Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Huskies To Begin MAC Play
March 27, 2008 | Baseball
March 27, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Winners of two-straight and seven of their last eight, the Bowling Green State University baseball team will look to keep its' streak of hot play going when it hosts Northern Illinois this weekend in its' Mid-American Conference opener at Warren E. Steller Field. First pitch between the Falcons and Huskies is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday with game two on Saturday and game three on Sunday both scheduled for first pitches at 1 p.m. The weekend will mark the Falcons first action in MAC play as their scheduled MAC opening weekend at Western Michigan was cancelled last weekend due to heavy snows. For NIU, the weekend will mark their second in league play as last weekend they earned a three-game sweep at Buffalo. It'll be the first time the two teams have met since the 2005 season and the first time they've played at Steller Field since April of 2004.
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FALCON QUICK HITS
• Over the course of the last eight games, the Falcons have out-scored their opponents 42-16 in the game's first four innings. That includes a 17-2 edge in the third inning.
• In the last eight games, BG has had a player tally multiple-hit effort 26 times and a multiple-RBI effort 11. Leading the way during that span is infielder Ryan Shay who has seven multiple-hit games, while infielder Derek Spencer leads the team with three multiple-RBI efforts in the last eight.
• In the last eight games, opposing starting pitchers own a 1-5 record and a 8.17 ERA against Bowling Green as the Falcons are hitting .340 against them.
• BG is 21-of-51 at the plate this season in the ninth inning as they're hitting .412 as a team in the frame and have scored 18 runs. Sophomore T.J. Blanton leads BG with four ninth-inning hits as he is 4-for-8 at the plate in the ninth inning and has driven in three runs.
• In his career game on Wednesday, T. J. Blanton moved to 11-for-21 (.524) this season in hitting with runners on base as he drove in a career-high four runs. He is 1-of-12 Falcons who has five or more hits with runners on as BG as a team is hitting .313 in those situations. Blanton is also 8-for-15 (.533) on the season with runners in scoring position as the Falcons are hitting .330 with runners on second and third.
• Even though he is a righty, Ryan Shay hasn't minded having to hit right-handed pitching as he is hitting .486 (17-for-35) against right-handers on the season despite the being the more difficult matchup.
• Senior outfielder Andrew Foster is 5-for-6 this season when leading-off an inning at the plate, while junior Brian Hangbers is 7-for-11 (.636).
• BG is 8-2 this season when holding their opponent to less than 10 runs in a game, while they are 0-5 when allowing their opponent to reach double digits.
• The Falcons are a perfect 4-0 in games this season where they've hit a homerun and just 4-7 games without a long ball. On the flip side, BG is 6-2 when keeping their opponent from going yard and 2-5 when giving up a long ball.
• Junior infielder Ryan Shay had 51 hits in 54 games last season as a sophomore as he finished with a .277 average. This season, the Garden City, Mich. native has 28 hits in just 15 games as he is hitting .444 and is averaging a MAC-best 1.87 hits per game.
• Ryan Shay leads the Falcons with eight two-out hits on the season as he has six two-out RBI.
• The Falcons are hitting .636 this season (7-for-11) with the bases loaded, which includes a grand slam from junior Marty Baird.
• Since 2001, the Falcons are 138-4 when leading a game after the eighth inning, including a 7-0 mark this season.
• Over the last four games, the Falcons have had six players hit .364 or better, including five who are hitting over .400. Ryan Shay hit .688 in the last four games, while T. J. Blanton hit .500, Brian Hangbers hit .429, Logan Meisler hit .417 and Mark Galvin hit .400.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE HUSKIES
The Huskies of sixth-year head coach Ed Mathey are 9-11 on the season coming into this weekend and 3-0 in the MAC ... they enter the weekend having won two-straight games after a win in the second game of doubleheader at home against Bradley on Tuesday and a 5-4 victory at Iowa on Wednesday ... they have won six of their last seven overall ... last weekend, NIU swept Buffalo in its' MAC opening weekend played at St. Bonaventure, as they out-scored the Bulls 33-8 ... leading the way at the plate for the Huskies this season is senior outfielder Jeff Thomas, who is hitting .375 with two doubles and 18 RBI ... senior Danny Reed then has a team-best 24 RBI, while junior shortstop Bobby Stevens has a team-best 12 extra-base hits ... the Huskies as a team are hitting .292 with 63 total extra-bag hits, including 14 homers and 42 doubles ... on the base paths, NIU has swiped 30 bags on year, which is currently tied with Central Michigan for the MAC lead ... on the mound, NIU has a team ERA of 5.91 with 135 total strikeouts as teams are hitting .284 against them ... as a staff, NIU has surrendered 21 homers, which is the third-most by a staff in the MAC ... the Huskies have gotten four starts from Trevor Feeney, Adam Holdenrid, Matt Jernstad and Brandon Copp each, while reliever Andy Deain leads the bullpen with two saves ... reliever Dan Atkenson has a team-high 24 strikeouts ... in the field, NIU has team fielding percentage of .966 as they've committed 26 errors.
THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS SERIES
This weekend's meetings between the Falcons and Huskies will be the 28th, 29th and 30th in their all-time series ... BGSU leads the all-time series 18-8-1 going back to their first meeting on April 6th of 1968 however, they are just 4-6 against the Huskies in their last 10 matchups ... three seasons ago, the Falcons took 2-of-3 from the Huskies in Dekalb, Illinois, winning game one on Friday 5-1 and winning game two on Saturday 4-3 in 11 innings, before falling 6-5 on Sunday ... in their last meetings at Steller Field in 2004, the Huskies took the two opening games, before BG rebounded with an 11-10 win in game three.
