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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Baseball Looks To Get Back In The Wins Column At Home Against Central Michigan
April 03, 2008 | Baseball
April 3, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After dropping two-straight games during its' mid-week non-conference schedule, the Bowling Green State University baseball team will look to get back to its' winning form when it returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend against the Central Michigan Chippewas at Warren E. Steller Field. The series will kickoff on Friday with a 3 p.m. first pitch, with game two on Saturday and game three on Sunday both starting at 1 p.m. All three games will have live statistics available at www.bgsufalcons.com and will be broadcasted on both WFAL 1610 AM and BCSN.
Complete Release in PDF Format
FALCON QUICK HITS
• The Falcons scored 23 total runs on Tuesday and Wednesday against Youngstown State and Wright State, hitting .359 as a team and collecting 28 total hits. Unfortunately, they gave up 29 runs in the two games and 38 hits as the opposition hit .469. BG had 11 extra-base hits in the games (seven doubles, one triple and three homers) and drew 10 bases on balls.
• Tuesday's 18-13 loss to Youngstown State ended the Falcons' second five-game win-streak this season, which is a streak they hadn't accomplished since the 2006 season. BG had a win-streak of five games only 12 times prior to the season since the beginning of 2000.
• With their victory in game two against the Huskies last weekend, 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.
• The Falcons 10 wins in 11 games coming into the week was a feat they hadn'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 21 hits against the Falcons Tuesday were five shy of the all-time school record for the most given up in a single game. The all-time record of 26 hits against was set back on May 23 of 2002 when the Falcons allowed 26 hits against Ball State.
• Over the course of the last 13 games, the Falcons have used small-ball to generate some offense and create scoring opportunities. During that span, BG recorded 19 sacrifice hits to move their season total up to 23, which is already just 29 behind their total of 52. That total is just eight sacrifices behind the top-10 national leaders and 17 behind national-leader Florida Gulf Coast who has 40 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 course of the last 13 games, the leadoff spot has really treated the Falcons well as they are 49-for-109 (.450) when leading off an inning in that time. Leading the way has been Brian Hangbers (10-for-16) who is hitting .625 when starting off an inning at the plate. Ryan Shay is then 9-for-18 (.500) when leading off an inning, while Marty Baird is a perfect 4-for-4 in leadoff opportunities over that span as the Falcons have hit ..406 overall this year when leading off an inning.
• Ryan Shay has reached base nine times this season in 20 games to leadoff a game as he has seven 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 13 games, opposing starting pitchers own a 1-8 record and a 7.36 ERA against the Falcons as the Falcons have hit .350 against them and scored 61 total runs.
• Bowling Green's bullpen has surrendered just 18 total earned runs in the last 13 games as they have a 3.12 ERA and a 5-2 record during that time. They also have 51 strikeouts to just 20 walks as teams have hit just .269 against them.
• Over the course of the last 13 games, the Falcons are 10-3 and have out-scored their opposition 57-29 in the game's first four innings. That includes an 23-11 edge in the third inning and a 12-3 edge in the fourth.
• BG is 4-1 this season when hitting a home run and 7-8 when they don't hit a long ball. On the flip side, they are 8-3 when holding the opposition without a homer and 3-6 when they allow their opponent to go yard.
• Bowling Green's starting pitchers have only allowed two homers in the last 13 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 .529 this season with runners in scoring position, while T. J. Blanton is hitting .526. Derek Spencer is hitting .324 with runners on second and third and Ryan Shay is hitting .385.
• Derek Spencer leads the Falcons the 13 games with nine two-out RBI as he is 7-for-15 (467) in two-out situations. Frank Berry has also been a big two-out guy, collecting five two-out RBI as he is hitting .400 (6-for-15) with two outs on the scoreboard.
• When playing at Steller Field this season, the Falcons are hitting .354 as a team as they are 4-1 at "The Stell" on the year. Derek Spencer has enjoyed the most success in his home park as he is hitting .533 with three doubles, one triple and nine RBI on his home diamond. BG has averaged 8.25 runs per contest at home this season.
• BG's pitching staff has a 4-1 record and a 3.20 ERA at home this season as its' allowed just 16 earned runs in 45 total innings.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE CHIPPEWAS
The Chippewas of six-year head coach Steve Jaksa come into this weekend's contest owning a 9-15 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the MAC ... they are winners of two-straight, having won mid-week contests at home against both Hillsdale (16-8) and Michigan (7-3) after they dropped two over the weekend at Buffalo ... as a team, CMU is hitting ,280 overall and .241 in MAC play ... leading the way at the plate has been senior infielder Jeff Helps, who is hitting .328 overall and .471 in conference play ... Helps also has 10 swiped bags on the year, which is second on the team to senior Tyler Stovall who has 11 ... Stovall is second then to Helps with a .323 average as he has five doubles, two triples, one homer and 20 RBI on the year ... senior infielder Noah Lankford leads CMU with 21 total RBI ... senior Sean Hoorelbeke then has a team-best eight homers, which is just seven shy of the national-lead of 15 by Georgia's Gordon Beckham ... on the mound, CMU has a team ERA of 4.54 on the year and a 2.82 ERA in conference play ... Eric Lawrence leads the staff with a 1.91 ERA in four starts as teams are batting .216 against him ... Steve Teno then has a 2.42 ERA and 24 strikeouts in a team-leading 44.2 innings of duty, while Dan Taylor has a team-best 33 strikeouts in 39.1 innings ... in the field, the Chippewas own a .953 fielding percentage as they've committed 46 errors on the season.
