Akron Softball Begins Final Stretch Of Regular Season At Bowling Green

Saturday, April 27

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

University of Akron

Bowling Green

Akron Softball Begins Final Stretch Of Regular Season At Bowling Green

April 26 | Softball

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Akron vs. Bowling Green
April 27 | Bowling Green, Ohio
Meserve Field

Game Information
Live Stats: Game One
Live Stats: Game Two
Akron vs. Bowling Green Game Notes

What's Ahead
With five games remaining in the 2019 regular season, the Zips conclude the campaign on the road starting at Bowling Green on Saturday, April 27. UA heads to Bowling Green, Ohio, where a doubleheader awaits the Zips against the Falcons at Meserve Field starting a 1 p.m.

Scouting the Falcons
Two weeks in the 2019 softball regular season and as Bowling Green enters the final stretch of its campaign, the Falcons stand 19-17 overall and 5-12 against Mid-American Conference opponents. Prior to the start of league play, Bowling Green competed at the Upstate Classic (0-3), the GWU Softball Tournament (4-1), the Gaucho Classic (0-2), the UGA Classic (0-5), the Morehead State Classic (4-0), and non-conference contests against Oakland (2-0), Dayton (L, 4-5), and Wright State (L, 4-5. Since the start of MACtion, the Falcons were swept by Ohio, claimed one win against Toledo, fell in all three games versus Miami, picked up a pair of wins over Ball State, earned one win a three-game series with Buffalo, and most recently lost in a series against Western Michigan (1-2). Bowling Green is three wins away from matching its win total in conference play from 2018 with five games to go.

Five members of the Falcons lineup are hitting over .300, including Madi McCoy, Nikki Sorgi, Alex Sorgi, Taylor Blevins, and Payton Hamm. In McCoy's first season in a Bowling Green uniform, the junior college transfer owns a team-best .352 batting average and .625 slugging percentage which includes 31 hits, three doubles, and a team-high seven home runs. In 88 at-bats, McCoy is the top run producer in the Falcons lineup driving in 25 RBI and scoring 14 runs. Similar to Akron, BG has a pair of sisters on the 2019 roster in Alex and Nikki Sorgi. The pair own a .328 and .323 average, respectively, which represents the second and third-best hitters in the Falcon lineup. Nikki Sorgi, a sophomore infielder, has tallied 40 hits, a team-best 11 doubles, three home runs, and 23 RBI while totaling a team-high 60 bases. The elder Sorgi, Alex, is in her final season at Bowling Green and has registered a team-high 50 hits, 33 runs scored, and 20 walks. Taylor Blevins, a junior outfielder, has started 33 games and made an appearance in 43 of the Falcons 46 games. In 112 at-bats, Blevins has garnered a .321 average on 36 hits, 18 runs scored, seven RBI, and has struck out 30 times to just two walks. Rounding out the top five hitters for BGSU is Hamm with a .317, 33 hits, has scored 22 runs, and driven in 17 runs.

The duo of Meredith Miller and Brooke Parker have picked up all 19 of the Falcon's wins in 2019 inside the circle. Miller, the ace of the pitching staff, owns a 13-15 record and a team-low 3.10 ERA. In 167.1 innings of work, Miller has tossed 14 complete games, one shutout, one combined shutout, given up 155 hits, and surrendered 106, 74 of which were earned. Against Miller, the opposition has struck out 162 times, walked 68, and is hitting .237. Parker has made 19 starts in 26 appearances on the Rubber for Bowling Green. IN 111.1 innings inside the circle, Parker owns a 3.71 ERA, 6-10 record, allowed 129 hits, 83 runs, 59 earned runs, struck out 78 and walked 49 batters.

In the NCAA, Alex Sorgi ranks 42nd in stolen bases (0.52), Meredith Miller ranks 43rd in strikeouts (162) and 119th in K's/seven inning (6.8), and Payton Hamm is rated 126th in hit by pitches (0.19).

