Baseball picks up first win

Matt Malewitz pitched 3 1/3 strong innings in his first start of the season to help lead the BG baseball team to a 5-2 victory against Dayton, the Falcons' first win of the season.

BG had previously lost all five games it had played.

Malewitz, an All-MAC selection as a sophomore in 2009, gave up two hits, no runs and no walks, striking out two, to pick up his first win of the season. He was flanked by Jason Link, who followed up with 3 2/3 strong innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits and a walk, striking out three.

Andrew Lacinak pitched a perfect eighth inning for BG, and Ben Singer finished off the game in the ninth. He made things interesting, allowing three hits and an unearned run, but was able to finish off the win.

The Falcons had a season-high 15 hits. The top-of-the-lineup experiment continued for coach Danny Schmitz, who put Jake Thomas into the leadoff spot. He responded by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

In fact, the top four in the Falcons' lineup did significant damage. Thomas, T.J. Losby, Andrew Kubuski and Drew Kuns combined to go 10-for-17. Kubuski and Kuns each had three hits, while Kuns had two RBI.

Five Falcons — Thomas, Losby, Kubuski, Kuns and Tyler Wynn — had multi-hit games.

The Falcons defense committed four errors in the game, leading to two unearned runs.

The Falcons will be back in action Friday, as they take on Mt. St. Mary's in the first game of the RussMatt Invitational in Florida.

Richards fired after 12 seasons

BG women's soccer coach Andy Richards has been fired after 12 seasons at the helm of the program, the University announced in a statement.

Assistant coach Kellie Evans will serve as interim head coach for the 2012 season. A national search for a permanent head coach will begin in November.

“We would like to thank Andy for his years of service and contributions to BGSU women’s soccer,” BG director of athletics Greg Christopher said in a statement. “That being said, it is in the best interest of the program that we move in another direction.”

In 12 seasons at Bowling Green, Richards was 108-121-27 overall and 58-62-16 in MAC play. His teams won the MAC Tournament in 2004 and 2005, along with a regular season title in 2005.

However, the women's soccer team has struggled of late. BG hasn't posted a winning season since a 12-6-4 record in 2008, and had only six wins this past season.

BG baseball swept by Oklahoma State

For the second straight weekend, the BG baseball team went winless, dropping all three games in a series against Oklahoma State.

The Falcons dropped game one of the series, due to a superb effort on the mound by Oklahoma State pitcher Andrew Heaney.

The left-hander went 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits and two walks, recording 12 strikeouts.

While the Falcons were only able to manage two runs in the game, they did put 13 runners on base behind 10 hits and three walks.

Logan Walker was moved up to the leadoff spot in the lineup and responded by going 2-for-4 with a walk. Andrew Kubuski added two hits, while Brandon Howard and Alex Davison each had RBI base-hits.

Cody Apthorpe started the game, but ran into trouble in the second inning. In that inning, he allowed four runs as the Cowboys batted around.

He finished the game by going four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out three.

Saturday's game did not bring as much success for BG. While the Falcons scored a season-high three runs, their pitching faltered in a 13-3 loss.

Patrick Martin started the game and had similar results as Apthorpe, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk in four innings.
Trevor Blaylock relieved him and allowed seven runs — six earned — on six hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.


Walker saw an end to his three-game hitting streak, going 0-for-4, but he had a walk and scored a run.

T.J. Losby had the only multi-hit game for the Falcons, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Drew Kuns had the other RBI for BG, going 1-for-3 and adding a run.

For the second straight game, the Cowboys received a strong effort on the mound, but this time it was from a reliever. Chase
Stevens pitched five innings in relief of Kyle Ottoson, allowing no hits and two walks, striking out 13 of the 16 batters he faced.

While Sunday's game started off well for BG, it did not finish as such in a 6-2 loss.

Ethan McKenney started the game for BG and was strong early. He allowed only one hit through five innings, but fell apart in the sixth inning. In the inning, he gave up three hits, a walk and four runs.

He finished the game going 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk, striking out three.

Losby had another strong game for BG, going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base.

Davison and Patrick Lancaster also had multi-hit games, each going 2-for-4, with Davison scoring a run.

The Falcons will be back in action March 3, as the team begins an eight-game in seven day stretch at the RussMatt Invitational in Winter Haven, Fla.

Falcon Softball Split 2-2 at Hilltopper Classic

Hannah Fulk continued her hit streak to five games as the Falcon’s competed in the Spring Hilltopper Classic in Bowling Green, Ky.

Fulk registered a hit in the Falcons’ first two games despite losing both games. Paige Berger continued her streak to four games before Western Kentucky snapped her streak.

The Falcons first played Indiana State on Saturday morning to a close 4-3 loss.

“[Saturday] was a tough loss,” said coach Shannon Salsburg. “We didn’t control the things we could, and they capitalized on our mistakes.”

The Falcons registered two runs in the first inning of play, before the Sycamores came back for the win. Berger went 2-for-4 with another home run, giving her 25 for her career, as she inches closer to the school record.

