Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head To Northeast Ohio For Mid-Week Battle At Youngstown State
March 31, 2008 | Baseball
March 31, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Winners of 10 of their last 11 games, the Bowling Green State University baseball team will return to midweek non-conference play this week when they head to Youngstown State on Tuesday, before returning home to Warren E. Steller Field on Wednesday to face-off with another in-state opponent, Wright State. First pitch between the Falcons and Penguins will be tossed at 2 p.m. on Tuesday from Bob Cene Park in Struthers, Ohio. The Falcons and Raiders will then toss the game's first pitch at 3 p.m. on Wednesday from Steller Field. Both games will have live statistics available at www.bgsufalcons.com.
Complete Release in PDF Format (14 Pages)
FALCON QUICK HITS
• With their victory in game two against the Huskies, the Falcons wrapped up their first conference opening series win since 2004 when they opened up MAC play taking 2-of-3 from Ball State at home. Their win on Sunday then gave them their first conference opening series sweep since 2003 when they swept Buffalo in a two-game home series. Their last sweep of a three-game series to start conference play came back in 2000 when they also swept Buffalo in three-straight at Steller Field.
• With their 4-0 record this past week, the Falcons earned their 10th win in the last 11 games, which is something they haven't accomplished in seven years. The last time BG won 10-of-11 games came back in 2001 when they had a stretch where they won 11-of-12 from Mid April to early May.
• The Falcons own a 5-3 record this season in true road games, but have had to come-from-behind in four of their five wins as they are 4-2 in true road games when their opponent scores first and 1-1 when they score first.
• With his 4-for-9 weekend, Derek Spencer now has a .355 average during the Falcons' last 1a games as he has two doubles, one triple and a homer with a team-leading 14 RBI in that time. Spencer is hitting .323 in true road games this season with a team-best 11 RBI away from home.
• BGSU is hitting .321 as a team in true road games this season as they have 21 total extra-base hits in road action and have scored 62 runs. Ryan Shay has led the way in road contest going 18-for-31 (.581) at the plate with two doubles and seven RBI.
• Over the course of the last 11 games, the Falcons have used small-ball to generate some offense and create scoring opportunities. During that span, BG recorded 15 sacrifice hits to move their season total up to 19, which is already just 32 behind their total of 52. That total is just 11 sacrifices behind the top-10 national leaders and 19 behind national-leader Creighton and UC-Irvine who both have 38 on the year. Sophomore outfielder T. J. Blanton leads the Falcons with four sacrifices.
• Falcon sophomore pitcher Frank Berry has allowed just one extra-base hit this season and leads the nation, along with Josh Syberg of Southeast Missouri State for giving up the least number of doubles as he has yet to surrender a double or triple this season.
• Over the last 11 games, the leadoff spot has really treated the Falcons well as they are 43-for-91 (.473) when leading off an inning during their 11-game streak. Leading the way in the leadoff spot has been Ryan Shay (8-for-15) and Brian Hangbers (8-for-14) who have both collected eight hits to start an inning. Marty Baird is then a perfect 4-for-4 in leadoff opportunities over that span as the Falcons have hit .414 overall this year when leading off an inning.
• Ryan Shay has reached base eight times this season in 18 games to leadoff a game as he has six leadoff hits and two leadoff walks. He has come around to score three times as he has accounted for three of the Falcons' seven first inning runs this season.
• Over the course of the last 11 games, opposing starting pitchers own a 1-8 record and 6.71 ERA against the Falcons as the Falcons have hit .344 against them and scored 50 total runs.
• Bowling Green's bullpen has surrendered just seven total earned runs in the last 11 games as they have a 1.52 ERA and a 5-0 record during that time. They also have 44 strikeouts to just 12 walks as teams have hit a mear .189 against them.
• Over the course of the last 11 games, the Falcons are 10-1 and have out-scored their opposition 51-19 in the game's first four innings. That includes an 18-3 edge in the third inning and a 9-2 edge in the fourth. BG has also out-scored their opponent's 16-9 in the game's final three innings during that time.
• BG is 4-0 this season when hitting a home run and 7-7 when they don't hit a long ball. On the flip side, they are 8-2 when holding the opposition without a homer and 3-5 when they allow their opponent to go yard.
• Freshman Brennan Smith has allowed just one unearned run and a single hit in his last two appearances and three innings of work. He also struck out three and walked just two as opposing hitters hit just .111 against him.
