May 21, 2008

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - For the first time since the 2005 season, the Bowling Green State University baseball team boasts a member of the Mid-American Conference First Team as Ryan Shay and Derek Spencer were both named to the 15-member squad, which was released by the league office on Wednesday. Shay, a junior shortstop from Garden City Mich, was named to the First Team as a shortstop, while Spencer, a sophomore from Oregon, Ohio, was named to the squad as a third baseman. The teams were selected by the league's 12 coaches.

Shay, who has played in all 50 games and started 46 in the hole, currently holds a MAC-bset .418 batting average and 84 hits, as he has recorded 30 multiple-hit efforts and nine multiple-RBI performances during the 2008 season. His 19 doubles are currently tied for the all-time single-season school record, while his 84 hits are third. If the season ended with the team's current stats, his average would rank a whole 14 points higher than the single-season mark set by Corey Loomis in 2002, as he has nine games with three or more hits.

Shay also has 15 stolen bags on the year and an on base percentage of .487, as he has a team-high 27 walks. He boasted a career-long hitting-streak of 17 games between April 12th and May 10th, which started just a single game after he tied his career-long streak with a 16-game streak from March 7th till April 9th.

In the field, Shay has recorded 138 assists on the year to bring his career total to 404, ranking him sixth on the all-time BGSU career list. He has started or been a part of 32 of the Falcons' 55 double plays.

Next to Shay all season on the left side of the infield has been Spencer, who has seen action in 49 games, getting 45 starts at third. The right-hander ranked in the league's top-10 with a .369 batting average and 65 hits on the season as he leads the Falcons with 53 RBI, tying him Larry Arndt (1984) and Bob Niemet (1988) for ninth on the all-time single-season list. His 10 homers then rank second on the team and were in the top-10 of the league's final regular-season rankings.

Spencer recorded 19 multiple-hit games in 2008 and 15 multiple-RBI performances, including eight games with three or more runs batted in. During the month of April, he collected 32 hits in 68 plate appearances on way to hitting .471 for the month, that included seven homers and 26 RBI.

In his time at the hot corner, Spencer has recorded 99 assists on the and has had a hand in eight double plays.

Both Shay and Spencer aided in the Falcons' first Regular-Season MAC Championship in six years, as the team boasted the fourth-best conference turnaround in the nation, going from seven wins in 2007 to 16 in 2008. BG finished the regular-season 31-18 overall and 16-8 in the conference, tying them with Kent State for teh East Division and Regular-Season Title.

With their selections, Shay and Spencer became the first Falcons to named to the league's First Team in three seasons. Pitcher Alan Brech, infielder Andy Hudak and outfielder Nolan Reimold were the last Falcons to do so, as they were all named to the MAC's First Team during the 2005 season.

BG, currently 1-0 in the 2008 MAC Tournament, will next take to the diamond on Thursday when play West Division Champion Eastern Michigan in a 4 p.m. winners' bracket game. Live statistics, video and audio for the contest can all be found by visiting www.bgsufalcons.com

Kent State junior Greg Rohan, the 2008 MAC Player of the Year, and teammate Chris Carpenter, this year's Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year, highlight the 30-player all-conference squad that was announced today by the league office in conjunction with the MAC Tournament (May 21-24). In addition, Western Michigan starting pitcher Brian Stroud was named the MAC's Freshman of the Year, while EMU's skipper Jake Boss Jr. was chosen as Coach of the Year. The league's 12 head coaches conducted the voting for the 15-member first and 15-member second All-MAC teams.

Rohan finished the regular season leading the league in homeruns (19), RBI's (58, 1.16 per game) and slugging percentage (.772), while ranking second in the league in total bases (142). This marks the fifth time that the Player of the Year award has gone to someone from Kent State. KSU's Dave Bettendorf (1987), Mike Gulan (1992), John VanBenschoten (2001) and Emmanel Burriss (2006) have also been recognized as the top player in the MAC.

