BG Men's Golf Finishes 14th in Little Rock

The BG men's golf team took a 14th place finish at the UALR-First Tee Collegiate Classic Monday and Tuesday.

The 54 hole tournament at Chenal Country Club featured 16 teams with 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday. University of Arkansas Little Rock hosted the tournament and was the first time the Falcons have ever participated in the event.

Drew Preston led the Falcons in scoring with a 228 (75-72-81) that earned him a tie for 29th place. Charlie Olson shot a 232 (76-79-77) finishing tied for 43rd. Parker Hewit (81-77-76) and Wes Gates (77-76-81) both tied for 48th place with total scores of 234. Torey Brummett rounded out the BG scoring with a 262 (91-84-87).

Southeastern Louisiana won the tournament with a total score 887 defeating Sam Houston State by 13 shots. Both teams were ranked in the top 100 heading into the tournament.

BG will next head to State College, Pa. for the Rutherford Intercollegiate on Easter weekend April 7th and 8th.

BG baseball hosts Dayton

Following a 2-6 spring break trip to Florida, the BG baseball team will finally play on its home field.

The Falcons will take on Dayton today at 3 p.m. at Warren Stellar Field. It is the home opener for the Falcons, who are already 14 games into the season with a 3-11 record.

The Falcons’ pitching has struggled this season, particularly of late. BG has allowed double-digit runs in three of its last four games. The Falcons have lost all four of those games.

Jason Link leads BG with a 1.59 earned-run average coming out of the bullpen in six appearances. However, the Falcons have gotten little production from their starting rotation.

Among pitchers who have mades starts for BG this year, Andrew Lacinak leads the team with a 4.91 earned-run average. The four other pitchers who have started games for BG this year — Cody Apthorpe, Matt Malewitz, Ethan McKenney and Patrick Martin — all have earned-run averages greater than 6.14.

Offensively, the Falcons have struggled with the long ball, hitting two home runs this season — one by T.J. Losby and one by Matt Vannett. However, the Falcons are hitting a strong .291 as a team.

Leading the team in batting average is outfielder Jake Thomas, who has emerged as an unlikely presence at the top of the Falcons’ lineup. Through 10 games — eight starts — Thomas is hitting .400 with seven RBI and five runs scored.

The Falcons have received strong production from their outfield in general, with Andrew Kubuski and Patrick Lancaster each having batting averages greater than .300.

Two areas that have plauged the Falcons the most is on the basepaths and in the field. BG is only 6-for-14 on stolen bases. The Falcons have also committed 36 errors in 14 games after committing only 55 errors in 51 games last season.

Those errors have caused the Falcons to allow 23 unearned runs this season. This season, 24 percent of the runs the Falcons have allowed have been unearned.

Falcon Softball Finish 3-2 at Adidas Invitational

Falcon Softball finished 3-2 this past weekend at the Adidas Invitational in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

The Falcon’s started of the tournament with a double header against Winthrop University and Campbell University, earning a split with a loss and victory respectively.

Hitting was a key part of the Falcon’s game against Winthrop despite losing a close game 9-8. Junior Andrea Arney led the team going 3-for-4 with two home runs earning six RBI’s. Hannah Fulk also homered in the game and went 2-for-3 with two RBI’s.

The team showed resilience as they went into the third down 5-1. Arney got hot, hit a home-run and brought in three runs to bring the score to 5-4.

Despite Arney’s hitting, the Eagles scored four more runs to bring the total to 9-4 needing the Falcon’s to come from behind. Arney hit another home run yet it wasn’t enough as the Falcon’s ended the game a run short with a score of 9-8.

Friday afternoon saw the team play Campbell University where the Falcon’s retaliated and won 4-0.

“I am proud of the way the team played game two,” said head coach Shannon Salsburg. “Jamie set the tone on the mound and the team responded with solid defense and clutch hitting.”

Freshman Jamie Kertes earned the shutout on the mound and the victory.

Saturday the Falcon’s again played a double header, this time against Gardner Webb and Albany. The team swept the day winning both games 8-0 and 3-2 respectively.

Junior Paige Berger set the tone against Gardner Webb, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, while Katie Yoho went 2-for-2 with a single and a home run. This marks the second shutout of the tournament and the fourth put on by the Falcon’s this year.

