Bowling Green State University Athletics
MAC Regular-Season Co-Champs Look For First Tournament Title In Nine Years
May 19, 2008 | Baseball
May 19, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University baseaball team, fresh off its' first Mid-American Conference Regular-Season Championship since 2002, will be looking to add to its' display case when it heads to Chillicothe, Ohio this week for the 2008 MAC Baseball Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium. Third-seeded BG, who last won the MAC Tournament in 1999 as a three-seed, will begin its' run at a Tournament Championship on Wednesday morning when it faces off with the sixth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats at 9 a.m. The winner will get the winner of the two-seven game between Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan at 4 p.m. Thursday, while the losers will play at 9 a.m.
Complete Release in PDF Format
LIVE STATS
Live statistics for all Falcon games at the MAC Tournament will be available by visiting www.bgsufalcons.com.
BROADCASTS
All the MAC Tournament games will be available locally and online through the Chillicothe Paints and Mid-American Conference websites. A link will be available by visiting www.bgsufalcons.com. Live video streaming and radio broadcasts will be available for each contest. The radio broadcast will conducted by the official broadcast team of the Chillicothe Paints.
THE OPPONENT
Ohio University enters the MAC Tournament with a 27-28 overall record and 14-13 mark in MAC play ... OU took 2-of-3 this past weekend at Buffalo, as its' won seven of its' last eight and is 7-3 in its' last 10 ... the Bobcats own MAC series wins this season over Buffalo, Central Michigan, Miami, Toledo and Western Michigan ... OU was third in the league overall and in conference play in team batting average with a .312 overall mark and a .313 clip in MAC play ... the Bobcats were then fifth in both overall and conference ERA with a 5.65 overall ERA and a MAC ERA of 5.41 ... Brandon Besl leads the Bobcats with a .378 overall average, while Marc Krauss leads the way in conference play with an average of .366 ... Matt Stiffler leads the way in homers and RBI with 16 and 56, respectively ... on the mound, Zach Elmer owns a team-best 3.68 ERA and .229 opponent batting average, while Chris Rigo owns a team-best five wins and 70 strikeouts ... the Bobcats are fifth in the league in fielding with a fielding percentage of .960 ... OU is lead by 21-year head coach Joe Carbone.
SERIES INFORMATION
ALL-TIME SERIES: OU Leads 79-56-1
LAST MEETINGS: BG 18-4, BG 3-2, BG 7-5 (May 3-4, 2008) in Athens, Ohio (Bob Wren Stadium)
FIRST MEETING: 1952
MEETINGS IN MAC Tournement: OU Leads 1-0
LAST MAC Tournament Meeting: 5-19-94 - 7-6 OU at Kent State
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The Falcons and Bobcats last met at the beginning of May in Athens, Ohio where the Falcons began their 11-game winning-streak with a three-game sweep of the Bobcats at Bob Wren Stadium. The Falcons tied a school record with eight home runs in an 18-4 win in game one, while they got big-time pitching from their bullpen that helped them to a Sunday doubleheader sweep with a 3-2 win and 7-5 win in the finale. It was the Falcons' first sweep of the Bobcats in Athens since 1976. Below are some key stats related to that May series.
- BG's relievers surrendered just one hit in 8.1 innings of work on the weekend.
- OU hit just .262 in the series, while the Falcons hit .348.
- BG held OU's Marc Krauss to a 1-for-13 weekend.
- BG's Ryan Shay was 7-for-13 (.538) in the series as he had a homer and three RBI.
- Mark Galvin, Andrew Foster and Logan Meisler each had five hits in the three contests.
- BG had a team ERA of 3.33 for the three games, while OU had a team ERA of 8.33.
- BG was 13-for-36 (.361) in two-out situations as they had 13 two-out RBI in the series.
- The Falcons were also 13-for-27 (.481) when leading off an inning.
- BG's Ryan Shay had three multiple-hit games in the series, while Brian Hangbers had two multiple-RBI games.
- BG had nine total home runs on the weekend.
THIS SEASON'S MAC TOURNAMENT
For the first time since 1982, and for only the second time in league history, the MAC baseball tournament will be held at a neutral site when this year's event is staged at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
The tournament field has also been expanded to eight teams for the first time ever. The prior tournament field consisted of six teams in a double-elimination tournament. The new format will feature a bracket of two pools, with the winner of each double-elimination pool meeting in a one-game, winner take all championship game. The bracketing reflects the College World Series format as played in Omaha.
