Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Face-off With MAC West Division-Leader Ball State In Weekend Road Series
April 10, 2008 | Baseball
April 10, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After ending its' three-game losing streak with a victory at Xavier on Wednesday, the Bowling Green State University baseball team will return to Mid-American Conference play this weekend when they head to Muncie, Ind. to battle the West Division-leading Ball State Cardinals. The first pitch in the series will be tossed at 3 p.m. on Friday from BSU's Ball Diamond with game two on Saturday and game three on Sunday both taking place at 1 p.m.
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FALCON QUICK HITS
• With their 4-2 Mid-American Conference record, BGSU is off to its' best conference start since the 2001 season when it started 5-2 after two weekends of conference play.
• Ryan Shay is currently riding a career-long 16-game hitting-streak, which started on March 7th in the Falcons' game in Florida against Northeastern. The streak bested his previous career-best of 13, which he set last season when he reached safely with a hit in the Falcons' first 13 games of the season. The Garden City, Mich. native has 16 multiple-hit efforts for BG on the season, including four games with three or more hits.
• Former Falcon-star Burke Badenhop was called up to the Florida Marlins on Monday, as the former Perrysburg, Ohio native made his major league debut on Wednesday as is expected to make his first start for the Marlins on Sunday in Houston. The right-hander tossed a scoreless ninth inning for the Marlins in a 10-4 win at Washington as he retired all three batters he faced with two coming on strikeouts. Badenhop was Double-A Carolina's Opening Day starter, and he worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing one unearned run on six hits. He struck out three and didn't walk a batter. For Badenhop, this will be his first opportunity at the big league level. A former All-Academic performer at Bowling Green, he was a 19th-round draft pick in 2005. The Marlins acquired Badenhop from the Tigers in December in the deal that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit.
• Derek Spencer collected five RBI for the Falcons the past five games to move his season total up to 28 RBI on the year. The Oregon, Ohio native is hitting .350 this season with a team-best .474 clip in MAC play. A lot of Spencer's damage though has come with with two outs already on the scoreboard as he collected three of his four RBI last weekend against Central Michigan with two outs. On the season, he is 12-for-29 (.414) with two outs and has 12 total two-out runs driven in.
• Ryan Shay has reached base 11 times this season in 24 games to leadoff a game as he has nine leadoff hits and two leadoff walks. He has come around to score four times as he has accounted for three of the Falcons' nine first inning runs this season. In last Saturday's game two with Central Michigan, Shay led-off the Falcon first with his first homer of the season on the first offereing of the game by Chippewa starter Dan Taylor.
• Over the course of the last 18 games, opposing starting pitchers own a 4-10 record and a 6.43 ERA against the Falcons as the Falcons have hit .321 against them and scored 78 total runs.
• BG has hit .316 as a team the past 18 games as they've collected 50 extra-base hits and 111 total RBI during that stretch.
• Derek Spencer has 15 hits (15-for-40) this season with runners in scoring position as he is hitting .375 in those situations. He hasn't been alone though as BG as a team is hitting .338 with runners in scoring position. Also collecting double-digit hits with runners on second and third have been T. J. Blanton (13-for-25), Mark Galvin (12-for-26) and Ryan Shay (10-for-29).
• Charles Wooten owns a team-best 2.08 ERA in the last 18 games as he has a 1-0 record and one save with 15 strikeouts in that time period. The Elmore, Ohio native tossed 17.1 total innings, helping the Falcons to a 12-6 record in that period as he made eight appearances.
• As a staff, the BGSU pitchers have struck out 120 opposing batters in the last 18 games, compared to their opposition striking out the Falcon hitters just 86 times.
• BG is 5-2 this season when hitting a home run and 8-9 when they don't hit a long ball. On the flip side, they are -5 when holding the opposition without a homer and 3-6 when they allow their opponent to go yard.
• BGSU is 7-1 this season when Frank Berry starts as the designated hitter.
• Since 2001, the Falcons are 142-4 when leading a game after the eighth inning, including a 12-0 mark this season.
• Freshman catcher Ryan Schlater, leads the Falcons thus far with three game-winning RBI hits.