Albany was a closer game with the Falcon’s scoring all three runs in the first inning thanks to a Yoho three-run hit giving the Falcon’s an early 3-0 lead.

Albany would respond with two of their own runs thanks to a strong performance from pitchers Paige Imholz and Kertes.

The Falcon’s concluded the tournament Sunday with a loss to St. Johns 3-2. Again Kerney lead the Falcon’s offensively with a home run and RBI to give the Falcon’s their only two runs, while the Red Storm scored all their runs early in the first.

The Falcon’s (10-7) will return to Bowling Green before heading to Farifax, Virginia this weekend to partake in the Red Blossom Classic.

Softball Heads to South Carolina for Adidas Invitational

With Katie Yoho having been named the Papa Johns Player of the Week last week, the Falcon's will travel to Rock Hill, South Carolina for their tournament this Friday.
The Adidas Invitational being held at Winthrop University will see the Falcon's play 5 games that will test their 7-5 record this season.
First up the Falcon's will play the host team, Winthrop, followed by Campbell University Friday afternoon.
Saturday will feature a Gardner Webb and Albany double-header for the Falcon's and Sunday will bring a game against St. Johns university.
Having yet to play a home game, the Falcon's have done well being constantly on the road. Bringing impressive hitting and a young, but talented pitching squad, the Falcon's have been able to go toe-to-toe with every opponent they've faced. Paige Berger, Hannah Fulk, and Yoho all have demonstrated leadership at the plate, while the freshmen Paris Imholz and Jamie Kertes have done well joining Jessica Odell and Erin Greenwalt on the mound.
Defense will be key in the Falcon's performance this weekend.

Temple to leave the Mid-American Conference

UPDATE, MARCH 9: According to a MAC press release, BG will move back to East Division for football. The Falcons were to move to the West Division for the 2012 season to accommodate Umass' move to the MAC. With Temple leaving for the Big East, that accommodation will no longer be necessary.

“Temple University requested to be released from its obligation, as a football-only member of providing two season’s prior notice before departing the Mid-American Conference," MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said in the release. "As a result the Conference and its member institutions engaged in a dialogue with Temple regarding an appropriate resolution. We have come to an agreement that is fair to the parties involved.”

“As a result, the Mid-American Conference has adjusted its football divisional alignment. Bowling Green State University will compete in the East Division that will consist of seven member institutions. The West Division will have six members. The eight-game Conference schedule should be released within several weeks.”

Temple negotiated a $6 million with the MAC. Since the season is still months from starting, nothing changes from BG's standpoint.

ORIGINAL POST: The Temple Owls, which has been a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference since 2005, will reportedly leave the conference to compete in the Big East, effective for the 2012 season, according to the Associated Press.

All other Temple sports compete in the Atlantic-10 conference.

The Owls competed in the East Division, and their departure will once again leave the MAC at 13 football members — six in the East, seven in the West.

During the season, it was announced that Massachusetts-Amhurst will join the MAC as a football-only school in 2012 in order to give the conference 14 football teams, thus evening out the divisions.

As part of this addition, BG was relocated to the West Division. The Falcons originally competed in the West in 2002 and 2003, but have been in the East since the 2004 season.

It is unclear whether the Falcons will remain in the West Division, or return to the East Division, where they compete in men's and women's basketball.

Falcons split pair of games

The BG baseball team picked up a dramatic 4-3 win against Georgetown, and followed that up with a clunker against Penn, a 13-2 loss.

Against the Hoyas, BG scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to go ahead and eventually win. A pair of two out singles — one by Andrew Kubuski and one by Brian Bien — did the damage for BG.

Andrew Lacinak started for BG and went five strong innings, allowing two runs — one earned — on four hits and two walks.

BG's offense and defense failed them against Penn. The Falcons had only six hits and committed four errors, leading to six unearned runs.

T.J. Losby had both RBI for the Falcons.

Five games into the tournament, BG is 2-3, and 3-8 on the season. The Falcons have an off day Wednesday, and will return to action Thursday against Yale.