The top three teams from each division will qualify for postseason play. The two remaining bids will be granted to the teams with the next-best winning percentages in league play regardless of division.
Once two teams have emerged from each bracket, there will one be a one-game championship match with winner taking all.
MAC TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
No. 1 Seed: Kent State
No. 8 Seed: Central Michigan
No. 4 Seed: Northern Illinois
No. 5 Seed: Ball State
No. 3 Seed: Bowling Green
No. 6 Seed: Ohio University
No. 2 Seed: Eastern Michigan
No. 7 Seed: Western Michigan
BGSU AND THE MAC TOURNAMENT
APPEARANCES: 7 (8 this year)
CHAMPIONSHPS: 2
LAST APPEARANCE: 2005 at Miami
LAST TOURNAMENT WIN: 5-22-02 - 15-6 over Miami at Bowling Green
LAST TOURNAMENT TITLE: 1999 at Ball State
FALCON QUICK HITS
• BG is 10-12 all-time in MAC Tournament play and 3-4 in first round games.
• BG has gone 30-12 in the last 42 games after starting the season 1-6, hitting .325 in that span with a team ERA of 5.24.
• BG's starting pitchers are 15-8 in the last 42 games.
• Bowling Green is 9-1 in games where Brian Hangbers hits a home run.
• Bowling Green's nine-game turnaround in Mid-American Conference play is the biggest single-season conference turnaround in school history. The Falcons, who went 16-8 in conference play, finished 7-20 in the MAC last season. BG's previous best single-season turnaround came in 1995 when it improved by six games, winning 22 MAC games also on way to a Regular-Season Championship. The Falcons had won 16 conference games the year prior, as that six-game turnaround was 1-of-4 all-time in the program history of at least six-games. For more on the turnaround see the note on page three.
• Bowling Green's nine-game conference win turnaround ranks tied for the fourth-best nationally this season, as they are 1-of-5 teams in Division I baseball to improve their conference win total by nine games. Ranking first nationally is Missouri State, who has had an 11-game turnaround in the Missouri Vally Conference this season just one year after losing star-pitcher Ross Detwiler as the sixth overall pick in the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals.
• The Falcons' 16 road wins this season are the most since the 1999 season when they won 17 games away from Warren E. Steller Field. That total is second all-time under 18-year head coach Danny Schmitz and second in school history only to the 1999 squad that won those 17 road games.
• Bowling Green's current 11-game win-streak marks the first time the Falcons have won 11-straight games since the 1976 season.
• BG has seven ninth inning homers on the season, as they've hit .356 in the game's final frame.
• Junior Brian Hangbers has six homers and 17 RBI in the Falcons' last 13 games. Overall the Falcons have 20 homers and 103 RBI in the last 13 games, as they've out-scored their opponents 111-73 during that stretch.
• Senior left-hander Brett Browning has allowed just nine hits in his last 13.1 innings of duty with a 0.00 ERA. All three runs he allowed in that time period were unearned runs.
• Senior right-hander Nick Cantrell has a 1.26 ERA for the month of May, as he is 2-0 in the month and allowed just two earned runs in 14.1 innings of work with nine strikeouts.
• Nick Cantrell allowed just seven earned runs in 11 appearances on the road this season.
• Junior Kevin Leady has yet to allow an earned run in six innings of work at a neutral site this season, as he is 1-0 and recorded seven strikeouts on neutral ground with opponents hitting just .217 against him.
• Opponents are hitting just .218 for the month of May against Kevin Light, as the junior transfer owns a 3.05 ERA for the month in three starts, as he is 2-0 in a team-best 20.2 innings or work during the month's 11 contests.
• Sophomore outfielder Mark Galvin leads the Falcons with 20 hits in the month of May, as he has a .455 average for the month with six doubles, two homers and 11 RBI.
• BG's bullpen has a 5-0 record and 3.93 ERA during the Falcons' 11-game winning streak in 34.1 innings.
• In eight non-conference games at Steller Field, the Falcons were 6-2 and hit .371, while they had a 4.12 team ERA on the mound.
• Ryan Shay, Marty Baird and Logan Meisler all hit higher than .500 in non-conference play at Steller Field this season.
• BG has hit .347 this season with runners in scoring position, as 10 players have 10 or more hits in that situation. Derek Spencer leads the team with 27 hits with runners in scoring position, hitting .351 with runners on second and third, while Ryan Shay is hitting .404 and has 23 hits with runners in position.
• Ryan Shay's 18 doubles is just one shy of the all-time BGSU single-season mark of 19. Len Elias (1999), Tim Newell (2002), Eric Lawson (2005) are all tied for the all-time mark. Andrew Foster is then just three behind that group with 16 doubles this season.
