Bowling Green State University Athletics
Baseball Opens 2001 Season at EKU
February 28, 2001 | Baseball
Feb. 28, 2001
Bowling Green, Ohio -
The Bowling Green State University Falcon baseball team will open their 2001 campaign this weekend in Richmond, Kentucky as they will face the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky University. Eastern Kentucky (4-2), who began their season with four straight wins against Samford and Indiana yet lost their next two to Winthrop and Wagner, will be hosting Bowling Green in their first homestand of the year.
The Falcons and Colonels will first meet at noon on Saturday March 3rd at Turkey Hughes Field to begin a doubleheader. They will meet again Sunday at noon to finish off the three game series.
The Bowling Green State University baseball team, coming off their sixth winning season in the past seven years, will have a lot of challenges in the road ahead of them this season, according to head coach Danny Schmitz. And, it will be up to each and every player to step up and face these challenges in order for the team to succeed this season.
Entering his 11th year as Falcon head coach, Schmitz currently ranks second on the school's all-time win list. He believes that the 2001 season will be a tremendous challenge due to the abun dance of newcomers to the team and the strong presence of young players (15 players on roster with either freshman or sophomore status along with 11 total newcomers).
"We have a young team," said Schmitz. "There has been a lot of changes to the starting lineup and complete roster due to seniors leaving and the addition of newcomers to the squad. All of our young players have a great opportunity this season to step up and play like. They're going to need to play like veterans and our veterans need to raise their level of play if our team is going to succeed.."
The Falcons lost 12 total players from their 2000 roster, many of which were major contributors to the team. Perhaps the most affected by the influx of newcomers would be the pitching staff. The Falcons lost their No. 1 and No. 2 starters in the rotation (Tony Fontana and Joe Cheney) as well as losing their former No. 3 starter, Doug Flere, for the season due to undergoing off-season Tommy John surgery. He will sit out the entire 2001 season as a redshirted member of the squad.
Fontana (8-3, 2.69), an All-Mideast First team selection last season, led the MAC in ERA and tied for third on Bowling Green's all-time single season complete game list (8), while also finishing in the all-time top 10 for innings pitched (83.2), wins (8), and strikeouts (78). Cheney's (2-6, 5.54) 65 innings pitched earned him second for the 2001 campaign. Flere (0-1, 6.85), who will now sit out of the 2001 season as a redshirt, made six starts for the Falcons last season, finishing fourth on the team in strikeouts (32).
Other losses on the pitching staff included seniors Ryan Streb and Mike Muzi. Streb (1-4, 5.56) and Muzi (3-3, 9.82) were used as Bowling Green's primary relief pitchers. Streb made a team-high 24 appearances for the Falcons, which also tied him for second on the all-time Falcon list. He also totaled six saves for the seasons, setting the season high and placing him sixth on the all-time season record. Muzi made a total of 17 appearances, placing him at second only to Streb's 24.
The Falcons also lost several mainstays in the batting order, including Alan Gilhousen, Matt Marcum, Brad Simon, Kenny Burdine, and Matt Best. Gilhousen (.331, 58H, 42 RBI, 18BB), an All-Mac Second Team selection, was the team's primary designated hitter, batting in the #3 slot.
Marcum (.228) and Simon (.262) shared duties to be the Falcon starting catcher, while Kenny Burdine, (.372, 5H, 36RBI) making 44 starts and primarily fielding at second base, led the Falcons in triples (3) and batting average. Matt Best (.355) made a total of 30 starts for the Falcons rotating from third base to left.
The primary concern for the 2001 Falcon baseball squad will be playing hard and staying focused in all phases of the game, according to Schmitz.
Defensively, many Falcon returnees from last year are being expected to step up and fill in at starting roles. Up the middle, Junior Tim Newell (.167) will likely be the starting catcher. However, Newell also has experience playing outfield and if needed, could see some time out there. Junior transfer David Viane (Farmington Hills MI/Henry Ford C.C.), sophomore Justin Haire (.286), or freshman Zach King (Bloomdale OH/Elmwood) will all be challenging Newell for playing time.
Sophomore Kelly Hunt (.478) is expected to be the Falcons' starting first baseman as senior Chad Curlis (.000) and freshman Nate Henschen (Bowling Green OH/Bowling Green) will challenge Hunt for that role as Curlis and Henschen will both also be used as relief pitchers.
The middle of the diamond will perhaps hold the most experience for the Falcons' infield as sophomore Corey Loomis (.260, 24R, 25H) will step into a starting role as the second baseman and junior Nick Elrod (.295, 38H, 11 2B, 22BB) will return to his starting position at shortstop. Freshmen Spencer Schmitz (Bowling Green OH/Bowling Green) will be used as a utility infielder, as junior Nick Schmidt (.231) will challenge Loomis at second base.
Rounding out the infield will be senior Scott Dukate (.333, 25H, 10 2B) who is expected to be the primary third baseman for the 2001 season. Challenging Dukate will be freshman Andy Hudak (Toledo OH/Start).
"Our infield is pretty well rounded," says Schmitz. "The tandem of Corey (Loomis) and Nick (Elrod) we hope will turn out to be a pretty successful combination and Scott (Dukate) has shown the ability to play in a starting role and has earned his position at third."
