Baseball Opens Season At Western Kentucky

Feb. 21, 2008

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University baseball team will open up its' 2008 campaign this weekend when it heads to Bowling Green, Ky. for a three-game series at Western Kentucky against the Hilltoppers. Game one of the series on Friday will throw out the first pitch at 3 p.m. from WKU's Nick Denes Stadium (2,500). Game two on Saturday will take place at 2 p.m., before the team's conclude the set with the rubber game starting at 1 p.m.

Complete Release in PDF Format (7 Pages)

Games #1-3
Bowling Green at Western Kentucky

Feb. 22-24, 2008  Nick Denes Stadium, 3/2/1 p.m.

RECORDS: BGSU 0-0, 0-0 MAC // WKU 0-0, 0-0 SUN BELT
BROADCAST INFORMATION:www.WKUSports.com

BROADCAST INFORMATION
This weekend's set between the Falcons and the Hilltoppers can be followed by visiting Western Kentucky's official website at www.wkusports.com. There you'll have access to live audio, live video and live stats for all three games.
FALCON QUICK HITS
 Two former Falcons will return to the dugout this season for the BGSU baseball team as they welcome back former players Rick Blanc and Spencer Schmitz. Blanc, a former pitcher for BG, helped lead the Falcons to the Mid-American Conference title in 1998 and a trip to the Atlantic I Regionals, hosted by the University of Miami. Schmitz, the son of BG head coach Danny Schmitz, was a four-year second baseman and designated hitter for the Falcons (2001-04). In 2002 he was named the team's most improved player as he helped BG capture the MAC championship for the second-straight season. He was also selected to the All-MAC Academic Team in 2001. The two were members of Longwood University's baseball staff in 2007.
 In an interesting side note, this weekend's season opening series will mark the 90th season of baseball for both programs. BG is 1,408-1,185-26 in 89 seasons, while WKU is 1,470 -1,214-18 in their 89 seasons on the diamond. Both squads have made NCAA Tournament appearances on two occasions as well with BG last making an 1999 and the Hilltoppers last making an appearance in 2004.
 With just six more wins, BG head coach Danny Schmitz will re-gain his title as the winningest coach in the history of BGSU athletics. Schmitz was overthrown this season by 25-year Falcon volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle who finished her season with 462 career victories. Schmitz currently stands at 457 career wins as he became the first Falcon coach in any sport to reach 400 career victories in 2005 when BG defeated Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) on Apr. 29, 2005.
 BGSU was 20-6 last season when scoring five or more runs.
 The Falcons were a perfect 21-0 when leading after six innings in 2007, 20-1 when leading after seven and 18-1 when leading after eight.
 When out-hitting an opponent in 2007, the Falcons were 17-4, while they were 4-26 on the flip side and 1-2 when hits were tied.
 BGSU out-scored their oppenents last season 221 to 208 in the first six innings of a game, but were out-scored 129 to 80 in the final three, including being out-scored 41-16 in the game's final inning.
 BGSU hit .264 as a team on the road last season in 21 games, while at home they hit .298 in 23 games. Derek Spencer and Marty Baird led the Falcons in batting average on the road last season as Spencer hit .429 and Baird hit .352.
 The Falcons were 5-4 last season in non-conference road games and 2-1 against opponents from the Sun Belt Conference.
 BG was a perfect 6-0 on the road in 2007 when leading after six innings.
SCOUTING WESTERN KENTUCKY
The Hilltoppers of third-year head coach Chris Finwood return 15 letterwinners in 2008 as they said goodbye to just six ... WKU returns six starting positional players and seven pitchers, while they lost three and five, respectively ... in 2007, the Hilltoppers finished 25-30 overall and 15-15 in the Sun Belt Conference ... they finished tied for sixth in the final league standings ... sophomore infielder Wade Gaynor is the Hilltoppers top returning hitter as last season he hit .323 with 18 doubles, five homers and 30 RBI ... Preseason All-Sun Belt selection, Terrence Dayleg also returns at shortstop as last season as a sophomore he hit .320 with 18 doubles, six homers and 39 RBI, while he picked up 135 assists in the field ... as a team last season, WKU hit .297, had 118 two-baggers and 13 three-baggers with 44 homers and 326 total RBI ... in the field, the Hilltoppers had a final fielding percentage of .969 as they turned 49 double plays ... on the mound, the Falcons will be seeing sophomore right-hander Matt Ridings on Friday who was 7-3 last season in 15 starts ... Ridings pitched a total of 91.1 innings and had a 4.83 ERA as he sat down 73 batters swinging ... sophomore left-hander Bart Carter will get the nod Saturday (6-5, 4.13 ERA, 64 SO), while junior Matt Hightower (1-2, 7.43 ERA, 28 SO) will take the hill in Sunday's rubber match ... as a pitching staff last season, WKU finished with a 6.11 team ERA and had 375 strikeouts.