FIRST PITCH...
• The Bowling Green State University softball team heads to Mid-Michigan for a Mid-American Conference three-game series this weekend. Head coach Michelle Gardner and the Falcons open a series against Central Michigan University with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon (April 19), with first pitch of the opener scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

• Then, the Orange and Brown will meet the Chippewas in a single game on Sunday (April 20), starting at 12:00 p.m. All three games will take place at Margo Jonker Stadium.

SENIOR DAY SUCCESS
• Three players homered in the same inning, and two freshmen combined for 12 shutout innings in the circle, as the Falcons posted a Saturday (April 12) sweep of visiting Western Michigan. The Falcons captured the doubleheader by scores of 8-0 (five innings) and 4-0, respectively, at Meserve Field.

• The Falcons scored in every inning of the opener, hitting three homers in a four-batter span in the third inning. Cameron Kaufman and Scarlet Anderson began the inning with back-to-back bombs – the first career homer for each player – and after Ava McKee singled, Kendall Mathews hit a two-run blast to give BG a 7-0 lead.

• In the second game, Addie Martin and Hannah Hunt each went 3-for-3, and that duo combined to drive in all four runs.

• In the circle, freshmen Morgan Beckham and Sydney Marshall combined to blank the Broncos on the afternoon. Beckham threw a complete-game shutout in the five-inning win in the opener, and Marshall allowed just three hits and no runs in game two before leaving the game two batters into the sixth inning.

• In that second game, Beckham came on in relief and, after issuing a walk to load the bases with no outs, proceeded to retire each of the next six hitters to lock down the shutout win.

BECKHAM NAMED MAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
• Freshman Morgan Beckham was named the MAC Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon (April 15). Beckham earned the honor for the first time in her young BGSU career.

• Beckham had a tremendous weekend in the circle, with an ERA of 0.00 in 7 2/3 innings and an opponent batting average of just .038 in the Western Michigan series. Beckham pitched in all three games vs. the Broncos on the weekend. She got the final two outs of Friday's (April 11) game, both via strikeout. Beckham allowed just one hit on the week, and lowered her season ERA by nearly a full run.

ADDIE. MARTIN.
• Redshirt freshman Addie Martin has 12 homers in 2025, tying her for second on the BGSU single-season list. She is just three round-trippers shy of the school record of 15, set by Hannah Fulk in 2012.

• Martin also has a team-leading 15 stolen bases this year to date. She is the first player in school history with at least a dozen homers and a dozen steals in the same season.

• In addition to threatening the single-season mark for dingers, she also looking to break the BGSU record for slugging percentage. Martin currently has a slugging pct. of .727, putting her within striking distance of that mark (.746 by Hayley Wiemer in 2007).

• Entering the CMU series, Martin is ranked in the top 20 on six BGSU single-season lists...
HITTING HER WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOK: ADDIE MARTIN ON THE BGSU SINGLE-SEASON CHARTS
Category    Martin's Total/Avg.  Ranking    Current Record
Slugging Pct.   .727            (Second)              .746
Home Runs         12            T-Second                15
Runs              40               Sixth                57
Total Bases       96             T-Ninth               126
Batting Avg.    .364                15th              .439
Stolen Bases      15              T-16th                53

THE HUNT FOR THE TOP TWENTY...
• In addition to Martin, junior Hannah Hunt is also vying for a spot in the top-20 on the single-season list for batting average. Hunt is hitting a team-leading .374 this season, an average that would actually put her in the top 10 on that BGSU list.

• Hunt, who hit a team-best .625 (5-for-8) in the Western Michigan series, now has a nine-game hitting streak after the Ohio DH. She has had at least one hit in 18 of the Falcons' last 19 games.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons enter the Central Michigan twinbill with an overall record of 15-27. BGSU has more than doubled the win total for all of last season, after going 6-38 in 2024.

• BGSU is 7-11 in MAC games this season after going a combined 5-51 in the previous two years.

• The Falcons began the season with five games at the Spartan Classic, hosted by USC Upstate, 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, battling then #2 Oklahoma into extra innings before falling, 8-5.

• The Falcons then played six games in Conway, S.C., including five at the Chanticleer Showdown, before wrapping up the pre-conference schedule with four games at Hoosier Classic.

• A total of 10 of the Falcons' losses have come against teams currently ranked 56th or better in the latest RPI rankings.

• 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.

• Three Falcons have started all 42 games this season to date. That trio includes junior Hannah Hunt, sophomore Peyton Steffes and redshirt freshman Addie Martin. Sophomore Taylor Behrendt has made 41 starts this season, while junior Katie Hutter has started 38 contests and classmate Kendall Mathews and freshman Hanna Massaro each have started 37 times. Sophomore Cameron Kaufman started the first 20 games of the season, then missed the next 14 contests due to injury before returning for the NIU series. She has started the last eight contests.

• Hunt leads the Falcons with a .374 batting average, with Martin and Behrendt batting .364 and .311, respectively. Hutter is hitting .270 and Steffes .248 on the season.

• Martin leads the Falcons in runs scored (40), homers (12), RBI (32), total bases (96), stolen bases (15) and slugging pct. (.727). Hunt paces the team in hits (49), doubles (10) and on-base pct. (.440). Hutter has drawn 20 walks, while Behrendt and Mathews have 19 and 18, respectively.

• A total of eight different Falcons have driven in at least 10 runs, after only three Falcons had double-digit RBI totals last season.

• In the circle, six different players have started at least one game each. Freshman Morgan Beckham and junior Mackenzie Krafcik have made 12 starts apiece, with freshman Sydney Marshall and sophomore Alyvia Roth having started seven and six contests, respectively, this year to date.

• Krafcik (24), Beckham (23) and senior Scarlet Anderson each have made at least 20 appearances. Krafcik has a team-high 82 innings pitched and is 7-8 with a 4.18 ERA. Anderson leads the Falcons in ERA (3.89) and relief appearances (18), while Beckham has a team-low .260 opponent batting average.

• In MAC play, Hunt and Martin are hitting .352 and .351, respectively, while junior Delaney Davis is batting .355 in 31 at-bats. Beckham has a team-low 3.05 ERA in conference competition to date.

• 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 OPPONENT / THE SERIES
• Central Michigan is 20-19 overall, and the Chippewas enter Saturday with a 12-5 MAC record, good for fourth place. Carly Sleeman and London Williams are hitting .395 and .364, respectively, with a combined 24 homers on the year. They are two of five CMU starters who are hitting at least .328. Mackenzie Langan leads the pitching staff in wins (nine) and ERA (2.91). Last season, head coach McCall Salmon's club went 17-33 overall and 13-12 in the MAC.

• The Falcons trail Central Michigan, 83-29, in the all-time series, and the Chippewas have won the last five meetings, including a pair of victories at Meserve Field last season (April 16, 2024). CMU took all three meetings two years ago when the teams last clashed in Mount Pleasant. BGSU's last series win was a 1-0 triumph in the 2022 MAC Tournament (May 13, 2022) in Oxford, Ohio. The Falcons are 16-33 at home, 11-39 on the road and 2-11 in neutral-site meetings vs. the Chippewas through the years.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the CMU series, BGSU will prepare for a three-game series vs. arch-rival Toledo. The teams will meet in a single game on Friday, April 25, followed by a doubleheader the following afternoon at Scott Park.

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.