• Bowling Green's starting pitchers have only allowed two homers in the last 11 games.
• Since 2001, the Falcons are 141-4 when leading a game after the eighth inning, including a 10-0 mark this season.
• Sophomore Mark Galvin is hitting .571 this season with runners in scoring position, while T. J. Blanton is hitting .529 and Ryan Shay is hitting .409.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE PENGUINS
The Penguins of first-year head coach Rich Pasquale enter Tuesday's midweek contest with a 5-15 overall record and a 1-2 mark in the Horizon League ... YSU was 1-4 for this past week with a Tuesday home win over IUP, before falling in four-straight to finish the week ... they fell 4-3 at Akron on Wednesday and were swept in a three-game series at Western Kentucky over the weekend ... the Penguins were out-scored 34-12 in their three games with the Hilltoppers as WKU put up 20 runs in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday, winning 20-10, before finishing off the sweep with a 5-2 win in game two and a 9-0 win in game three ... outfielder Joe Iacobucci leads YSU at the plate with a .314 average and has a team-best 10 RBI with five total extra-base knocks ... just behind Iacobucci, is third baseman Sean Lucas, who is hitting .313 with eight double and nine RBI ... as a team, the Penguins are hitting .244 with 36 total extra-base hits and 61 total runs driven in ... on the mound, YSU has a team ERA of 6.00 as right-handers Aaron Swenson (1-2, 3.38 ERA, 18 SO, 32.0 IP) and Lucas Engle (0-4, 7.59 ERA, 18 SO, 21.1 IP) lead the way with each starting five games ... right-handed senior Joe Antinone then has the bullpen's lone save on the season as he has an 0-1 record and a 6.10 ERA in 10.1 innings of duty ... the staff has a total 120 strikeouts on the season as teams are batting .271 against them ... in the field, the Penguins have committed 30 errors on the season for a fielding percentage of .959.
THE YOUNGSTOWN STATE SERIES
Tuesday's meeting between the Falcons and Penguins will be the seventh meeting in the all-time series that was first played on March 21st of 1989 during the Falcons' Spring Trip to Lakeland, Florida ... the series is tied 3-3-0 with the last meeting coming last season on March 20th at Steller Field ... YSU downed the Falcons 7-5 in that game, which marked the first time the two squads had met since the 1996 season ... BG last won in the series during the 1996 season in a 6-5 game that was also played at Steller Field ... Tuesday's game will mark the first time that the two teams have met in Youngstown since 1995 and just the second time overall.
LAST TIME OUT
BGSU 3, NIU 2
BGSU 4, NIU 3
BGSU 4, NIU 1
The Bowling Green pitching staff dominated the weekend against Northern Illinois as all three starters were outstanding on the hill, leading the Falcons to their first MAC opening series win since 2004 and their first MAC opening series sweep since 2003. Starting things off on Friday was right-handed sophomore Frank Berry. The Virginia Beach, Va. native tossed his first career complete-game, throwing just 111 pitches and allowing two runs on four hits as the Falcons earned a 3-2 victory in the series opener. Berry was supported at the plate by four different players who each collected two hits, including senior outfielder Andrew Foster who drove in the game-winning run on an RBI double in the bottom half of the fourth. Berry's ex-teammate at Longwood and now at BG, left-hander Kevin Light, got the start on Saturday then and tossed 5.2 innings as he allowed just three runs (one earned) on six hits, before giving way to freshman right-hander Charles Wooten in the sixth. Wooten followed up Light's effort with 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball as he didn't allow a single NIU hit and fanned three Huskie batters on just 49 pitches to earn his first collegiate victory. Derek Spencer led the way at the dish going 2-for-3 with an RBI as the Falcons won their second-consecutive one-run game with a 4-3 victory. The Falcons would finally turn to right-hander Kevin Leady on Sunday, who like Berry and Light both days before, was outstanding in six innings of work. The Luckey, Ohio native allowed just one unearned run on four hits and came a strikeout short of his career-high of seven, as he fanned six Huskie batters. He gave way to senior captain Nick Cantrell in the seventh who finished off his effort by tossing three scoreless innings to pick up his first save of the season. Ryan Shay, Mark Galvin and T. J. Blanton all picked up multiple-hits in the game as the Falcons won 4-1 and won their 10th game in the last 11 contests.
