes.

• Martin batted .579 with a slugging percentage of 1.211 in last week's five games. She was 11-of-19 with eight runs scored and five extra-base hits, including three homers.

• Steffes hit .412 last week, including a 5-for-11 (.455) performance vs. Kent State. She scored six runs in the three wins over the Flashes.

• Krafcik was 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA last week. She pitched in four of BGSU's five games, with the Falcons winning all four.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 10-18 on the young season, and BGSU is 4-2 in MAC play. As mentioned earlier, BG has topped the overall and conference win totals for last season.

• BGSU began the season with five games at the Spartan Classic, hosted by USC Upstate (Feb. 7-9), and the Orange and Brown participated in the Norman Tournament two weeks later. The Falcons turned some heads on the final day of the latter tourney (Feb. 24), battling then #2 (and now #1) Oklahoma to extra innings before falling, 8-5.

• The Falcons then played six games in Conway, S.C. (Feb. 28-March 3), including five at the Chanticleer Showdown, before wrapping up the pre-conference schedule with four games at Hoosier Classic (March 7-8).

• Three of the Falcons' losses have come against teams currently in the top 30 in the country in the latest RPI rankings, and a total of 12 of BG's setbacks are to teams ranked in the top 100.

• Head coach Michelle Gardner and her staff – Greg McQuillin, Tegan Cortelletti and Indya Smith – have 14 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.

• Five Falcons have started all 28 games this season to date. That group includes juniors Hannah Hunt and Katie Hutter, sophomores Taylor Behrendt and Peyton Steffes and redshirt freshman Addie Martin. Freshman Hanna Massaro and junior Ashley Chevalier each have made 26 starts, while junior Kendall Mathews and soph Cameron Kaufman have been in the starting lineup 23 and 20 times, respectively.

• Behrendt leads the Falcons with a .363 batting average, with Hunt and Martin batting .352 and .348, respectively. Steffes is hitting .306 on the season.

• Martin leads the Falcons in runs scored (31), homers (10), stolen bases (10) and slugging percentage (.764), and Martin and Hunt each have 31 hits and 20 RBI to tie for the team lead in both categories. Behrendt has a BG-best .464 on-base pct.

• In the circle, six different players have made at least one start. Freshman Morgan Beckham has made a team-high seven starts, while sophomore Alyvia Roth has started six games, and  freshman Sydney Marshall and junior Mackenzie Krafcik five apiece.

• Senior Scarlet Anderson has pitched in a team-high 18 games, including 15 in relief, and has a team-low 3.12 ERA and a team-high 56 innings pitched to date. Krafcik also has pitched primarily in relief, having made five starts in her 17 appearances, but she started three games last week and pitched two complete games. Krafcik has a 3.60 ERA on the season. Krafcik has a 5-3 record this season, while Anderson is 3-2 in 2025.

• A total of 10 positional returnees made at least 10 starts last spring. In the circle, Krafcik made 16 appearances, including 12 starts, and threw 58 2/3 innings in 2024, leading the returning pitchers in all three categories.

THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
• Youngstown State is 5-24 overall, and the Penguins are 1-5 in Horizon League action after taking one of three games at Detroit Mercy over the weekend. YSU hosts Niagara Tuesday before coming to BG the following day. Lydia Wilkerson is hitting a team-best .348 on the season, while Kelsey Ogin leads the pitchers with a 4.50 ERA. Autumn Behlke paces the hurlers in games started (12), wins (three) and innings pitched (66 2/3). Last season, coach Brian Campbell's club went 36-17 overall and 20-4 in the Horizon League.

• Ball State is 18-8 heading into a Tuesday game at Indiana State, and the Cardinals are 4-2 in MAC play after taking two of three games from visiting Toledo over the weekend. McKayla Timmons is hitting an eye-popping .516 on the season, with 11 homers and 34 RBI in just 62 at-bats. She has walked 29 times. In the circle, Ella Whitney is 11-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 84 1/3 innings of work. Last season, head coach Helen Pena's club went 29-29 overall and 12-13 in the MAC, advancing to the title game of the MAC Tournament as the number-six seed.

• BGSU trails Youngstown State, 9-3, in the all-time series, and the Penguins swept a doubleheader against the visiting Falcons last season. Prior to those games, the teams had not met since a 1-0 BGSU win in Kennesaw, Ga., in 2013. The first nine series meetings all came prior to 1988. BGSU is 0-4 at home, 1-3 on the road and 2-2 in neutral-site affairs with the Penguins.

• The Falcons and Ball State are tied, 54-54, in that series, and BSU has won the last six meetings. The Cardinals swept a three-game series in Muncie last season, and also captured three games two years ago, in the teams' last meetings at Meserve Field. BG's last win was a 2-1 triumph on April 30, 2022. The Falcons are 24-23 at home, 26-27 on the road and 4-4 in neutral-site meetings vs. the Cards.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Ball State series, BGSU hits the road for six-straight contests, beginning with a doubleheader at Akron on Tuesday, April 1. That road swing also features a three-game series at Northern Illinois (April 5-6) and a single game at Notre Dame (April 9).

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.