LAST TIME OUT
A four-run eighth-inning helped the Bowling Green State University baseball team put some distance between themselves and the Findlay Oilers on Wednesday en route to a 12-8 victory in their season-opener at Warren E. Steller Field. The Falcons, who improved to 8-7 with the victory, slugged out a season-high 17 hits in the effort off five different Oiler pitchers to earn their seventh win in the last eight contests, while the Oilers fell to 7-8.
BG earned the victory despite falling behind 3-0 after the first two Oiler at bats, before they would rally to hold a 6-3 advantage after the fifth. UF would tie the game back up at 7-7 going into the bottom half of the seventh, but a lone run in the bottom of the seventh and a four-spot in the eighth would propel the Falcons to 12-7 lead, which would be too much for the Oilers to overcome.
The win gave the Falcons 12-straight in the series going back to May 3rd of 1978 as they out-hit the Oilers 17-14 on the afternoon and committed just one error to UF's two.
Leading the way on the day at the plate for the Falcons was sophomore centerfielder T. J. Blanton. The Sandusky, Ohio native went 3-for-4 at the plate and had a game-high four RBI, including his first homer of the season in BG's big eighth inning.
Earning the win on the mound was Brian Hangbers (1-0) who pitched the eighth inning, allowing a single hit and recording two strikeouts to earn his first victory of the season. Hangbers, who started the game at first base, also came up big at the plate on the afternoon, as he was one of six Falcons to finish with multiple-hits. The lefty went 3-for-5, accounting for one run and one RBI.
FALCON HOME OPENERS AND CONFERENCE HOME OPENING GAMES
It hasn't taken long for the Falcons to enjoy success at home over the last 15 seasons, as they are now 13-2 in their last 15 home openers with Wednesday's victory over Findlay. The win moved their current home opening win streak to 11-straight games as they last lost their home opening game at Warren Steller Field during the 1996 season when they fell 2-1 to visiting Miami. Coupled with those hot home starts has been wins in their home opening MAC weekends as the Falcons are 18-10 in the last 10 seasons in their conference home opening weekends and 30-13 in the last 15 seasons.Last season though, the Falcons were swept in their conference home opening weekend against Eastern Michigan falling 10-2, 11-8 and 7-3.
SHAY IS HIS NAME AND HITTING IS HIS GAME
Few players in the MAC have been as hot at the plate as Bowling Green's Ryan Shay in the first 15 games of the season. Shay, who is currently hitting a league-best .444, has 28 hits on the season in 63 at bats as he is already just 23 hits shy of his hit total from last season. The Garden City, Mich. native has hit safely in 13 of BG's 15 games this season and has 11 multiple-hit efforts, including three games with three or more hits. Shay currently leads the MAC in hits per game as he averages 1.87 base knocks per contest.
BAIRD CLEARS THE BASES
Falcon junior Marty Baird had a moment to remember on Mar. 13 in the Falcons' 9-3 win at Cincinnati. With the bases loaded full of Falcons in the second inning, the Findlay, Ohio native hit his first career grand slam over the wall in left to give BG a commanding 8-1 lead. It marked the first time the Falcons have recorded a four-RBI homer since Kurt Wells did so last season on Feb. 25th in the Falcons' 8-6 win at Middle Tennessee State.
SENIOR CAPTAIN STARTS TO SHINE
One of the biggest reasons for the Falcons success in the past eight games has been their pitching and few on the squad have been more dominate on the mound than senior captain Nick Cantrell. The Waldo, Ohio native was 2-0 in the last eight games with a 0.71 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 12.2 innings of work, getting a victory in two of his three appearances. The right-hander struck out a career-best six batters in back-to-back appearances, doing so in 4.2 innings at Florida Gulf Coast and in six innings in game one at Murray State. Cantrell leads the Falcon pitching staff with 22 strikeouts in 19.2 innings of work as he is 2-2 overall on the season with a 4.12 ERA.
THE WIN STREAK THAT REACHED FIVE
With their game one victory last Friday at Murray State, the Falcons accomplished something already in 2008 that they hadn't done in 2007 - win five-straight games. BG last won five-straight games during the 2006 season during late March and early April (Mar. 29-Apr. 8) when they won seven-straight contests. Last season, the Falcons longest win streak was four games (Feb. 24 - Mar. 4) as they also won three-straight on two separate occasions. Under head coach Danny Schmitz, BG's longest win streak is 11 games, which they accomplished during the 1999 season when they won 11-straight from May 8th to May 21st.
BGSU AND THE LONG BALL
The long ball has treated the Falcons well this season as they are a perfect 4-0 when going yard. On the year, the Falcons have six total long balls. Below is a breakdown of BG's homeruns to date.
No. Player (No.) Opp. (Date) On Base Inn. Outs Pitcher (T)
1. Brian Hangbers (1) Fairfield (3/6) 1 1 1 Gussaroff (R)
2. Brian Hangbers (2) Fairfield (3/6 0 7 2 Gallagher (R)
3. Derek Spencer (1) FGCU (3/6) 2 3 2 Nathanson (L)
4. Marty Baird (1) UC (3-12) 3 2 2 Garman (L)
5. Mark Galvin (1) Findlay (3/26) 0 7 0 Barton (R)
6. T. J. Blanton (1) Findlay (3/26) 0 8 0 Barney (R)
THE 2008 BGSU BASEBALL TEAM
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 last season, BG finished with a team ERA of 5.13, earning 278 total strikeouts.
