Men's Baseball/Women's Softball (1:00 Class)

After a long winter in Bowling Green, students in the spring all share in the excitement of getting back outside and enjoying warm weather once again. For several decades the Bowling Green baseball and softball teams have provided excitement and the promise of summer. For the Sport Centennial Project, our group decided to research the men’s baseball team and the women’s softball team, not only because of the resounding similarities between the two sports, but also simply for an enjoyment of the games. The prospect of researching a sport with such a long history, especially baseball proved at times to be a daunting task. However, the research process provided us with a huge amount of information to work with, which proved to be invaluable throughout the process of creating this paper.

The first baseball team was established in 1915 under head coach F. G. Beyerman. The sport did not achieve varsity status until 1918, went intercollegiate in 1921, and became a member of the MAC in 1951. This has lead BG to have an intercollegiate team for 79 years, with the exception of one year, 1936. This was the only year that, according to our research, BG did not field a baseball team, leaving 78 years of baseball history. Over this span, there have been ten head coaches, Beyerman, Krieger, Snyder, McCandless, Steller, Landis, Young, Purvis, Platzer, and Schmitz, the current coach. The average team has fielded approximately 25 players, however this number has fluctuated to include fewer or more men over the years. The overall record is one statistic that has unfortunately been lost to history; however there is evidence to suggest that the overall record is around .500.

There have been a number of memorable teams and athletes in the long history of BG baseball. Some of the individual figures include Burke Badenhop, a pitcher currently with the Florida Marlins, and Doug Bair, a World Series champion pitcher. Perhaps the most illustrious of former falcons is Orel Hershiser, a Hall of Fame pitcher and member of the World Series champion 1988 LA Dodgers where he was named the MVP. He also was a three time All Star Selection, and was named the Cy Young Award winner in 1988.

Burke Badenhop, Florida Marlins pitcher

Doug Bair, drafted by Pittsburg Pirates, former World Series Champion
Orel Hershisher, former World Series pitcher for Los Angeles Dodgers; pitched for Cleveland Indians in 1995 World Series

In the arena of women's sports, the Bowling Green softball team has also enjoyed its share of success since its inception in 1979.* The average team has had 15 athletes. Coaches of the softball team have included Rachel Miller, Jacquie Joseph (below), Sandi Haines, and current coach Shannon Salzburg.

Notable players for the softball team include the first softball player inducted into the BGSU Hall of Fame, Vicki Miwa (below). She was the first softball player to earn All-MAC first team honors three times. She held 11 school records for pitching at one time.

While the baseball team has, at times, yielded more information for our study, both teams were certainly interesting to research, and afforded our team a fascinating look into the history of not only BG sports, but also the University itself.

*Note: The starting date of 1979 as listed in the 2009 Media Guide does not agree with the starting dates provided by Dr. Janet Parks and Ann Bowers, who are currently writing a history of BGSU Women's Sports. According to Dr. Parks, softball began as an intercollegiate sport in 1965 and was played until 1972, when it was "dropped for lack of a coach;" the sport was resumed in 1977 (personal communication, April 13).

Members of this Group include: Holly Brodbeck, Lindsey Huling, Mallory Kemper, Aaron Van Zile, and Kelsey West.