Yoho Named Athlete of the Week as Falcon's Finish Positve

Katie Yoho was named Papa Johns player of the week for her performances for the Falcon's softball team at the Under Armour Invitational.
Yoho went 8-16 and added two home-runs for the Falcon's during their time in Clearwater, Florida. Yoho also added 4 RBIs and scored three runs herself.
With Yoho's impressive hitting the Falcon's finished out their tournament by beating St. Francis for a second tome on Sunday, by a score of 4-2.
The Falcon's finished 3-2 with losses coming from Quinnipiac University and Florida Gulf Coast University. The team beat St. Francis twice and had an impressive come-from-behind game against Bethune-Cookman.
Strong hitting once again drove the Falcon's to their victories, and their pitching depth also contributed. All pitchers were used several times as the Falcon's managed to keep hitters out of sync.
This Invitational brings the Falcon's to a 7-5 record this season, and allowed Yoho to pass Paige Berger in the season home-run total.

Game Three: BG @ Northern

Game three started off differently than the previous two games because there was no score in the first period. Northern Michigan held the advantage in shots 9-5 and both teams went 0-3 on power-play chances.

The Wildcats broke through first just under five minutes into the second period. Mitch Jones received a pass and fired a wrsit shot past Hammond that barely snuck in under the crossbar.

The Falcons responded as Dan DeSalvo held the puck after a Wildcats turnover and he rushed in on goalie Jared Coreau. DeSalvo whizzed the puck past him to tie the game 1-1 in the second period.

Just a little over two minutes later BG struck again as Adam Berkle broke through Northern's defense on a breakaway and he missed his initial shot, but DeSalvo was there to clean up the rebound and put it home for his second goal of the night and the go-ahead goal 2-1.

A little later after that goal, Berkle created offense again. He threw a shot at Coreau, which again he let up a huge rebound, but this time Berkle finished what he started and put the puck in the back of the net for the Falcons third straight goal. The score was 3-1 Falcons heading into the third period.

In the third period Northern tried to get to Hammond, but he was solid and the defense cleared many of the rebound chances. BG scored again as Ryan Viselli scored on a pass from Ryan Carpenter to make the final score 4-1 in favor of the Falcons.

This is the second straight year the Falcons advance in the playoffs as the #11 seed. Also the second straight year they fell behind 1-0 to Northern Michigan and then beat them with two straight wins.

Berkle led the Falcons in points in the series with seven (2 goals, 5 assists) and DeSalvo scored 5 goals and recorded one assist in the series. He scored only four goals the whole regular season.

It doesn't get any easier as the Falcons now travel to top ranked Ferris State in the second round of the CCHA playoffs. They were 0-4 against the Bulldogs this season.

Falcons swept in doubleheader

After picking up a win to start its spring break invitational, the Falcons ran into strong pitching from Northeastern as the Huskies took two games from BG.

On day after a 25-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox in an exhibition game, the Huskies received two fantastic outings from their starting pitchers. In a game one, 4-3 win, Northeastern starter Andrew Leenhouts went the distance, throwing seven innings, allowing three runs out eight hits, striking out four.

In game two, a 5-2 Huskies win, Dylan Maki one-upped his counterpart, also going the distance, allowing two runs — one earned — on five hits in seven innings.

T.J. Losby hit his first home run of the year in game one, while Logan Walker and Brian Bien each drove in a run for BG in game one.

The Falcons only mustered five hits in the second game, but three came off the bat of Jake Thomas, who returned to the leadoff spot after sitting game one. While Thomas has only appeared in five of BG's nine games, his his hitting 9-for-17 (.529) with three RBI.

Ethan McKenney started game one for BG and went the distance, throwing six innings and allowing four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.

Pat Martin started game two, but did not fare as well as McKenney. He lasted only three innings, allowing four runs — three earned — on three hits and three walks.

Now at 2-7, BG returns to action Monday afternoon as it takes on Georgetown.

Game Two: BG @ Northern Michigan

The Falcons are battle-tested coming into this series and they showed how tough they are last night against Northern Michigan.

The first period started exactly like the first game, with BG coming out ready to play. Just 32 seconds into the game, Dan DeSalvo carried the puck into the Wildcats' zone and fired a shot past Northen goaltender Reid Ellingson for the 1-0 lead early.

The Wildcats responded at the 4:07 mark of the period when Steven Vigier tipped in a shot from the top of the zone and beat BG goalie Andrew Hammond to tie the game up. They scored again with just over a minute remaining in the first period. Justin Florek managed to score after a scramble in front of Hammond and the score was 2-1 Northern Michigan heading into the second period.