Series History
In the all-time series between Akron and Bowling Green, the Zips trail the Falcons in the win/loss column, 23-49, in 52 contests dating back to 1987. Since joining the Mid-American Conference, Akron also trails BG in MAC play, 21-41. The Falcons have bested the Zips when playing on the road at Meserve Field, 22-15. Despite dropping four straight to BGSU overall, Akron is 4-1 in the last five visits to Bowling Green, Ohio, since 2015.

With A Win Over Bowling Green, Akron Would...

Earn its 13-14th wins of the season.
Earn its 3-4th Mid-American Conference wins of the season.
Capture its 24-25th win against BG and its 22-23rd wins in Bowling Green.
End a four-game losing streak to the Falcons.

Last Time Out
Redshirt junior Kimberly Rodriguez (Las Vegas, Nevada) launched a towering two-run home run to left field in game two in the bottom of the seventh inning, but it was not enough to complete the comeback effort as Bowling Green dropped Akron, 5-1 and 7-5, on Saturday afternoon at Lee R. Jackson Field.

The twinbill on Saturday completed the three-game series between the Zips and Falcons. Despite an attempt at late game heroics in all three contests, Bowling Green completed the three-game sweep over Akron.

The story of the weekend for the Zips was runners left on base. Combined in the three-game series, Akron left a total of 16 runners on the basepath and could not capitalize on their opportunity at the plate.

2019 Zip Breakdown
Under the guidance of 13th-year head coach, Julie Jones, the Zips are amidst the 42nd season of competition in 2019. Akron returned 11 letterwinners from a season ago and welcomed nine freshmen to the squad, including four transfers and five true freshmen.

Sophomore Kayla Wulf (Maumee, Ohio) has taken a big step in her second season in an Akron uniform. Wulf owns a team second-best .350 average, .939 OPS, .513 slugging percentage, and .429 on-base percentage. Wulf has already surpassed her 2018 stats and recorded new season-highs in hits (41, team-high), runs scored (18), doubles (7), RBI (23), walks (14), which are a team-high, and seven stolen bases. The Zips catcher/3B recorded a 10-game on-base streak (2/22-3/23) spanning over a month.

The Akron outfield has played a large role in the Akron offense through 41 games of the 2019 season. After an injury ended her 2018 season early, junior Jessie Holzman (Medina, Ohio) has made an impact in the Akron lineup. The Zips left fielder is hitting .313 in 41 starts including 30 hits, four doubles, has scored 17 runs and swiped 17 bases. Senior Jordan Crews (Waco, Ga.) has found a home in right field, is hitting .314 with 32 hits, driven in 11 RBI, six doubles, and is 7-for-8 in stolen bases. In her first season in an Akron uniform, junior Macky Mitchiner (Riverside, Calif.) roams centerfield for the Zips and fit right into the Akron offense. Mitchiner has posted a .304 average on 38 hits, scored 19 runs, and totaled 46 bases including 16 stolen bases.

Redshirt senior Kimberly Rodriguez (Las Vegas, Nevada) and junior Samantha Malik (Orlando, Fla.) are among the top seven hitters in the Akron lineup in 2019. Rodriguez has driven in 23 runs which is tied for second-most in the lineup, scored a team-high 26 runs, and swiped 11 bases as the designated player. Malik, the second baseman for the Zips and junior college transfer, is hitting .252, knocked out 28 hits, five doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI, and scored 17 runs.

Prior to a season-ending injury, redshirt sophomore Sydney Jascoe (Commerce, Mich.), led the Akron offensive efforts from the plate. Starting 32 games at third base or behind the plate for the Zips, Jascoe owned a .396/.750/.478 slash line which included a 38 hits, nine doubles, nine home runs, 26 RBI, 72 total bases, and was 6-for-6 in stolen bases. The redshirt sophomore earned MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors in the first week of the season.

Inside the circle, the sister duo of junior Adrian Smith (St. Clairsville, Ohio) and freshman Amaya Smith (St. Clairsville, Ohio) have started 29 of the Zips 41 games and made a combined 46 appearances. Ad. Smith has tossed a team-high 120 innings of work and owns a 4.67 ERA, tossed nine complete games, recorded a team-best eight wins, and 98 strikeouts. In five starts and 17 games on the rubber, Am. Smith has given up 59 hits, 44 runs (33 earned), and totaled a 6.30 ERA. Freshman Lexie Petrof (Ligonier, Pa.), has been key for the Zips out of the bullpen making 16 appearances while also earning three starts. In 38.1 innings of work, Petrof has tallied a 7.49 ERA, given up 64 hits, and struck out 19.