• Over the course of the last 18 games, the Falcons have used small-ball to generate some offense and create scoring opportunities. During that span, BG recorded 22 sacrifice hits to move their season total up to 26, which is already just 26 behind their total of 52 from last season. That total is just 11 behind the top-10 national leaders and 19 behind national-leader Creighton, who has 45.
• Andrew Foster is hitting .800 lifetime against Ball State, going 4-for-5 in five career at bats against the Cardinals.
THE BALL STATE SERIES
The weekend's meetings between the Falcons and Cardinals will mark the 91st, 92nd and 93rd times that the two programs have met on the diamond ... their first meeting came on May 3rd of 1947 ... BG leads the all-time series 47-41-2, but have lost six-straight to the Cardinals going back to March 27th of 2004 ... BGSU hasn't won in Muncie in eight games with their last win at Ball Diamond coming on May 21st of 1999.
MID-WEEK TRIALS
Mid-week contests have been nothing short of adventerous for the Falcons in 2008 as usually one or two major aspects of their team has been missing in their four true mid-week contests (excluding Florida). BG is 3-3 this season in mid-week games with wins at Cincinnati, at Xavier and at home against Findlay, but they lost this past week to both Youngstown State and Wright State, despite scoring in double-digits. Here is some bullets related to the Falcons' six mid-week contests.
• BG is hitting .341 in mid-week contests, but their opponents have hit .356.
• The Falcons have seven mid-week home runs, compared to just two for their opposition, but own just a 54-49 edge in total runs.
• BG has a mid-week fielding percentage of .948, while their opponent had a .966 fielding percentage.
• BG has a 5.77 team ERA during mid-week tilts, while their opposition has had an ERA of 7.98.
• During last week's two mid-week contests with Youngstown State and Wright State, the Penguins and Raiders combined for a whopping .469 batting average in the two games, while the Falcons hit .359.
• The Falcons had 23 total runs on 28 hits in their two mid-week games last week, but surrendered 29 runs on 38 hits.
• BG had seven errors in the field last week to just three for the Penguins and Raiders as BG's fielding percentage for the two games was .917 to .961 for their opponent.
• The Falcons have eight hitters hitting .300 or better in mid-week play, led by Chris Gacom, who has a .500 mid-week average as he is 5-for-10, while Derek Spencer has a team-best 10 RBI.
• BG has hit .410 in mid-week games with runners in scoring position, while their opponents have hit .316.
• BG's opponents are 20-for-31 (.645) in the six games with a runner on third base and less than two outs.
• BG has 20 two-out RBI in the six mid-week games, while their opponents have 17 two-out RBI.
• BG is 20-for-53 in leadoff opportunities (.377), their opponents are 26-for-53 (.491).
WHY TURN ONE? TURN TWO!
Entering Friday's contest at Ball State, the Falcon defense has combined to turn 22 double plays on the year in their 25 games. However, that total was due in large part to this past two weeks where the Falcon defense averaged 1.36 double plays per contest, turning 15 in their 11 games during that time. Ten of those 15 double plays were credited to shortstop Ryan Shay, while second baseman Logan Meisler was apart of 12 with first baseman Brian Hangbers getting credited for 14. In Wednesday's win at Xavier, the Falcons turned a season-high three double punch-outs.
NO ERRORS = WINS
The Falcons have had trouble fielding the ball at times this season as they've had eight games this season with three or more errors, including four games with four or more. In those eight games, the Falcons owned a 3-5 record as in most cases, their errors came back to bite them. However, when not committing an error this season, BG is 6-1 as they've had seven total games where they went perfect in the field. In games then where they've committed one or two errors, the Falcons are 4-6.
RBI MACHINE
Sophomore Derek Spencer has been an RBI machine for the Falcons this season, platting 28 Falcon runners in the first 25 games of the year. The Oregon, Ohio native averages 1.12 RBI per game as he has already upped his career-best total by four. Last season as a freshman, Spencer drove in 24 runs in 21 games as he had a team-best .405 average.