The coaches believe that the Falcon outfield, with all three starters returning including the team's 2000 co-MVP's, could be the area that is most polished and they will look to the outfielders to show leadership and play big roles in the upcoming season. Len Elias Jr. (.303, 47H, 38BB) will be looked upon to demonstrate quality numbers at the plate once again while his leadership skills are a must this year. Aric Christman (.337, 67H, 48R, 6HR, 10SB) who was voted co-MVP of the 2000 Falcon squad, had a standout year last season in his first full-time position batting leadoff and fielding at centerfield. His 67 hits placed him tied for second on the Falcons' all-time hit charts, while his 48 runs was good enough to tie him for third all-time. "We were very pleased with how Aric has become one of the team's top hitters and how consistent his game play is," says Coach Schmitz. "He's added some power to his bat, but is a great leadoff hitter."
The last returning letterwinner in the outfield is Christman's counterpart in the 2000 Falcon MVP ballots, Lee Morrison (.362, 8HR, 46RBI, 63H). Morrison got many opportunities to shine in the 2000 campaign as his at-bats soared to 174, just one shy of the team high held by Alan Gilhousen. With the extra opportunities, Morrison excelled, improving in almost every batting category and finished tied for the team high in home runs (8) and total bases (104) while becoming the sole leader in RBI's (46). He also finished second in hits (63) and third in doubles (13). Challenging for time in the outfield will be freshman Neil Schmitz (St. Henry, OH/St. Henry) and David Barkholz (Waterford MI, Country Day), two lefties who will also be used on the pitching staff. Projected starting catcher Tim Newell also has experience in the outfield and could fill in when necessary.
Coach Schmitz believes that the pitching staff could be successful, however, because of all of the roster changes from last season, it is uncertain how it will come about. The rotation has been altered by the departure of Cheney and Fontana, who was drafted in the seventh round of Major League Baseball's amateur draft and signed by the Boston Red Sox. Other losses in the rotation will leave the Falcons looking to replace some key roles, which include primary relievers Mike Muzi and Ryan Streb, which now leave the Falcons looking for some people to fill in the roles that have been left open.
"There are many people who could fill in the spaces," says pitching coach Tod Brown. "Because of Doug (Flere)'s injury, we're looking for that ace in our rotation, and until we start to play some games, its pretty uncertain who that will be and what the exact rotation will look like.
One person who could very well step into that leading role is senior Craig Menke (5.28, 5-3) who made nine starts last year for the Falcons and finished second on the team in both wins and strikeouts (45). "We're really in need of that ace this year, and Craig could step into that role. He did pretty well for us last year and being a senior, he could show the younger players some leadership," says Brown. "However, right now we are really wide open and there could be a number of guys that could step into that No. 1 spot."
Other possibilities could be sophomore Brett Baumgartner (6.67, 3-2), who made six starts for the Falcons, posting 18 strikeouts or even 6-8 freshman standout Kyle Knoblauch (Blissfield MI/Blissfield). "Kyle has a tremendous presence on the mound and could be a real key for us this year," says Coach Brown. "This is a really good opportunity for him because he has a chance to step in right away and contribute. We really hope to see good things out of him this year."
Freshman David Barkholz (Waterford MI/Country Day) or sophomore Aaron Nease (6.94, 1-1), who made two starts last season along with four additional appearances, are other possibilities. Any of these names could be seen as the Falcon opening day starter and regardless will be needed to be used in quality roles whether starting or as key relievers.
The bullpen for the Falcons will also be one of the areas that is uncertain for now. Many pitchers are available, but how they will fit in is yet to be determined. Returning junior letterwinners Kevin Stock (8.53, 0-0) and Brad Henry (5.45, 1-0) could lead the way with experience as they combined to post 25 total appearances last season (7 and 18 respectively). Junior Keith Williams (0.00, 1-0), who posted his first collegiate win against Oakland on 4-26-00, and senior Chad Curlis (0-1, 1.93) will join the other duo of returnees, along with senior Brian Thacker (5.06, 1-0), and are hoped to see more action then they have in the past and are looked to be more pro-active in production. Many newcomers have been added to the staff as seven freshman pitchers were signed. Most likely starting off in the bullpen will be Keith Laughlin (New Riegel, OH/New Riegel). "Keith is a young pitcher with some great potential," says Coach Brown. "We're hoping that he will be a key guy for us in the years to come, but we will really need his arm right away."
Other freshman to be seen in the bullpen are Henschen, who will also see time as a first baseman, Ryan Lindquist (Columbus OH/Worthington Kilbourne), and Clayton Booth (Vernon Hills, IL/Libertyville) who, like the others, is expected to produce much more this season than may have been expected in the previous seasons due to the team's heavy presence of youth.
After a three-game series at Eastern Kentucky on March 3-4 and a single game at Dayton March 7 to open up the season, the Falcons will travel to Homestead, Florida during spring break to take part in the Homestead Challenge Tournament. The Falcons will play nine games in an eight-day span (March 10-17) finishing off the trip with a game against Harvard.
After starting off the 2001 campaign with 14 out-of-conference games, the Falcons will open up Mid-American Conference play with a four game home series against Eastern Michigan the weekend of March 23-25.
"Like always, the conference play this season should be very challenging, maybe even more so than the previous seasons," said Schmitz. "We are faced with an even bigger challenge with such a young team and it is impossible to see how we will fare against the other conference opponents until we actually face them.
"Our returning starters must raise their level of play. Our freshman must also step up their level of play. Because of our youth, we don't have the luxury of letting them play like freshmen. We all must step up as a team to be successful. Leadership is a must.
"What type of success we have this season will depend on how fast we develop as a team. Only time will tell for the 2001 BGSU Falcons Baseball Team."
