Gottshall again named MAC Pitcher of the Week

Bowling Green State University softball standout Payton Gottshall has earned Mid-American Conference Pitcher-of-the-Week honors yet again. The announcement was made on Tuesday.

Gottshall earns the honor for the sixth time this season and the 10th time in her stellar BGSU career.

Gottshall, a native of Massillon, Ohio (Perry H.S.), threw a perfect game against Akron on Sunday, for her third no-hitter and second perfect game of the season. There have been four perfect games in school history, and Gottshall has three of them. She needed just 53 pitches, throwing 39 for strikes, to throw that five-inning perfect game vs. the Zips.

Earlier in the week, Gottshall picked up a win at league-leading Miami, then suffered a loss to the RedHawks the next day despite allowing just two hits in her complete-game effort.

Then, on Saturday, she earned a complete-game win over Akron in the first game of a DH, before starting the second game and working into the third inning. Gottshall had 46 strikeouts in 27 innings of work on the week.

On the season, Gottshall is now 19-9 with a 1.41 ERA and a .159 opponent batting average, and she has 281 strikeouts – just one shy of tying her own single-season record. In MAC games, she has a 1.25 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 101 innings.

BGSU is 25-14 overall, and the Falcons are 11-8 in MAC play heading into a three-game weekend series at Ball State.

Schenk selected MAC Co-Pitcher Of The Week

­Bowling Green State University’s Gage Schenk earned recognition as the MAC Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week, being named alongside Central Michigan’s Adam Mrakitsch. This is the first time Schenk has won the award and the second Falcon this season, joining Jeremy Spezia who was named on Feb. 21.

Schenk, a senior from Wapakoneta (Wapakoneta H.S.) put together an incredible outing for the Falcons on Friday against Western Michigan. Getting the starting nod on the mound, Schenk was able to toss all nine innings while giving up just four hits and one walk against the Broncos.

Despite the weekend series between Bowling Green and Western Michigan resulting in 87 total runs scored, Schenk was able to hold the Broncos scoreless to start the weekend in the 4-0 BGSU victory. The nine-inning complete game shutout by Schenk was the first for the Falcons since the 2015 season, seeing him toss 114 pitches in his first complete game at the collegiate level.

Schenk and the Falcons will be back on the field this weekend, traveling to face Eastern Michigan on the road in Ypsilanti for a four-game series. The first game of the series is set for a 4 p.m. first pitch on Friday.