Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Baseball Opens Season on Saturday, Feb. 28
February 26, 2004 | Baseball
Feb. 26, 2004
Bowling Green, Ohio - By BGSU Student David Bryan (edited by Kris Kamann, Asst. Director of Athletic Communications)
The Bowling Green baseball team returns eight of nine starters from a year ago, as well as over half of its pitching staff. Along with 20 lettermen returning for the 2004 season, Coach Danny Schmitz will also be welcoming 12 newcomers to the Falcon squad.
Schmitz, who enters his 14th season at the helm in Bowling Green, feels the blend of upperclassmen and underclassmen will tell how far the Falcons can go this season. "Our seniors and underclassmen both need to do their share," said Schmitz. "We also have freshmen with leadership capabilities."
Serving as tri-captains this year are pitcher Neil Schmitz, centerfielder David Barkholz, and infielder Andy Hudak. Redshirt-junior Hudak is returning from back surgery a year ago, while Neil Schmitz and Barkholz help make up just a five-man senior class. "It starts with them," said Coach Schmitz. "I felt we had a very competitive team last year. Our record just was not where we wanted it to be. We want to put Falcon baseball back on the map in 2004."
Last season, BGSU ended with a 17-28 record and failed to make the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The experience gained from a year ago should help this year's returners get back to the postseason. "We found out real quick last year after winning a championship in 2002, it is not easy to stay there," said Schmitz.
Schmitz said returning some of the offensive production from the 2002 season is key for his squad. "We have to score more runs this year. Pitching and defense give you a chance to win, but the offense still has to do its part. We do not have the power guys we had in the past so we are going to have to be fundamentally sound and advance base runners."
A significant absence this season will be former first baseman Kelly Hunt, who was a two-time All-American and the 2002 MAC Player of the Year. The Falcons will have to replace its team leader in hits (75), doubles (18), home runs (9), total bases (122), slugging percentage (.713), on-base percentage (.500) and RBIs (61) from a year ago. He was drafted 850th overall in the 29th round by the Detroit Tigers last summer.
Schmitz said the team will not make up Hunt's production with just one player. "Kelly had an outstanding career here. It's going to have to be a team effort to try to pick up some of his numbers."
Schmitz looks to Hudak, to partner with Reimold and fill much of the void left by Hunt's departure. Hudak had a breakout season in 2002, batting .374 with 57 RBIs and a .649 slugging percentage. He was an established offensive contributor on team that was 8th nationally in runs per game (8.9) and 10th nationally in batting average (.335) while winning the MAC regular season championship. Hudak also batted .459 with an .824 slugging percentage in league play. He tied a school record with seven RBIs against Akron in 2002.
"Having a healthy Andy Hudak this season will very important," Schmitz said. "We need him to come back and play like he did as a freshman and sophomore when he had two great years." The 6'4," 205-pound Reimold is poised to step up this season, as well. He finished third on the team in batting average (.329), runs scored (29), hits (46), total bases (55) and on-base percentage (.414) as a true freshman in 2003.
"Nolan had a very solid freshman year and needs to raise his level of play with the departure of Kelly Hunt," Schmitz said.
Barkholz returns at center field for the Falcons. He was the team's leadoff hitter in 2003 and the biggest offensive producer behind Hunt. Barkholz batted .348 and led the team in runs scored (44). He is the team's returning leader in hits (63), home runs (6), RBIs (27), total bases (98) and slugging percentage (.541). He also had 20 multiple-hit games and reached base in all but five contests.
Coach Schmitz sees his team as very sound defensively. The Falcons return all of their position players from last season with the exception of Hunt. Hudak will move from third to first base upon his return this year. Sophomore Tyler Wasserman is the incumbent at third base.
Wasserman started 34 games in the hot corner last year and batted .287 with a nine-game hitting streak during one stretch. "We are hoping to see improvements from Tyler. He is a real gamer and loves to play," Schmitz said.