Just two minutes into the second period, the Wildcats scored again as they got a gracious bounce in the BG zone and Matt Thurber hammered the shot past Hammond for the 3-1 lead.

At this point the Falcons were on the brink of elimination, but they didn't give up.

At the 3:54 mark of the second period Marcus Perrier fired a shot from the point that beat Ellingson and cut into the lead 3-2.

Then again five minutes later, the Falcons tied the game up when Sullivan fired a wrist shot that dinged off the post and past Ellingson. The game was tied 3-3.

With just under a minute left in the second period the Falcons took control of the game. DeSalvo received a nice outlet pass and skated by the Northern Michigan defense. He faked out Ellingson and beat him with the backhand shot to give him his second goal of the game and the lead for the Falcons 4-3.

With five seconds left in the second period Vigier broke through the Falcon zone and was taken down from behind rewarding him a penalty shot to tie the game up, but Hammond stoned him preserving the one goal lead.

The Wildcats tried to come back but Hammond played sensational in the third period. Bryce Williamson added an empty-net goal for the Falcons as they beat Northern Michigan 5-3. They forced a game three tonight at 7:35 p.m.

Gymnastics sets season highs in loss to Ball State

The BG gymnastics team narrowly missed out on its first Mid-American Conference win, as Ball State mounted a last-second comeback to upset the Falcons 194.025-193.9 in Muncie, Ind.

The Falcons led the Cardinals after three rotations, but the balance beam again proved to be their undoing, as Gina Locigno and Danielle Wishart both hopped off in the final minutes of competition.

Despite the falls, BG nearly set a season high on beam, as Monica Eaton (9.625), Megan Valentini (9.775), Megan Harrington (9.775) and Jamilah Ali (9.85) gave standout performances.

While the Falcons struggled, Ball State turned in an impressive showing on floor exercise, scoring 48.825. The Cardinals hit all 24 routines, breaking 194 for the first time this year.

“We’ve kind of been in this pattern where the opposing team is having their best meet of the year,” said coach Kerrie Beach. “As I’ve said in the past, what the other team does doesn’t affect what we do. I just hope it really ignites that fire in our athletes.”

The fire was lit in the first half of the meet, as the BG gymnasts again put together six strong uneven bar routines, scoring 48.45 to open the meet. Monica Eaton tied for the win with Ball State’s Kayla Kmiecik, scoring 9.8. Locigno (9.775) and Lindsay Koch (9.675) hit season-high scores to help the Falcons.

On the vault, three Falcons scored the three highest scores of the night, led by Wishart’s career-high 9.9. Lacey Swords (9.775) and Ali (9.825) hit solid vaults to set up Wishart’s high, stuck full-twisting Yurchenko.

After two events, BG led Ball State by .425. On the floor exercise, the Falcons ran into some trouble, as Ali and Wishart both flew out of bounds on their opening passes, and no gymnast scored above a 9.75.

“We weren’t quite as in control as we usually are,” Beach said. “It’s an event that’s usually really strong for us. I was surprised to see us bouncing out of bounds.”

Surprisingly, BG’s lead over Ball State grew after the troubles on floor. Stellar performances by several Falcons on beam were not enough to overcome two falls, and Ball State achieved the slimmest of victories.

While a 193.9 marks the Falcons’ highest away score to date, it also signifies another meet that the team’s goal of scoring a 194 has eluded them.
“I can’t even tell you the level of frustration,” Beach said. “The team’s working so hard and I know that’s been a major goal of theirs. But you know when you’re that close that many times that it’s going to happen. We still have plenty of meets left to get that 194 or higher.”

The Falcons continue MAC competition next week, traveling to take on Kent State in the team’s third-straight away meet.

Falcons fall to Buffalo on final day of regular season

With seeding placement in the Mid-American Conference Tournament on the line, the BG men's basketball team fell to Buffalo Saturday afternoon, 68-64.

With the loss, the Falcons will be the No. 6 seed in the MAC Tournament, giving them a home game Monday night at 7 p.m. against No. 11 seeded Central Michigan. The Falcons defeated the Chippewas 71-58 earlier this season.