2019 Zips Tidbits

Eight Zips, including Samantha Malik, Macky Mitchiner, Camryn Michallas, Amaya Smith, Lauren Holdsworth, Morgan Cadmus, Adrian Smith, and Lexie Petrof made their Akron debuts at the Blue Hose Invitational.
Five Akron players recorded an OPS of over 1.000 in Akron's first five games, including Sydney Jascoe (1.559), Jessie Holzman (1.115), Kimberly Rodriguez (1.004), and Samantha Malik (1.034).
Sydney Jascoe recorded at least one hit in all five games for the Zips recording a five-game hit streak.
Adrian Smith picked up her first win in her first appearance in an Akron uniform against Morgan State (12-11).
The Zips scored 12 runs in their season opener, which is the most runs scored by an Akron team in a season opener.
For the third time in program history, Akron has ended two games in a draw. No Zips team has finished a season with more than a pair of ties.
In the first five games of the season, Akron stole 18 bases in 22 attempts courtesy of nine different Zips baserunners, including six base runners going a combined 12-for-12.
Adrian Smith struck out a then season-high eight batters against Morgan State in her second victory of the season.
Mikayla Newland and Adrian Smith recorded the Zips first combined shutout of the season (5-0) over the Bears.
Amaya Smith earned her first collegiate victory inside the circle against George Mason.
Sydney Jascoe recorded three RBI against George Mason which were a then career-high in a single-game.
At the Madeira Beach Tournament, Akron recorded 36 hits, eight doubles, two home runs, 20 RBI, scored 36 runs, and went 13-for-17 on stolen bases.
Macky Mitchiner has recorded a team-high 12 multi-hit games, is currently on a three-game hitting streak, and three-game on-base streak.
Kayla Wulf owns a team-best 10-game on-base streak and has the most three RBI contests in 2019 (2).
Jordan Crews is currently on a team-best four-game hitting streak, while Laura Lakins has the largest active on-base streak at nine games.
The Zips offense has scored a season-high 39 runs in the third inning.
Camryn Michallas owns a 1.000 batting average (5-for-5) with a runner on third and less than two outs.
Kayla Wulf is hitting a team-high .548 with runners in scoring position, .548 with runners on the bases, and .650 when successfully advancing runners.
Sydney Jascoe owns a team-best .538 average when leading off an inning and owns a team-best .362 average with bases empty.
Kimberly Rodirguez has been one of the Zips top hitters in clutch situations. With two outs, Rodriguez owns a team-best 11 RBI, is hitting .308 with two outs, and is 2-for-2 when facing a bases loaded situation.
Adrian Smith records a team-high 5.72 strikeouts per game and averages a team-high 1.7 K's to walk ratio, while Lexie Petrof averages 11.14 flyouts per outing.
Adrian Smith has posted a staff-low 7.93 hits per outing.
Amaya Smith tossed her first career complete game shutout in an 8-0 win over North Carolina A&T.
Freshman Camryn Michallas recorded her first career multi-hit contest against UT Martin going 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Sydney Jascoe and Kimberly Rodriguez hit their fifth and third home runs of the season against Ball State, respectively. It was also the second time the two have homered in the same game this season.
Macky Mitchiner has recorded a team-best 66 straight putouts and is just one of two players in the MAC to hold a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Laura Lakins owns a team-high 183 putouts, while Jascoe has recorded a team-high 46 assists.
Jascoe and Kayla Wulf are averaging over one hit per game, 1.14 and 1.00, respectively.
Sydney Jascoe launched her team-leading sixth home run of the season, recorded her eighth multi-hit contest and posted her sixth multi-RBI performance against Youngstown State.
Akron scored eight unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth inning against WMU to tie the game up at eight.
The Zips held a lead in game one against WMU for six innings.
In the two games against Western Michigan, the two squads played a nine-inning game, decided game one in the seventh inning, and scored a combined 35 runs in two games.
The Akron offense had five players in the lineup that tallied a multi-hit performance in game two including, Wulf, Jascoe, Rodriguez, Crews and Mitchiner. The Zips top performer of the contest was Wulf who went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored.