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons of 18-year head coach Danny Schmitz return 18 letterwinners in 2008, along with six positional starters and three starting pitchers ... in 2007, the Falcons finished the season 22-32 overall and had a 7-20 record in the MAC as they placed sixth in the MAC East Division ... the Falcons were 9-14 at home last season, 7-14 on the road and 6-4 in neutral site tilts ... returning as the big bats in the lineup for 2008 are sophomore shortstop Derek Spencer who hit .405 with nine doubles, four homers and 24 RBI, along with junior Brandon McFarland who was second on the team in batting average last season with a .348 avearage, five doubles, two homers and 18 RBI ... earning MVP honors in the team's fall ball was junior third baseman Ryan Shay, who last season hit .277 with one homer and 26 RBI, which is the second most among returnees to senior outfielder Andrew Foster who had 35 ... as a team last season, BG hit .282, had 97 doubles, 13 triples, 33 homers and 284 total RBI ... in the field, the Falcons had a final fielding percentage of .961 as they as they turned 47 double plays ... on the mound, the Falcons will be throwing senior right-hander and team captain Nick Cantrell (4-8, 5.01 ERA, 70.0 IP, 30 SO) in game one Friday ... they will follow with left-handed senior Brett Browning (0-2, 4.54 ERA, 35.2 IP, 20 SO) in game two Saturday, before going with junior right-hander Marty Baird (5-5, 6.80 ERA, 45.0 IP, 26 SO) or freshman right-hander Brennan Smith in Sunday's rubber match ... as a staff last season, BG finished with a team ERA of 5.13, earning 278 total strikeouts.
THE WESTERN KENTUCKY SERIES
This weekend's meetings between the Falcons and Hilltoppers will be the fifth, sixth and seventh meetings between the two squads ... WKU leads the all-time series 3-1-0 ... these teams last met in 2002 when the Falcons also traveled to the other Bowling Green to take on the Hilltoppers in a three game set ... BG earned a 3-1 win in game one of that series, before WKU came back with 6-2 win in game two and a 8-7 win in game three ... current volunteer assistant coach Spencer Schmitz saw time in that series at second base in game two as he went 1-for-3 on the day ... prior to that 2002 meeting, the Falcons last met the Hilltoppers back in 1985 when WKU earned a 2-1 win over BG in a game also played at Nick Denes Field ... against teams from the Sun Belt Conference the Falcons 6-6-1 all-time with three wins against Arkansas State, one against WKU, and two against Middle Tennessee State.
THE FALCONS AND SEASON OPENERS
This season's opening game will mark the second year in-a-row that the Falcons have opened up the season against a team from the Sun Belt Conference ... last season the Falcons opened the year with a three-game road set at Middle Tennessee State where they dropped the opener 11-4, before rebounding with a 14-12 victory in game two and an 8-6 win on Sunday to take the series ... the Falcons are 4-6 in their last 10 season openers and 16-14 in their last 30 ... all-time under head coach Danny Schmitz, the Falcons are 8-9 in their opening contest of the season.
A LIGHT BERRY MIXTURE
The return of Rick Blanc and Spencer Schmitz won't be the only two additions the Falcons receive from Longwood University this season as coming along for the ride are two highly-talented transfers. Joining Blanc's Falcon pitching staff will be junior left-handed hurler Kevin Light, while Frank Berry II will bring a strong right-handed bat to the BG lineup from first base. Last season at Longwood under Blanc's guidance, Light was 5-3 with 3.30 ERA in 13 starts. He was second on the staff in starts as he threw a total of 62.2 innings, recording 49 strikeouts, which was also second amongst the Lancers on the mound. Berry, who saw most of his time at shortstop when playing for Longwood, will make the jump to first this season for the Falcons. Last season at the plate, Berry hit .278, compiling 13 doubles, one homer and 30 RBI. Berry also has a pitching arm capable of throwing well over 90 miles per hour as he is expected to see plenty of time toeing the rubber this season as well in relief duty. The two helped Longwood to a 34-19 overall record last season as a Division I Independent team.
SO THAT'S WHERE I'VE HEARD OF YOU BEFORE
In a weird three-way connection, Western Kentucky assistant coach Andrew Slater found his way into Bowling Green State University baseball SID Kevin Shields' notes on a regular basis towards the end of last season. When Shields was the baseball contact at Creighton University last spring, his centerfielder Robbie Knight broke Slater's NCAA Division I record for times being hit by a pitch in a single-season. Slater was beaned 33 times back in 1997 as a college player at Richmond, while Knight took 35 pitches off the body last season, breaking Slater's record at the Fayetteville, Ark. Regional against Arkansas.
A BRIEF LOOK BACK AT THE 2007 SEASON