SACRIFICES BRING HOME RUNS
In their first 25 games on the season, the Falcons have recorded 25 sacrifice hits to move runners into scoring position at second or third base. Of those 25 sacrifices, 72 percent of them have resulted in the moved runner or runners coming home to score as 18 of the 25 sacrifices resulted in the moved runners scoring. Leading the way in sacrifice hits is sophomore Derek Spencer who has sacrificed himself six times to move runners with a bunt.
IMPRESSIVE WEEKEND ROTATION
Pitching has been a big key to the Falcons' success in MAC play so far as the Falcons got a dominating pitching performance from all three of their weekend starters the past two weekends against Central Michigan and Northern Illinois. The three (Frank Berry, Kevin Light and Kevin Leady) combined for a 3-2 record, a 2.79 ERA and 24 strikeouts during both weekends as they allowed just 12 earned runs in 38.2 total innings of duty. NIU hit just .189 against the three hurlers as they allowed just three walks, allowing NIU hitters to reach base just 19 times. The Huskies and Chippewas hit a combined .236 against the group the past two weekends.
LATE INNING POWER
Though the Falcons haven't had to worry about batting in the ninth inning too much during the last few weeks, they wouldn't have minded if it were necessary every game. When batting the ninth inning this season, BG owns a team batting average of .360 as they are 27-of-75 at the plate in the game's last inning and have platted 21 runs. Sophomore outfielder T. J. Blanton and sophomore catcher David Borcherdt lead the Falcons with four ninth inning hits. Blanton is 4-for-12 at the plate in the ninth and has driven in three runs, while Borcherdt is 4-for-5 and has driven in two runs.
BLANTON BECOMING A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR
The 2008 season has been a big year thus far for Falcons' sophomore outfielder T. J. Blanton. The Sandusky, Ohio native, who hits near the bottom of the Falcon lineup, is sixth on the squad thru the first 25 games with a .341 batting average and is tied for fourth with 12 RBI. During the past 11 games, Blanton was 14-for-38 (.368) at the plate with one homer and six RBI. During the Falcons' last 18 games, Blanton has hit .356 (21-for-59) as he has scored 11 runs and driven in another nine, helping the Falcons to a 12-6 record.
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 25 games of the season. Shay, who comes into the weekend hitting .415, has 44 hits on the season in 106 at bats as he is already just seven hits shy of his hit total from last season. The Garden City, Mich. native has hit safely in 23 of BG's 25 games this season and has 16 multiple-hit efforts, including four games with three or more hits. Shay also led the MAC coming into the week in hits per game as he averages 1.76 base knocks per contest.
CANTRELL CLOSING IN ON FALCON RECORD BOOKS
With his 70th appearance this past Wednesday, Falcon senior right-hander Nick Cantrell tied former Falcon-star Burke Badenhop (2002-05) for fourth on the BGSU all-time career appearances list. The Waldo, Ohio native stood tied for ninth entering the season and now is just 19 appearances behind all-time Falcon appearance leader, Neil Schmitz (2001-04) who saw the Falcon hill 91 total times in his four-year career. Cantrell then moved into fourth all by himself last Saturday in game two of BG's doubleheader with Central Michigan, making his 71st career appearance. before making his 72nd appearance on Wednesday at Xavier.
BIG HITTING CLASS
A big reason why the Falcons have hit a MAC-best .311 this season is due in large part to their sophomore class and its' seven hitters. The seven sophomores: Frank Berry, T. J. Blanton, David Borcherdt, Mark Galvin, Logan Meisler, Derek Spencer and Dennis Vaughn, have combined for an average of .324 (141-for-434), along with combining for 85 total RBI and 35 total extra-base hits. Vaughn leads the group with his .422 average, while Spencer has a team-best 28 total RBI.
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 5-2 when going yard. On the year, the Falcons have 11 total long balls. Below is a breakdown of BG's home runs 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)
7. Brian Hangbers (3) YSU (4/1) 0 5 0 Kalafos (R)
8. Dennis Vaughn (1) YSU (4/1) 2 5 1 Kalafos (R)
9. Derek Spencer (2) YSU (4/1) 2 8 1 Antinone (R)
10. Ryan Shay (1) CMU (4/5) 0 1 0 Taylor (L)
11. Andrew Foster (1) XU (4/9) 0 6 0 Muransky (R)
For the complete release, please see the PDF document at the top.