• The Falcons have a .337 batting average and a 4.10 team ERA for the month of May where they are a perfect 11-0.
• In their 18-4 game one victory at Ohio, BG hit eight homers, which tied the school record they set just three weeks earlier in their game one win at Ball State. The Falcons now have three games this season where they've hit five or more homers in a game as they've hit 50 of their 60 homers in the last 25 games. That includes four homers against Eastern Michigan two weeks ago and three against Xavier last Tuesday.
• Bowling Green hit .338 this season on the road and out-scored their opponents, 218-183. Ryan Shay hit .437 on the road, while Derek Spencer hit .404 with nine homers and 35 RBI.
• The Falcons hit .335 this season in non-conference play. Ryan Shay had a team-best .459 clip in non-conference tilts, while Derek Spencer led the Falcons in non-conference RBI with 25.
• In 12 mid-week games this season (doesn't include Florida trip), the Falcons owned a 9-3 record as they hit .365 as a unit and out-scored their opponents 141-85 in those games.
• In those 12 mid-week games this season, opposing starting pitchers had a 1-5 record and 11.80 ERA, while BG's starters had a 4-1 record and 4.59 ERA.
• The Falcons were 15-10 this season in non-conference action as they were 6-2 at home, 7-4 on the road and 2-4 at neutral sites.
• BG is 16-6 this season when hitting a home run and 15-12 when they don't hit a long ball. On the flip side, they are 19-8 when holding the opposition without a homer and 12-10 when they allow their opponent to go yard.
• Since 2001, the Falcons are 156-4 when leading a game after the eighth inning, including a 26-0 mark this season.
• Derek Spencer has collected 20 two-out RBI this season. That total alone would place him eighth on the team in RBI.
• In pinch hitting situations this season, BG is 23-for-58 (.397). Pacing the pinch hitters is Marty Baird, who is a perfect 5-for-5 on the year when pinch hitting. Chris Gacom then is 3-for-6 (.500).
RED-HOT MAY FUELS MAC CHAMPIONSHIP
Thanks to an 11-0 month of May, the Falcons closed out the regular-season with a bang, winning nine-straight conference games on way to earning a share of the MAC Regular-Season Championship for the first time since 2002. The eleven-straight wins in the month gave the Falcons their first eleven-game win-streak since 1976, as it is the longest win-streak they've had under head coach Danny Schmitz. It is currently the second-longest winning-streak in the nation only to Louisiana State's current 16-game streak. Below is a look at some of the key stats for the month that has led to plenty of Falcon success.
Record: 11-0
Home: 5-0
Road: 6-0
MAC: 9-0
Team Avg: .337
Team ERA: 4.10
Hits: 136
Doubles: 33
Home Runs: 20
RBI: 93
Team OB%: .413
SB: 12
• The Falcons are hitting .373 for the month with runners in scoring position and .320 with two outs on the scoreboard.
• BG has led-off an inning with 40 hits in May and is hitting .364 against right-handed pitching.
• Marty Baird has a .467 average for the month, as he has seven hits and has driven in seven runs.
• Brian Hangbers has six homers and 15 RBI in May.
• Ryan Shay has a .580 on base percentage for May, recording 17 hits and drawing 11 walks.
• The combination of Ryan Shay, Mark Galvin, Andrew Foster, Brian Hangbers and Derek Spencer has combined for 59 RBI in the month.
WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED
A breakdown of some of the major accomplishments both individually and as a team during the Falcons' 2008 MAC Co-Regular-Season Championship.
TEAM
• First Falcon team to sweep three-consecutive MAC weekend series.
• First Falcon team to win a MAC Regular-Season Championship since 2002 and just the fourth in program history.
• First 30-win Falcon team since 2005 and 13th team to do so in school history.
• Fourth-best conference win improvement in Division I baseball, improving their conference win total by nine games.
• Second-Best road win total in program history with a 16-8 road record, just one shy of the school-record of 17 road victories in 1999.
• Second Falcon team to ever win 11-consecutive games, two shy of the all-time record of 13 set by the 1976 squad.
• Only Falcon team to hit eight homers in a game, doing so on two occasions.
INDIVIDUALLY
• Ryan Shay finished the regular-season with 81 hits and a .411 batting average, which would give the single-season school record if the season were to end today.
• Brian Hangbers set career-highs in eight major offensive categories.
• six different players set new career-highs in batting average.