The Falcons finished their 2007 season with a 22-32 overall mark and a 7-20 mark in the Mid-American Conference. It was just the third losing season for the Falcons since 1997 and that saw many ups and downs. After a quick 4-1 start to the year and an 7-3 record in their first 10 contests, BG went on to loss 11 of their next 15 games, entering the month of April at 11-14. It was an uphill climb from there as a 6-11 April led into a 5-7 month of May as the Falcons failed to reach the MAC Tournament for the second-straight season. A late season series win over Ohio University at home to close out the season however, left the Falcons with one final accomplishment to close out the season.
UP NEXT
Following their season-opening trip to Western Kentucky this weekend, the Falcons will return back to Ohio for a Tuesday game at Dayton. The team will then head south to Florida for their annual Spring Break trip in Bradenton where they will face Western Michigan, Northeastern, Villanova, Fairfield, Florida Gulf Coast and the University of Vermont with eight total games taking place in a seven-day span.
CANTRELL AND OWENS TO SERVE AS TEAM CAPTAINS IN `08
Senior Nick Cantrell and redshirt junior Travis Owens will serve as the two team captains this season for the Falcons in their 90th season of baseball. Cantrell, a senior right-handed pitcher has made 61 appearances on the hill in his Falcon career, including 18 last season. He's struck out 68 batters in his three years with the Falcons and posted a career ERA of 4.79 as hes made 10 starts and picked up a save in relief duty on two occasions. Owens, a right-handed catcher, played in 30 games last season for the brown and orange and has appeared in 33 total contests during his two years of playing. The Convoy, Ohio native has a fielding percentage of 1.000 in the field in 67 chances and picked off a runner three times behind the plate.
BLANC RETURNS TO ALMA MATER TO SERVE AS PITCHING COACH
With the departure of assistant coach Tod Brown to take the head coaching position at North Dakota State over the off-season, BG head coach Danny Schmitz announced on October 3rd that he was bringing back former Falcon-player Rick Blanc to serve as his new pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
Blanc, who played for the Falcons during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, spent the past four seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Longwood University. While in his time at Longwood, he helped the Lancer pitching staff go from a team earned run average of 5.36 in 2004 to a 3.60 team ERA this past season.
Prior to coaching at Longwood, Blanc served as pitching coach for the Chillicothe Paints of the Independent Frontier League where he played from 1998-2002. He was the IFL Pitcher of the Year in 2001 after posting a 13-1 record, and was a two-time IFL All-Star (2001, 2002).
Blanc earned team Most Valuable Player honors in both 2001 and 2002, as he finished his five-year Paints career with a 28-14 record with a 3.80 ERA and 12 saves.
Other coaching experiences for Blanc include coaching stints at Adrian [Mich.] College (2001-02) and Sylvania Southview High School (1998-2003) in Sylvania, Ohio.
During his Falcon career, Blanc helped lead the Falcons to the Mid-American Conference title in 1998 and a trip to the Atlantic I Regionals, hosted by the University of Miami.
A native of Sylvania, Ohio, Blanc earned his bachelor's of science degree in technology from BGSU in 1998.
BROWN DEPARTS FOR HEAD COACHING VACANCY AT NORTH DAKOTA STATE
Former Bowling Green State University assistant coach Tod Brown was named head baseball coach at North Dakota State this past summer back on July 5th. Brown, the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the past eight seasons at Bowling Green, replaced Mitch McLeod, who resigned in May. He inherited a team that was 16-31 as a Division I independent last year and will begin play in The Summit League this season.
At Bowling Green, Brown was a part of two division titles and a regular-season championship in the Mid-American Conference. He has coached two MAC Player of the Year award-winners and eight professional draft picks.
Brown began his collegiate coaching career in 1999 as a volunteer assistant at the University of Arizona. He worked with pitchers and catchers and was the first-base coach for the Wildcats, who qualified for an NCAA regional.
He was head coach of the San Francisco Seals of the California Coastal Collegiate League in the summer of 1999, compiling a 43-29 record and making a fourth-place finish in the National Baseball Congress World Series.
A left-handed pitcher, Brown played collegiate baseball for Hall of Fame coach Jerry Kindall at Arizona, where he was a member of the 1992 Pac-10 championship team. In 1993, Brown won six games and had eight saves while setting Arizona's single-season record with 35 appearances. He was named to the All-Midwest Regional team as the Wildcats fell one run shy of a College World Series appearance.
Brown played professional baseball in 1994 for the Brainerd Bears in Minnesota before signing a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Indians. He was released in spring training after a career-ending injury.