LATE INNING POWER
Though the Falcons haven't had to worry about batting in the ninth inning the past four games, they wouldn't have minded if it were necessary. When batting the ninth inning this season, BG owns a team batting average of .412 as they are 21-of-51 at the plate in the game's last inning and have platted 18 runs. Sophomore outfielder T. J. Blanton leads the Falcons with four ninth inning hits as he is 4-for-8 at the plate in the ninth and has driven in three runs.
SOPHOMORE OUTFIELDER STARTING TO BECOME A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR
The 2008 season has been a big year thus far for Falcons' sophomore outfielder T. J. Blanton. The Sandusky, Ohio native is third on the squad thru the first 18 games with a .386 batting average and is tied for fourth with 10 RBI. This past week, Blanton was 8-for-13 (.615) at the plate with one homer and four RBI. During the Falcons' last 11 games, Blanton has hit .441 (15-for-34) as he has scored seven runs and driven in another seven, helping the Falcons to a 10-1 record. Thus far in the Falcons' first 18 games, BG is 8-3 when Blanton records a hit and 3-4 when he doesn't.
A BIG TIME IMPACT FROM A BIG TIME NEWCOMER
This past Friday saw BGSU right-handed sophomore Frank Berry toss his first career complete-game as he went the distance in the Falcons' 3-2 win over Northern Illinois, in what was the Falcons' MAC opener. The Virginia Beach, Va. native allowed jut two runs on four hits and recorded three strikeouts as he moved his record to 3-0 with the victory. His efforts moved his ERA to a MAC-best 1.61 as his .195 batting average against also leads all MAC pitchers. Despite being a right-hander, left-handers are hitting just .229 (8-for-35) against him this season, which includes a .111 (2-for-18) average over the last 11 games. The transfer, who played his freshman season at Longwood, also is hitting .306 at the plate this season as he has played in nine games, recording three doubles, one triple and six RBI.
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 18 games of the season. Shay, who is currently hitting a league-best .427, has 32 hits on the season in 75 at bats as he is already just 19 hits shy of his hit total from last season. The Garden City, Mich. native has hit safely in 16 of BG's 18 games this season and has 12 multiple-hit efforts, including three games with three or more hits. Shay currently leads the MAC in hits per game as he averages 1.78 base knocks per contest.
CANTRELL CLOSING IN ON FALCON RECORD BOOKS
With his 69th career appearance on Sunday, Falcon senior right-hander Nick Cantrell entered the top-5 on the all-time BGSU career list for appearances. The Waldo, Ohio native, who entered the season tied for ninth on the all-time career list is now tied for fifth with Mike Muzi and Ryan Streb, who both played for BGSU from 1997-2000. With his next appearance, Cantrell will tie former Falcon-star Burke Badenhop (2002-05) for fourth with 70 career appearances. Cantrell stands 22 appearances behind all-time Falcon appearance leader Neil Schmitz (2001-04) who saw Falcon hill 91 total times in his four-year career.
SENIOR CAPTAIN STARTS TO SHINE
One of the biggest reasons for the Falcons success in the past 11 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 11 games with a 0.57 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work, getting a victory in two of his four appearances, along with his first save of the season. 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 26 strikeouts in 22.2 innings of work as he is 2-2 overall on the season with a 3.57 ERA.
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.
THE WIN STREAK THAT REACHED FIVE
With their game one victory at Murray State, the Falcons accomplished something already in 2008 that they hadn't done in 2007 - win five-straight games. They just recently re-accomplished that feat this past weekend with a series sweep over Northern Illinois to give them 10 wins in their last 11 tilts. 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.
MISCELLANEOUS BGSU RECORDS AND STATS
• 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.
• BG was a perfect 6-0 on the road in 2007 when leading after six innings.
• Since the beginning of 2001, the Falcons are 164-19 when leading a game after the sixth innning.
• The Falcons were 15-12 in non-conference action last season and are 114-82 in non-conference action since the beginning of the 2001 campaign.
• During the last seven seasons, BGSU is 66-52 against left-handed starters and 139-119 against right-handed starters.
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 starting or relief duty. The two helped Longwood to a 34-19 overall record last season as a Division I Independent team.
NO GIVING UP THIS LEAD
Since the beginning of 2001, BG is 141-4 when leading heading into the game's final inning. That record included a streak of 90-straight wins between 2001-2005 when the Falcons led after the eighth as they were 90-0 heading into the 2006 season. The streak finally ended at 93 when Valparaiso scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth on Mar. 10, 2006 to steal a 4-3 win.
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.
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.
