Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Baseball Set to Begin Season
February 15, 2006 | Baseball
Feb. 15, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - There will be a lot of new faces joining the Falcons' 21 returning letterwinners as 15 newcomers join the Brown and Orange this season. Bowling Green looks to advance to postseason play for the second-straight season after missing out in 2003-04. A tough non-conference schedule will prepare the Falcons for another exciting Mid-American Conference season.
"The key for us is that the veterans raise their level of play," said Head Coach Danny Schmitz, "and also have some freshman come in and be contributors right from the get-go."
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Five seniors along with 11 juniors will lead the charge for the Falcons this season, including co-captains Senior Tyler Wasserman and Junior Eric Lawson.
Schmitz begins his 16th season at the helm for the Falcons with a career record of 409-362-4. The former Eastern Michigan star recorded win number 400 with a 6-1 win over IPFW on April 29th last season. Pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, Tod Brown, begins his seventh season at BGSU while this will mark assistant coach Dave Whitmire's fifth year with Bowling Green. Former Falcon standout Kyle Knoblauch will serve as a volunteer assistant coach.
Junior Alan Brech and Senior Tyler Saneholtz will top the Falcon pitching rotation this season. Brech comes off an impressive sophomore season in which he was named to the First Team All-MAC squad, and was also placed on the All-Mideast Region team. Brech went 8-1 with a team-best 3.05 ERA last season with more than three times as many strikeouts as free passes. On April 1st, the six-foot, 195 pound lefty came just
two outs short of recording the ninth no-hitter in Falcon history, and the first since 1995. It will be critical for the Harrison, Ohio native to lead the Falcon pitching staff.
Former Louisville Slugger Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Honorable Mention, Saneholtz, sat out the 2005 season with an injury that forced him to take a medical redshirt. He had a great two and a half years before the injury, including a 2.72 ERA in 2004.
"If we can get him (Saneholtz) back to 100%, then these two veteran pitchers with experience are going to have to lead this pitching staff," said Coach Brown. "The key to this pitching staff is Brech continuing to do what he is doing and Saneholtz getting back to where he was before surgery."
Junior Adam Gumpf also figures to be a member of the Falcon rotation after splitting time between starting and relief appearances last season. Gumpf compiled a 3-2 record with a 4.54 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched last season. Sophomore southpaws Brett Browning and Dan Horvath will battle it out with six freshman for the final two spots in the rotation. The Bowling Green newcomers with a chance to log some innings in the rotation include Marty Baird, Sam Campitella, Chris Gacom, Dusty Hawk, Kevin Leady and Brian Hangbers, a transfer from the University of Louisville.
"Now that they have gotten their feet wet, our sophomores should contend for a spot in the rotation," said Coach Brown. "All these new guys are capable freshman pitchers that are going to push guys on our staff to get innings."
The Falcon bullpen has a trio of experienced relievers looking to help the Brown and Orange close out games this season. Sophomore Nick Cantrell was the team's Freshman of the Year after making 18 appearances with a slim 3.09 ERA. Junior Greg Becker has a career ERA just over four runs with 27 appearances in two years. Junior Kurt Wells has 30 career starts in the outfield and looks to contribute on the mound as well this season.
"We have three relievers with experience that we see contending for late innings, Becker, Cantrell and Wells. They have done a nice job for us, especially in the fall. Cantrell had our second lowest ERA last season," said Coach Brown.
Bowling Green will need to replace the 30 home runs and 116 RBI that left with the departure of the MAC's top two sluggers last season, Andy Hudak and Nolan Reimold. Co-captains Wasserman and Lawson, along with Juniors Josh Stewart and Josh Dietz will provide some pop to the Bowling Green lineup.
"When you lose guys like Reimold and Hudak it's going to be a community thing to replace some of those numbers, we don't expect one or two guys to do that," said Coach Schmitz.
With the graduation of Hudak, Dietz looks to take over the first base responsibilities. Dietz saw action in 38 games, including 23 starts last season while hitting .305 and driving in 26 RBI. Freshman Brandon McFarland will challenge Dietz and has a chance to be a very fine hitter for the Falcons. Fellow freshman and Bowling Green, Ohio native, Bryan Simon, will also fight for some time at first.
Wasserman will man the hot corner for Bowling Green after batting .318 with 23 RBI in 36 starts at third base last season. Freshman Marty Baird, a conference player of the year in high school, is an athletic infielder that will challenge Wasserman at third. Baird is another dual player for the Falcons, possibly logging some time on the mound as well.
"Wasserman's been a very stellar figure at third base. He had a tremendous year out in the JayHawk League this past summer. We need him to swing the bat like he is capable of," said Coach Schmitz.
Turning double plays for BGSU this season will be Eric Lawson and Senior Bobby Majer. Lawson saw action in every game last season, totaling two home runs, 20 RBI and seven stolen bases while batting .349. Majer brings valued experience to the middle infield with 70 career starts. A pair of freshman, Chris Gacom and Ryan Shay, will pressure the double play tandem.
"Eric (Lawson) was a second-team all-conference player his freshman year and had an outstanding sophomore season last year," said Coach Schmitz. "We need a big year out of him. We feel good about Bobby (Majer) over there at shortstop, being a senior and having that experience."
Wells started at least four games at all three outfield positions last season, but will be counted on for full-time duty in center field this season. Another dual player for the Falcons will be Freshman Kevin Leady, fighting for time in center field and on the mound.
Sophomore Andrew Foster will spend most of his time roaming right field. Foster racked up 10 RBI in just 10 starts last season. Freshman Julian Bostelman will also see some action in right this season.
"We are challenging Andrew like we did with Nolan (Reimold). They came in as freshman and got some time, but by the time they were sophomores it was time they became a vital part of this program. Andrew has pretty big shoes to fill out there," said Coach Schmitz.
A pair of seniors will compete for the starting job in left field. The speedy Dash Yost has successfully stolen a base seven out of eight career attempts (.875). Yost hit .324 with seven RBI last season. Six-foot six, 230 pound Senior Jay Threet looks to compete for time in left and as the designated hitter.
Behind the plate, BGSU will have a large sample to choose from with six catchers on the roster. Juniors Josh Stewart and Mike Barnard are the two leading candidates and will battle it out for the number one spot. Both veterans hit at a pace over .300 while Stewart flexed his muscle with six homeruns and 33 RBI a year ago. Stewart also added 10 ten stolen bases, a versatility that allowed him to be drafted in the 43rd round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the June MLB draft.
"Both guys have the capability to play the outfield, so if one's not behind the dish, he's probably going to be out in the field," said Coach Schmitz.
Also available at catcher will be JUCO All-Region first-teamer, Jeff Telmanik, a transfer from Owens Community College. One of the most pleasant surprises in the fall was Freshman Greg Feldkamp with his solid play, offensively and defensively. Walk-ons Matt Haycook and Travis Owens give the Falcons two more options in front of the backstop.
After a 33-18 season that ended with a quick exit in the MAC tournament, the Falcons look to take the next step this season.
"We expect to compete for the MAC, and just play our best. And hopefully we will be in the thick of things at the end of the season," said Coach Schmitz.