In the middle of the diamond junior Jimmy Lipari returns at shortstop while senior Spencer Schmitz is the frontrunner at second base. They started a combined 59 games at those positions last season. Bobby Majer, who saw a lot of time last season as a freshman, and current freshman Eric Lawson will also seek time in the middle. Lawson is someone who coach Schmitz can see making an impact. "Eric will have an opportunity to play and play quite a bit as a freshman."
Sophomore Steve Raszka, whose 15 starts last year all came at DH, will challenge at first base along with Purdue-transfer Jay Threet, freshman Josh Dietz, and freshman Nick Thurman who is a member of the Bowling Green football team.
The Falcons return their entire starting outfield in 2004. In left field will be junior Jeff Warnock, who returns to the position where he had 71 putouts and only one error last year. Barkholz and Reimold return to center and right fields, respectively. Competing for spots in the outfield are sophomore Dash Yost, junior Jayson Selgo, and freshman Kurt Wells, who coach Schmitz calls his "Hitter of the Fall."
Redshirt freshman Josh Stewart is the leading candidate behind the plate for the Falcons this season. Last year's starter, Kevin Longstreth, is recovering from an injury and should return before the end of the season. The Falcons also have junior Jesse Sobol, along with freshmen Mike Barnard and Matt Haycook as catchers this season.
"As a coach your goal is to have competition at every position," Schmitz said. "Catcher is one area where we were caught short-handed last year."
The team's pitching staff will be short-handed after being bitten by the injury bug this off-season. Two of the Falcon's top four starters will miss the entire 2004 campaign. Senior right-hander Kyle Knoblauch and junior right-hander Tom Oestrike will be redshirted after having undergone "Tommy John" surgery. The two pitchers combined for 144.2 innings, 21 games started, 79 strikeouts and a .263 batting average allowed.
Despite the loss of Knoblauch and Oestrike, pitching coach Tod Brown says that pitching should be a strength of the team in 2004. "We have a lot of experience in the pitching staff. Many of our older pitchers saw a significant amount of action as freshmen and sophomores," Brown said. "Hopefully, we can use their experience to help carry the team."
A change in scheduling may also make adapting to the loss of Oestrike and Knoblauch a little less challenging. The Falcons will play three conference games per weekend instead of the four-game series that had been the norm in the MAC. "We're losing a game on the weekends so we will need one less starter," Brown said.
"Two starters we have back will be Keith Laughlin (left-hander) and Tyler Saneholtz (right-hander). Three other candidates for starting spots will be Burke Badenhop (right-hander), Tyler Johnson (right-hander), and our senior co-captain Neil Schmitz (left-hander)."
Juniors Laughlin (six) and Saneholtz (four) finished 2003 first and second, respectively, in wins. Saneholtz was second on the team with a 3.83 ERA. Closer Neil Schmitz is third all-time in BGSU history in appearances with 68. He was first-team All-MAC in 2002 and is one save away from BGSU's all-time saves record (11). Johnson and Badenhop both saw significant innings last season for the Falcons and look to increase their role on the pitching staff.
Also contending for starting spots are freshmen Alan Brech and Greg Becker. Brown sees Becker as a closer-type like Neil Schmitz. In addition, the Falcons have upperclassmen Dino Cowell, Ryan Lindquist and Matt Hundley in the bullpen. Greg Mentrek could also see action as a freshman-transfer who came to BGSU via Winthrop University.
As for non-conference opponents, the Falcons will play Big East member Notre Dame, as well as Big Ten Conference members Michigan State and Ohio State on the road this season. "Its always exciting going on the road to play Big Ten schools," Schmitz said.
Bowling Green heads south for its Spring Break trip March 6-13, where the Falcons will play eight games in seven days in Bradenton, Florida. The teams include Boston College, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, Holy Cross, Yale and Rhode Island, a group of northern schools that the Falcons will be able to measure themselves well against.
The Falcons also play five of the six top-rated teams, as selected by the coaches, in the Mid-American Conference. Miami and Kent State are projected first and third, respectively, in the MAC East while Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois are predicted 1-2-3 in the MAC West.
"We play a very competitive schedule," said Schmitz. "The only way you get to be a strong team is to play strong teams."
The home opener for BGSU is scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, at Warren Steller Field vs. Sienna Heights at 2 p.m.
