Akron Resumes League Play at Bowling Green

Friday, April 2

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:00 PM

University of Akron

Bowling Green

April 01 | Softball

Follow Akron Softball on Facebook and Twitter
Follow Coach Pettipiece on Twitter

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's softball squad returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend as the Zips travel to Bowling Green, Ohio for a four-game league series at Bowling Green running Friday through Sunday, April 2-4.

at Bowling Green | Meserve Field

April 2 at Bowling Green | 3 p.m. | Live Stats
April 3 at Bowling Green | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
April 3 at Bowling Green | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
April 4 at Bowling Green | 12 p.m. | Live Stats

WHAT'S AHEAD:
The University of Akron softball squad will open its weekend series at Bowling Green with a 3 p.m. tilt on Friday, April 2. The Zips and Falcons will battle in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 3 starting at 1 p.m., before the series concludes with a noon game on Sunday, April 4.

SCOUTING AKRON:
Akron is in its 44th season of intercollegiate competition in 2021. Under the direction of second-year head coach Meaggan Pettipiece, the Zips returned 16 players from the Zips' 2020 squad and have added 12 newcomers to the 2021 roster.

Redshirt freshman OF Molly McChesney (Verona, Wis.) leads the offensive exploits for the Zips this season batting a team-best .405 on the strength of team-high marks in hits (15), runs (9), total bases (17), triples (1), stolen bases (6), slugging percentage (.459) and on-base percentage (.450), while ranking second in at-bats (37). Additionally, redshirt freshman C Laurel DeVoe (North Canton, Ohio) has posted a team-best two home runs and seven RBI.

A quintet of Akron pitchers has tossed double-digit innings in the circle, including 30.1, 29.2, 21.1, 18.2 and 13.2 innings, respectively, from junior P Olivia Otani (Canton, Ohio), freshman P Olivia Stefanoni (Hudson, Ohio), redshirt sophomore Lexie Petrof (Ligonier, Pa.), freshman Sheridon Wilber (Rock Creek, Ohio) and redshirt junior Alexa DiFeo (Akron, Ohio). Stefanoni, Otani, Petrof, DiFeo and Wilber have earned 36, 26, 17, 10 and five strikeouts, respectively.

This season, the Zips returned four of their top-six hitters from a year ago in redshirt freshman OF Tiffany Stevens (Toledo, Ohio), redshirt junior INF Sydney Jascoe (Commerce, Mich.) and seniors INF/OF Jessie Holzman (Medina, Ohio) and OF Madison Carter (Newnan, Ga.).

Stevens is Akron's top-returning hitter after batting .315 a season ago, with 17 hits in 54 at-bats, with eight RBI, six runs scored, five doubles and a pair of home runs. She boasted a .519 slugging percentage and .373 on-base mark.

Jascoe batted .300 en route to belting a team-high seven home runs, while also leading the Zips in RBI (21), and runs scored (16), while ranking second in hits (21) and total bases (46). Her .657 slugging and .388 on-base percentages are tops among returners this season.

Holzman finished the season with a .297 average recording 11 hits in 37 at-bats, four extra-base hits, while scoring eight runs and plating eight RBI.

Carter registered a .286 average on the strength of 12 hits in 42 at-bats, including three extra-base hits, and finished the campaign with eight runs scored and four RBI.

Jascoe was one of two returning Zips to start all 25 games in 2020, while senior OF Macky Mitchiner (Riverside, Calif.), who posted 12 hits, including five for extra bases, while ranking second on the squad with 11 RBI, started all 23 games in which she played.

Inside the circle, Petrof appeared in 16 games for the Zips, including 10 starts, going 55.1 innings and striking out 19 to maintain a 5.44 ERA. DiFeo made five starts as part of nine overall appearances on the mound for the Zips, fanning 10 in 18.2 innings of work en route to owning a 5.25 ERA. Additionally, redshirt sophomore Lauren Frigyes (Paris, Ohio) worked 12.2 innings of relief, in which she struck out six and tallied a 10.50 ERA.

