FIRST PITCH...
• The BGSU softball team heads to Conway, S.C., this weekend, to play a total of six games. Head coach Michelle Gardner and the Falcons will play five contests in the Chanticleer Showdown, with two games each against Connecticut and Wisconsin and one game against the host school, Coastal Carolina. The tournament runs from Friday through Sunday (Feb. 28-March 2).

• Then, BGSU will remain in Conway for one more day, taking on CCU in an additional game on Monday night (March 3). All six of BGSU's games will take place at St. John Stadium. The Falcons' two games vs. CCU are scheduled to be streamed via ESPN+.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
• The Falcons are 3-7 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 last weekend, but turned some heads on the final day of that tourney. On Monday (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 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.

• Cameron Kaufman provided some insurance for the Falcons with a bases loaded, three-run double several batters later. And, after Sydney Marshall took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against the Hurricane, Mackenzie Krafcik pitched the final two innings and allowed no runs and just one hit, earning the win in relief.

• 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. 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.

• 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.
 

One more look back at our extra-innings battle with the Sooners on Monday...#ayziggy 🧡🤎 pic.twitter.com/or2bWEx3nJ

— BGSU Softball (@BGSUSoftball) February 26, 2025

• 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' lineup for game one of the 2025 season included two true freshmen, one redshirt freshman, three sophomores and four juniors. Six players – two juniors, the three sophs and one redshirt freshman – started all five games on the weekend, with five of the six hitting .300 or better.

• Seven Falcons have started all 10 games this season to date. That group includes Behrendt, Hutter, Kaufman, Martin, Massaro, Hannah Hunt and Peyton Steffes. Chevalier has made eight starts and Mathews five.

• Behrendt leads the Falcons with a .355 batting average, while Hunt and Hutter are hitting .344 and .308, respectively. Hunt has nine RBI – no Falcon had more than 19 last season – while Kaufman has driven in seven teammates to date.

• Martin has scored a team-high 12 runs and stolen a BG-best four bases. She leads the Falcons with a .556 slugging percentage, followed by Hunt (.500), Hutter (.462) and Steffes (.448), and Martin also paces the Orange and Brown with an on-base pct. of .424. 

• In the circle, a pair of freshmen have combined to start seven of the 10 games. Morgan Beckham has made four starts and Marshall three. Marshall has a team-low 4.31 ERA to date. Anderson and Krafcik have pitched in six games each, primarily in relief (Krafcik has made one start), and Anderson leads BG in innings (19 2/3) and strikeouts (10).

• 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.

WELCOME (BACK)!
• Michelle Gardner made her Falcon head-coaching debut at the Spartan Classic, 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.

WELCOME (BACK) (AGAIN)!
• Michelle Gardner returned to BG this year, as mentioned, and she makes another return this weekend. Gardner came to BGSU after spending the previous two and a half years as the associate head coach at Coastal Carolina.

• While with CCU, Gardner helped the Chanticleers to a pair of 30-win seasons and an overall record of 70-41. The Chants went 34-21 in 2024 after posting a 36-20 record the prior season.

ONE MORE WELCOME BACK!
• Indya Smith is also making a homecoming this weekend. Smith played the 2023 and '24 seasons at Coastal Carolina, helping the Chanticleers post at least 30 wins in both years. Smith began the 2023 season with a 16-game on-base streak, hitting .271 on the season.

• Then, last season, Smith started 29 games and was leading the team in both batting average (.338) and slugging percentage (.649) before suffering a season-ending injury.

• The Chants went a combined 70-41 during Smith's two years with the program.

THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
• Connecticut enters the weekend with an 8-5 record. Cat Petteys and Kaiea Higa are batting .432 and .423, respectively, as the Huskies are hitting .306 as a team. Outfielder Lexi Hastings is the reigning BIg East Conference Player of the Year. In the circle, Payton Kinney has an ERA of 0.00 in 16 innings of work, while Sydnee Koosh is 4-3 with a 4.94 ERA. Last season, head coach Laura Valentino's team went 31-24 overall and 16-8 in the Big East Conference. UConn was picked to finish second in the league this season.

• Wisconsin is 9-6 this season, and the Badgers went 3-2 in last weekend's South Florida Showdown. UW had two run-rule wins in that tourney, including an 8-0 victory vs. MAC foe Kent State. Alivia Bark and Brooke Kuffel are hitting .362 and 325, respectively, while pitcher Gabi Soto is 4-2 with an ERA of just 0.95 and 27 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings. Last season, head coach Yvette Healy's team went 21-31 overall and 8-15 in Big Ten Conference action.

Coastal Carolina is 12-2 this season to date, and the Chanticleers have won nine-straight games. The team's victims in last weekend's home tourney included Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State twice each. Georgia Hood is hitting .519 with a slugging percentage of .872 this season to date, while Delaney Keith is batting .429. In the circle, Nicolette Picone is 6-0 with an ERA of 1.30 and three saves. She has pitched in 10 of the team's 14 games. Hood and Keith each were named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team. Last season, head coach Kelley Green's club went 34-21 overall and 14-10 in conference play.

• The Falcons trail Connecticut, 3-1, in the all-time series, and the Huskies took a pair of games vs. BGSU two years ago in Gainesville, Fla. UConn picked up a 13-1 win on Feb. 17, 2023, and a 5-4 victory two days later. BGSU's lone series win was a 4-1 decision in March of 1994.

• BGSU and Coastal Carolina are tied, 1-1, in that series, with both prior meetings coming in Conway. Last year, the host Chanticleers downed the Falcons, 11-3, on opening day for the Falcons (Feb. 24, 2024). BG posted a road win over the Chants, 6-2, on March 12, 2001.

• BGSU has never met Wisconsin on the softball diamond.

DOWN THE ROAD
• Following the Chanticleer Showdown, BGSU will head to Bloomington, Ind., for five games in the Hoosier Classic (March 7-9). The Falcons are scheduled to play two games each UIC and the host school, Indiana, as well as one contest vs. IU Indy.

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.
 

#BGSU FALCON SOFTBALL #