Carpenter posted a 6-2 mark with a 3.82 earned-run average in 12 starts during the regular season. In eight MAC starts, he was 5-1 with a 2.79 ERA. Carpenter led the league in strikeouts with 81, while opposing hitters logged a batting average of .206 against him. It marks the eighth time that someone from KSU has won the award as Brian Schubert (1990), Bill Underwood (1992), Mike Nartker (1993, 1995), Travis Miller (1994), Ted Rose (1996) and Dirk Hayhurst (2003) represent the Golden Flashes in the record books.

Boss Jr. was honored for leading his team to the 2008 Mid-American Conference West Division championship. The Eagles won the 2008 MAC west division title with a 15-8 record while finishing with a 21-32 overall mark. This marks the second consecutive year that and EMU Coach has won the award as Roger Coryell garnered honors last season. Boss Jr. is now the third coach in EMU history to pick up the award. Ron Oestrike received top coach honors in 1975, 1976, 1978 and 1982.

Stroud enjoyed a fantastic debut season with Western Michigan as he posted A 6-0 record in 12 appearances, while posting a 4.09 ERA. Stroud started eight MAC games and went 4-0, while striking out 36 batters and limiting opposing hitters to a MAC leading average of .184. Stroud is the second player from Western Michigan to pick up the award (Ryan Kochen, 1998).

Seven schools were represented on the first-team, led by Kent State and Western Michigan who had three selections a piece. Named to the team for the Golden Flashes were Rohan, Carpenter and Kyle Smith, while WMU's Stroud, Chris Lewis and Ethan Hollingsworth represented the Broncos. Bowling Green, Ball State and Ohio each had two selections on the as Ryan Shay and Derek Spencer garnered first-team honors for the Falcons, while Wayne Bond and Kyle Heyne were BSU's two representatives. Ohio's Matt Stiffler and Marc Krauss also garnered first-team accolades. Eastern Michigan's Josh Ivan, Northern Illinois' Justin Behm, and Akron's Kurt Davidson rounded out this year's selections.

Kent State's Doug Sanders, Chris Tremblay and Anthony Gallas were named to the All-MAC second team, while NIU also garnered three selections on the second team as Jeff Thomas, Trevor Feeney and Andy Deain were named to the squad. Western Michigan's Billy Morrison and Pedro Dager represented the Broncos, while Miami's Tom Nurre and Jordan Petraitis were selected to the second team by the leagues head coaches. Ohio's Brandon Besl, Ball State's Zach Dygert, Central Michigan's Tyler Stovall, Buffalo's Mike Strangroom and Eastern Michigan's Matt Shoemaker rounded out this year's All-MAC second team selections.

All-MAC Specialty Award Winners

Player of the Year: Greg Rohan, Kent State

Pitcher of the Year: Chris Carpenter, Kent State

Freshman of the Year: Brian Stroud, Western Michigan

Coach of the Year: Jake Boss, Eastern Michigan

All-MAC First Team

1B- Greg Rohan, Kent State*

2B- Josh Ivan, Eastern Michigan

SS- Ryan Shay, Bowling Green

3B- Derek Spencer, Bowling Green

C- Justin Behm, Northern Illinois

OF- Wayne Bond, Ball State

OF- Matt Stiffler, Ohio

OF- Chris Lewis, Western Michigan

SP- Chris Carpenter, Kent State

SP- Kyle Smith, Kent State

SP- Ethan Hollingsworth, Western Michigan

SP- Brian Stroud, Western Michigan

RP- Kyle Heyne, Ball State

DH- Kurt Davidson, Akron*

Utility/At-Large- Marc Krauss, Ohio

All-MAC Second Team

1B- Ton Nurre, Miami

2B- Doug Sanders, Kent State

SS- Chris Tremblay, Kent State

3B- Brandon Besl, Ohio

C- Zach Dygert, Ball State

OF- Tyler Stovall, Central Michigan

OF- Anthony Gallas, Kent State

OF- Jeff Thomas, Northern Illinois

SP- Mike Stangroom, Buffalo

SP- Matt Shoemaker, Eastern Michigan

SP- Billy Morrison, Western Michigan

SP- Trevor Feeney, Northern Illinois RP- Andy Deain, Northern Illinois DH- Pedro Dager, Western Michigan Utility/At-Large- Jordan Petraitis, Miami

*unanimous selection