Joining the Zips roster in 2020 are 12 newcomers; freshmen UTIL Anna Aquino (Medina, Ohio), INF Carley Auten (Pickerington, Ohio), INF Madison Dudek (Uniontown, Ohio), INF Hannah Gartrell (York, Pa.), OF Kalli Macintosh-Houlder (Mississauga, Ontario), Otani, sophomores C Katelyn Reynolds (Cincinnati, Ohio) and C Teagan Rice (Louisville, Ohio) and freshmen UTIL Jillian Riegert (Worthington, Ohio), Stefanoni, INF Atlantis Taufa (Fullerton, Calif.) and Wilber.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN:
Bowling Green stands at 10-13 on the year, including a 2-6 mark in Mid-American Conference play, after being swept in a four-game series at Ball State, March 26-28. Redshirt freshman INF Greta L'Esperance and senior INF Madi McCoy own team-best .361 batting averages. L'Esperance paces the Falcons in at-bats (83), hits (30) and stolen bases (14), while McCoy leads Bowling Green in runs (17), doubles (6), RBI (15), slugging percentage (.556) and on-base percentage (.405). In the circle, redshirt freshman P Payton Gottshall owns a team-best 1.56 ERA having tossed 94.1 innings and striking out 165.

SERIES HISTORY:
Akron is set to meet Bowling Green for the 75th-78th times, respectively, in program history, with the Falcons leading the series, 50-24. In 2019, the two teams split a doubleheader at Bowling Green on April 27, 2019, with the Falcons winning the opener, 3-2, before the Zips captured the nightcap, 5-1.

A WEEK AGO:
The University of Akron women's softball team was bested in a non-conference doubleheader on March 24 at Lee R. Jackson Field as Saint Francis registered 4-2 and 10-3 triumphs past the Zips.

In the opener, the Red Flash scored a pair of runs in the second inning and a single tally in the top of the third inning to assume a 3-0 lead.

Akron responded with a two-run frame in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut its deficit to 3-2. Tiffany Stevens started the rally collecting a one-out single. Senior SS Samantha Malik (Orlando, Fla.) followed with a two-out single to right-center field which advanced Stevens to third base, while Malik took second base on the throw. With a pair of runners in scoring position, redshirt freshman 2B Maggie Sons (Dalzell, Ill.) knocked a two-RBI, two-out single to plate Stevens and Malik.

Saint Francis added an insurance tally in the top of the sixth inning to account for the 4-2 final.

Stevens finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, while Sons added a 2-for-3 performance with two RBI.

In the nightcap, the Red Flash jumped out to a 5-0 lead in their first at-bat batting around in the top of the first inning.

Saint Francis extended its advantage to 6-0 in the top of the fourth inning, before the Zips plated a single tally in the home half of the frame. Macky Mitchiner garnered a two-out single through the right side and came across the dish on an RBI triple to right-center field off the bat of redshirt freshman LF Jaiden Bryant (Hilliard, Ohio).

The Red Flash tacked on four runs in the top of the sixth inning before Akron scored a pair tallies in the bottom of the frame. Laurel DeVoe doubled to right center to open the inning. Molly McChesney pinch ran for DeVoe and scored on an RBI triple down the right-field line by Stevens. After an infield groundout, Mitchiner doubled to right field to plate Stevens.

Mitchiner finished the tilt 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while Bryant went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

A UNIQUE HONOR:
The Zips were honored this week by the NCAA as their sixth-inning inning-ending double play against Marshall in game one on March 3 was recognized as the No. 2 play in the Top-Five Plays of the Week by NCAA Softball. With one out in the bottom of the frame and a runner on first base, a hard-hit liner was snared by a diving Samantha Malik, who got to her feet and fired to Jessie Holzman to double up the runner at first base. WATCH HERE

AKRON NOTES:
• The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 27 years after joining the league in 1993 from the North Star Conference.
• Akron's softball roster in 2021 is compiled of 28 student-athletes from all across the United States with eight different states and one Canadian Province represented. The Zips roster consists of 16 players from Ohio, three from Michigan, two from California and Pennsylvania, one from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ontario and Wisconsin.
• The 2020 season marks the 44th season of intercollegiate competition for the Akron softball program.

UP NEXT:
Akron is scheduled to welcome Miami to Lee R. Jackson Field for a four-game series beginning on Friday, April 9.