Kent State University
Bowling Green
Flashes Set to Honor Seniors During Final MAC Series
5/4/2017 10:05:00 PM | Softball
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Kent State hosts Bowling Green at the Diamond at Dix for a Mid-American Conference series to conclude the regular season this weekend. A single game is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader to follow at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Golden Flashes will recognize its senior class prior to Saturday's first game.
Kent State (24-25, 12-9 MAC) enters the weekend tied with Miami for fifth place in the overall conference standings and in control of its own destiny to secure a spot in next week's MAC Tournament. The Flashes have won four straight conference games and six of their last seven overall, while the Falcons have lost six of their last seven.
Follow the Flashes
Live stats will be available online for the entire series, and Jacob Pavilack is scheduled to call the first two games of the series on Golden Flashes iHeart Radio.
Senior Day Recognition
Six Golden Flashes — Brooke Dodson, Maddy Grimm, Janel Hayes, Ronnie Ladines, Paige McCrary and Nicole Teefy — will play their final games at the Diamond at Dix this weekend and have left their mark on the program.
The seniors have been part of 127 Kent State wins, which are eight more than any other Mid-American Conference school over the past four seasons. They currently rank as the fifth-winningest class in program history and are eight wins off the record. Additionally, the class has won two MAC regular season championships and have won seven more conference games than any other school.
Last Time Out
Kent State dropped its final non-conference game of the season, 3-0, Wednesday at Ohio State in a game in which several players received a rare starting opportunity.
Senior Janel Hayes settled in after allowing the hosts to put a pair of runs on the board in the first inning and allowed just one controversial run the rest of the night. Hayes had two strikeouts and did not walk any batters.
Junior Emily Dobbin provided the Flashes with their only hit in the contest with a single on the game's first pitch.
Scouting Bowling Green (24-29, 10-11 MAC)
• Bowling Green snapped a six-game losing streak with an 8-2 victory over Akron on Saturday.
• The Falcons scored just six runs during the losing streak and 13 times overall this season.
• Bowling Green has been held to two or fewer runs in 26 of 53 games this season.
• The Falcons rank among the bottom-50 teams nationally in runs per game (3.42) and slugging percentage (.346). Their 69 extra-base hits are last in the MAC despite having the second-most hits (376).
• SS Aspen Searle leads BG with a .339 batting average, 58 hits, 14 doubles and a .509 slugging percentage. Searle is also tied for the team lead with 35 RBI.
• OF Alex Sorgi is batting .324 while leading the Falcons in runs scored (39) and stolen bases (16).
• 1B Chelsea Raker a team-best six home runs and 25 walks while sharing the team lead in RBIs (35) with Searle.
• BG's pitching staff has a solid 3.34 ERA but allows opponents to hit .272 on the season.
• P Meredith Miller (13-9) ranks fourth in the MAC in victories and leads the Falcons with a 2.76 ERA, innings pitched (147.1), strikeouts (109), complete games (15) and shutouts (four).
Series History
• Kent State is 65-44 all-time vs. Bowling Green with a 10-game winning streak in the series.
• The Golden Flashes have recorded six shutouts during the streak, including five of the last six meetings.
• Kent State took care of BG in five innings in each of the first two games of last year's series (9-0; 8-0) but needed nine innings to come away with a 2-1 win for the sweep. Play was suspended with the game tied 1-1 through three innings and resumed the following day, as the teams nearly played a full regulation game.
• Bowling Green last defeated KSU on April 6, 2012, 4-2.
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will begin the quest for its first NCAA appearance since 2008 with a first round Mid-American Conference Tournament game on Wednesday. The double-elimination tournament will be played at Firestone Stadium in Akron through Saturday.