A'uston Calhoun paced the Falcons with 23 points, while Dee Brown (15) and Jordon Crawford (13) also scored in double figures for BG.

The Bulls used an aggressive inside presence throughout the game, attempting 25 foul shots, while BG had only eight free throw attempts.

Mitchell Watt led the Bulls with 20 points, who shot 47.9 percent from the field, including 38.5 percent from three-point distance.

Impressive Come From Behind Win Propels Falcon's Softball Team Into Day Three

A strong come from behind performance highlights the Falcon’s play at the Under Armour Invitational through day two.

Day one saw the Falcon’s defeat St. Francis yet fall to Quinnipiac University.

The Falcon’s took the plate against St. Francis and drove home only one run, but it was enough. Katie Yoho was able to drive a single home-run in the seventh and was either teams only score, as the Falcon’s pulled through a 1-0 victory.

Game two took place against Quinnipiac University, where the Falcon’s fell 7-4. Paige Berger, Erika Stratton, Hannah Fulk, and Yoho all collected RBIs.

The excitement came on Saturday as the Falcon’s defeated Bethune-Cookman University 8-6. The Falcon’s at one point down 5 runs, rallied in the fifth to score four runs on three hits.

The sixth inning saw more of the team’s dynamic hitting, as the Falcon’s scored four more runs again just on three hits.

Berger, Yoho, and Andrea Arney all recorded RBIs while Rachel Proehl scored on a throwing error.

“We battled hard for the win today,” said Coach Shannon Salsburg. “The entire team contributed to this win. It is huge to know we can battle from behind no matter the score.”

Despite the impressive come-from-behind win, the team was unable to keep the momentum against Florida Gulf Coast, losing 6-1.

The game went back and forth for the majority of the game, until the fifth inning where FGCU scored five runs of off five hits.

Between the two days, the Falcon’s used all their pitchers and will look forward to playing an encore game against St. Francis on Sunday.

Twelve runs, 21 hits lead BG baseball to victory

A season-high 21 hits and 12 runs led the BG baseball team to its second win of the season, a 12-5 victory against Mt. St. Mary's on Saturday in the Falcons' first game of the RussMatt Invitational in Florida.

Seven Falcons had multi-hit games, led by Jake Thomas, who batted leadoff for the second consecutive game. He went 4-for-5 with two RBI, two runs scored and a walk.

Andrew Kubuski, Patrick Lancaster and Brandon Howard each had three hits for BG. Howard had two RBI, Kubuski had one and Lancaster scored three runs.

Cody Apthorpe once again struggled on the mound for BG, facing 15 batters in 2 1/3 innings pitched. However, he only allowed two runs on six hits and two walks.

Ben Singer picked up the win in relief, giving up an unearned run on one hit and no walks in 4 1/3 innings. Trevor Blaylock got the last six outs for BG, allowing a run on four hits.

The Falcons will be back in action tomorrow, playing a doubleheader against Northeastern.

Game One: BG @ Northern Michigan

The BG hockey team was ready to play Friday night as they scored a goal in the opening minute of the game. Connor Kucera sent a shot at the net that found Adam Berkle's stick. He deflected the puck to Dan DeSalvo who buried the shot in the back of the net. The Falcons were up 1-0 in the opening minute.

Then at the 11:58 mark of the first period, Northern Michigan's Justin Florek tied the game up heading into the second period of play 1-1.

The second period started quickly again as this time the wildcats scored just five minutes into the period making the score 2-1.

The Falcons responded as Berkle stole the puck and carried it in front of the Wildcats' net. He shot the puckl low and beat Northern goaltender Jared Coreau to tie the game up 2-2.

Late in the second period, the Falcons committed a penalty so the Wildcats started the third period on a power-play. Andrew Cherniwchan made the Falcons pay as he deflected a shot past BG goalie Andrew Hammond to give the Wildcats a 3-2 advantage with just over 18 minutes left in the game.

Howerever, the Wildcats struck again as senior Tyler Gron received a nice pass out of the penalty box and started a 2-on-1 advantage towards Hammond. He decided to keep the puck and beat Hammond and made the score 4-2.

The Falcons were then shut down on offense and lost game one of the three-game playoff series.

The game tonight is a win or go home situation. They need to win to force a game three. The game starts at 7:35 p.m.