Friday night the Falcons played the host team of Western Kentucky. The team proved to be a tough match-up as they beat the Falcon’s 6-1.

The first run of the game didn’t come until the third inning, as WKU tallied its first run of the night. The sixth inning saw the Hilltoppers register four runs off of four hits.

“Today one inning was the difference in both games,” Salsburg said. “We talked as a team about shutting down the big innings. We look forward to playing all seven innings tomorrow the way we played six today.”

The game saw freshman pitcher Paris Imholz receive her first career loss.

Day two of the Classic saw a resurgence, as the Falcons closed off the day with two wins.

The Falcons played Morehead State first and won by a score of 6-3.

The Eagles came out sluggish and the Falcons pushed aggressively, especially from the batting of Katie Yoho. Yoho went 3-for-4 on the day, driving in two home runs and five RBIs. Berger also added another home run to the Falcons’ tally.

“We did a good job of attacking early and often,” Salsburg said.

Sunday afternoon saw the Falcons take down Murray State for the Sunday sweep.

Unlike in game one, the Falcons fell behind early by three runs, but with aggressive hitting and base running, the team managed to get the win. Berger and Yoho both contributed as well as Erika Stratton who gave the Falcons their first two RBIs.

The team used its pitching depth as it used three different pitchers in game; sophomore Erin Greenwalt earned the win while Jamie Kertes earned the save. Both were firsts for the pitchers.

Sunday saw the end of Hulk’s hit streak as she failed to reach base. The day also saw Berger move into second place for the career home run record with 26, as both she and Yoho now lead the team in home-runs this season with three.

This marks the first back-to-back wins this season, and the team will look to carry that momentum with their 4-3 record.

Women's basketball clinches top four seed with win over Buffalo

The Falcons hung on throughout a sloppy win, and in doing so, they clinched a top four seed for the Mid-American Conference tournament.

With that in mind, if the Falcons earn the three or four seed, they have to win three games to win the championship, if they seed the one or two spots, they are automatically advanced to the semifinals and would only have to win two games to win the title.

In the team's 62-52 victory over Buffalo, BG had to play catch-up right out of the gate.

The Bulls got the first possession and scored, then the Falcons almost immediately turned it over, resulting in a 0-4 deficit within the first minute.

BG trailed the entire first half, tying it up a few times, but never surpassing them - they did come within a point, 29-28, by the end of the half.

The Falcons picked up their game in the second half, battling for their first lead all game. By the time the last 20 minutes concluded, Jessica Slagle scored 19 points and both Chrissy Steffen and Alexis Rogers posted double-doubles.

BG hits the road for back-to-back road games against Akron and Ohio for their upcoming contests.

Gymnastics stumbles in tri-meet

The BG gymnastics team was marred by inconsistency on uneven bars and balance beam Sunday, falling to host team Maryland (194.475) and North Carolina (193.125).

The Falcons finished in third place with a score of 191.5, led by strong performances from Gina Locigno, Danielle Wishart and Jamilah Ali. Ali tied for first place on beam, hitting a season-high 9.825.

The problems began for BG on the uneven bars, the team's first event. Lacey Swords and Amanda Lievendag both missed key release skills, falling from the bar. Megan Harrington (9.475), Locigno (9.575) and Monica Eaton (9.7) completed their routines to salvage a 46.7 on the apparatus.

"Bars was a rough start," coach Kerrie Beach said. "We're seeing some new athletes getting into the lineup and I think they're adjusting to competition again. We're hoping to see some of the athletes that have been in the lineup get a little more consistent as well."

The troubles continued on beam, where the first performer, Dawn Christman, fell on her first skill: a front tuck mount. Megan Valentini continued her string of solid routines, scoring a 9.425 to get the Falcons back on track. Locigno (9.65) and Wishart (9.7) extended the rally. Harrington suffered a second fall, before Ali's winning routine in the last spot.

Halfway through the competition, the Falcons had dug themselves into a large hole, trailing second-place North Carolina by over a point.

A steady floor exercise lineup did all it could make up the difference, highlighted by Christman's season-high 9.85, good enough for second place on the event. Valentini (9.725), Locigno (9.75) and Harrington (9.775) came through as well, capping off the BG floor lineup, which is still ranked in the nation's top 25.

The Falcons finished up on vault, with Christman (9.775), Wishart (9.775) and Ali (9.825) posting big numbers. The team's final score of 191.5 is its second lowest of the season.

"Today really did not reflect what we've been doing in training," Beach said. "On bars, they've been doing a great job in practice. Some of them seem able to carry that over to the meet and others still seem nervous. We may need to do some more pressure sets in practice. On beam we had some uncharacteristic mistakes but I think we're on the right track there."

The BG gymnastics team is back at home this Saturday for a Mid-American Conference matchup with Northern Illinois. The Falcons lead NIU in the rankings, 191.680-191.370.

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