In game two against the Broncos, five players recorded an extra-base hit, eight notched a stolen base, and two tallied a sacrifice hit.
Adrian Smith tossed her fifth complete game of the season while picking up her fifth win in an Akron uniform.
Laura Lakins drove in a team-best five RBI combined in the doubleheader against Buffalo that included a walk-off RBI single to give the Zips a 4-3 win and a three-run home run, her second of the season.
Kayla Wulf went a perfect 2-for-2 and a walk in the Zips win against the Bulls.
Akron needs 52 stolen bases to set a new program record for most stolen bases in a season. The current record is 140 that was set in 2017.
Sydney Jascoe is halfway to joining the Zips top-10 list in most hits in a season. The last person to crack the list was Lisa McLean in 2009. Jascoe, 38 hits, No.10 Karrie Kovach, 66 hits in 1995.
Adrian Smith threw three-straight complete games (20 innings) to raise her CG season total to six against Toledo.
In game two against the Rockets, Akron recorded 13 hits, third-most in a single game in 2019 and eight Zips posted a hit in the match-up.
Sydney Jascoe recorded five RBI in the Zips 11-5 win over UT which are a career-best in a single game.
Freshman Lexie Petrof earned her first collegiate win inside the circle for Akron. After entering the game out of the bullpen, Petrof tossed 5 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out a pair
Sydney Jascoe hit two home runs in a single contest for the first time in her career against Toledo.
Sydney Jascoe has hit at least one home run in the last three games, including her two home run contest, and has connected on a home run in four of the last five match-ups.
Macky Mitchiner went a perfect 3-for-3 in the series finale against Buffalo.
Heading into the two-game series against Niagara, five active Zips are hitting above .250 and three active players including Wulf, Holzman, and Crews are hitting over. 300.
Kayla Wulf went 3-for-4 with one run scored, a home run and two RBI in game one against the Bobcats.
Laura Lakins in home runs in back-to-back games against Ohio giving her four on the season and her career.
Adrian Smith tossed back-to-back complete-game shutouts for the first time in her Akron career against Niagara.
In game one against the Purple Eagles, Ad. Smith flirted with perfection into the seventh inning until Niagara recorded its first base runner with a base hit.
After setting a new single-game strikeout high with nine against Niagara in game one, Ad. Smith bested herself in game two punching out 10 Purple Eagle batters.
Samantha Malik hit her fourth home run of the season which was the winning run of the game against Niagara.
Mikayla Newland recorded a career-high eight strikeouts in a single game against Kent State.
The Zips scored four runs in the sixth inning against the Golden Flashes, their only runs of the weekend, courtesy of an RBI single by Kayla Wulf, a two-RBI double to right center field from Jordan Crews, and an RBI double to straightaway center by Lauren Holdsworth.
Akron swept its second series of the year after defeating Robert Morris, 5-3 and 12-3.
The Zips starting pitchers (Adrian Smith and Mikayla Newland) tossed back-to-back complete games for the second time this season. The only other time was against Niagara where Smith three both games.
Mikayla Newland threw her first CG of the 2019 season and picked up her first win against the Colonials.
Akron's 20 combined hits against Robert Morris are the second-most against one team in 2019. The Zips totaled 26 hits versus Buffalo.
Maddy Clowdus turned in her best day at the plate in 2019 against Robert Morris with three hits, one RBI, and two runs scored.
Kimberly Rodriguez and Macky Mitchiner combined to drive in six of Akron's 12 runs against RMU in game two with three RBI each.
Lauren Holdsworth notched her first multi-hit contest in an Akron uniform and went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Up Next
The 2019 softball regular season is scheduled to come to a close on the weekend of May 3-4, as the Zips travel to Oxford, Ohio. Akron is slated for a three-game series against Miami at the Miami Softball Stadium. The Zips and Redhawks will compete in a single contest on May 3, at 3 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, May 5, beginning at 1 p.m.