THE CENTRAL MICHIGAN SERIES
This weekend's meetings between the Falcons and Chippewas will mark the 88th, 89th and 90th times that the two schools have met with their first-ever meeting on the diamond coming back on April 3rd of 1971 (L, 6-7 (10)) ... CMU leads the all-time series 53-33-1 and has won five-straight in the series going back to 2006 and eight of the last 10 meetings ... last season the Falcons dropped all three games of an early April series to CMU at home, losing 8-0, 3-1 and 14-6 ... The Falcons last won in the series back on April 8th of 2006 when they hook game one of a Saturday doubleheader in Mount Pleasant, winning 7-3.
BLANTON NAMED MAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE
BGSU student-athlete's T.J. Blanton (baseball) and Kelsey Jakupcin (tennis) combined for the first Orange and Brown sweep of the MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards during the 2007-08 academic year. The league's front office announced the distinctions on Thursday.
Blanton became the fourth Falcon male to earn the award while Jakupcin is only the second female to hold such a title. Football's Marques Parks and Sinsia Vrvillo earned the award once each while men's soccer's Hunter Van Houten is a two time recipient in 2007-08; women's basketball's Lindsey Goldsberry is the only other female.
Last week, Blanton helped the Falcons to a 4-0 week including a 3-0 series sweep over NIU. Blanton, a sophomore outfielder, led the Falcons batting a .615 and going 8-of-13 from the plate. His game-high four RBI's versus Findlay set a new career high and his homer in that game was his first as a Falcon. In total, Blanton picked-up 11 bases for a .667 on base percentage and slugged .846. Away from the plate, Blanton had a 1.000 fielding percentage including eight putouts and an assist. He is a health science major that carries a 3.34 cumulative grade point average.
The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. The winners are selected by a group of the conference's faculty athletic representatives.
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 last weekend against Northern Illinois. The three combined for a 2-0 record, a 1.33 ERA and 11 strikeouts last weekend as they allowed just three earned runs in 20.2 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.
LATE INNING POWER
Though the Falcons haven't had to worry about batting in the ninth inning too much during the last two 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 .379 as they are 22-of-58 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-9 at the plate in the ninth and has driven in three 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 is fourth on the squad thru the first 20 games with a .381 batting average and is tied for fifth with 10 RBI. During the past six games, Blanton was 10-for-19 (.526) at the plate with one homer and four RBI. During the Falcons' last 13 games, Blanton has hit .425 (17-for-40) as he has scored nine runs and driven in another seven, helping the Falcons to a 10-3 record. Thus far in the Falcons' first 20 games, BG is 8-5 when Blanton records a hit and 3-4 when he doesn't.
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 .261 at the plate this season as he has played in 17 games, recording seven doubles, one triple and 10 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 20 games of the season. Shay, who came into the week hitting a league-best .427, has 36 hits on the season in 85 at bats as he is already just 15 hits shy of his hit total from last season. The Garden City, Mich. native has hit safely in 18 of BG's 20 games this season and has 13 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 1.80 base knocks per contest.
11 AND COUNTING
With his three hits against Wright State on Wednesday, Ryan Shay has now hit safely in 11-straight games, going back to the Falcons' March 7th contest against Northeastern in Florida. His hit streak is now just two games shy of his career-best 13-game hit streak, which he accomplished last season, hitting safely in the Falcons' first 13 games of the season.
CANTRELL CLOSING IN ON FALCON RECORD BOOKS
With his 70th appearance on 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 21 appearances behind all-time Falcon appearance leader, Neil Schmitz (2001-04) who saw the Falcon hill 91 total times in his four-year career.
BIG HITTING CLASS
A big reason why the Falcons have hit .320 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 .344 (120-for-348), along with combining for 70 total RBI and 32 total extra-base hits. Vaughn leads the group with his .441 average, while Spencer has a team-best 23 total RBI.
SENIOR CAPTAIN STARTS TO SHINE
One of the biggest reasons for the Falcons success in the past 13 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 2-1 in the last 13 games with a 2.20 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16.1 innings of work, getting a victory in two of his five 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 23.1 innings of work as he is 2-3 overall on the season with a 4.63 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 4-1 when going yard. On the year, the Falcons have nine 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)
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)
