BG softball team is honored by MAC

The Bowling Green softball team received a pair of post-season honors from the Mid-American Conference as coach Shannon Salsburg was voted coach of the year and pitcher Jamie Kertes was named freshman of the year.

Salsburg, who is in her sixth season at Bowling Green, led the Falcons to a 35-20 overall record, with a record of 15-7 record in MAC play. Salsburg pushed her team past the 30-win mark for the first time since 2007, and the Falcons earned 15 conference wins for the first time since 2006. BG's 23-game turnaround from last season marks the biggest improvement in the country.

Kertes was named freshman of the year after earning an 8-1 record in MAC 10 starts, giving her the third-highest win total in the conference. Kertes has experienced success in relief as well, ranking second in the conference with four saves.

Kertes’ 1.32 ERA ranks first in the conference, helping the Falcons to a league best 1.72 ERA as a team. Kertes has allowed just six walks in MAC play this season, and ranks second in the entire country in walks allowed per seven innings (0.6).  Kertes carries an impressive 1.07 WHIP, and has held opposing teams to zero earned runs in eight of her 15 appearances. Her 51 strikeouts rank just outside the top five in the conference, while her 63.2 innings pitched is among the top ten.

Kertes was named to the All-MAC first team and the league's all-freshman team.

Joining Kertes on the All-MAC first team was SS Hannah Fulk. The Junior set a single-season BG record by slamming 13 home runs and finished with a .319 batting average, 31 RBIs and 49 runs scored.

Joining Kertes on the all-freshman team was fellow pitcher Paris Imholz. Kertes finished with a season's record of 17-9 and had a 1.85 ERA for the season while striking out 78 in 182 innings.

Bowling Green, the third seed in the Mid-American Conference tournament, opens tournament play against the winner of the Central Michigan-Kent State game on Wednesday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. The tournament will be played at Firestone Stadium in Akron through Saturday, May 12.