• Junior transfer Kevin Light was named MAC Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 12th.
• Junior Brian Hangbers was named MAC Player of the Week for the week of April 14th.
• Dennis Vaughn and Derek Spencer both tied the single-game school record with five hits in a game.
• Nick Cantrell moved into second-place on the Falcons' all-time career appearances list with 84 career appearances and is tied for third on the all-time career wins list with 19.
• Nick Cantrell's eight wins placed him tied for eighth on the all-time BGSU single-season list for wins in one year.
• Ryan Shay had hitting streaks of 16 and 17 games, both setting new career-bests.
• Andrew Foster set a new career-high with a 12-game hitting streak.
TURNING IT AROUND
The 2008 season for the Falcon baseball team has been one that may have surprised many people around the Mid-American Conference. BG, who was picked to finish sixth in the MAC East Division preseason polls, earned its' first Regular-Season MAC Championship since 2002 and fourth overall, as they also earned their fifth Division Title with nine-consecutive conference wins to close the season. The Falcons upped their conference win total by nine games in 2008, improving to 16-8. That turnaround ranks them tied for fourth -nationally in improving their conference win total. Below is a look at some of Division I's biggest conference win improvements from 2007 to 2008.
Ranking Team Improvement
1. Missouri State 11
2. Dartmouth 10
Purdue 10
4. Bowling Green 9
Cincinnati 9
Georgia 9
James Madison 9
Maryland-Baltimore Cnty. 9
9. Campbell 8
Kennesaw State 8
ELEVEN IN-A-ROW IN THE WIN COLUMN
With their bottom of the ninth victory on Tuesday against Xavier, BG picked up its' eighth-straight victory and ninth win in its' last 10 contests. The eight-straight wins mark a new season-high for the Falcons, passing their old streak of five in-a-row, which they set on two seperate occasions back in March. The Falcons have won 11 of their last 13 games entering this weekend, placing them second overall in the East Division with a 28-18 overall mark and 13-8 mark in league play. 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.
FIRST TIME EVER!
With their sweep of Akron this past weekend, the Falcons accomplished something that has never been done in recorded school history - sweep three-straight MAC series. The streak began when the Falcons swept a three-game series at Ohio University in early May, before a sweep of a three-game home set with Buffalo a week later. BG then recorded history with their 4-3 late-inning win over Akron in the series finale to sweep their third-straight MAC series and earn itself a share of the MAC Regular-Season Championship.
TWO WALK-OFFS FOR HANGBERS
Falcon junior first baseman Brian Hangbers found himself in a spot that every baseball player growing up dreams of twice in back-to-back games. With his team trailing in the bottom of the ninth, he came to the plate as the game-winning run and a chance to win the game. He wouldn't let either of those opportunities go to waste however, as he hit walk-off home runs in back-to-back games to lead the Falcons to victory. The first, came in the series finale with Buffalo, where he hit a three-run homer to right center to give BG a 9-8 victory, as they trailed 8-6 prior to his at bat. The second happened then in BG's game with Xavier, where he stepped to the plate with a runner on and two outs and his team trailing 5-4 to the Musketeers. The Hamilton, Ohio native took a 2-2 offering and sent it over the fence in left center for his 12th homer of the season, as the hit was his fifth game-winning RBI of the year. Both walk-off homers were the first and second times this season that BG has won a game by scoring a run on the last play.
IS THIS THE BEST YOU GOT?
Normally when a team puts their Friday ace pitcher on the mound, they're expecting to be able to hold the opposition's offense in check to allow their offense the chance to win the game. However, for BG's MAC opponents, this hasn't been the case, as the Falcons haven't been the least bit intimidated by the other team's "Friday guy". Thus far in weekend conference series, opposing Friday starters are just 1-5 against BG as they own a 8.87 ERA. BG has hit a collective .353 against their opponent's Friday starter as they've pounded 13 homers and 29 extra-base hits against them. When comparing that to Saturday, opposing Saturday starters have a 2-4 record and 6.35 ERA, while Sunday starters have a 4-2 record and a 4.17 ERA.
SHAY'S STREAK REACHES CAREER-BEST SEVENTEEN
With his hit in the Falcons' May 6th win over Eastern Michigan, Ryan Shay recorded a hitting-streak of 16 games for the second time this season. That tied the right-handed batter with his career-long hit streak, which he had set earlier in the year with a 16-game stretch from Mar. 3rd to Apr. 9th. With a hit in BG's game one win then against Buffalo, he set a new career mark of 17-straight games with a base knock. That streak began back on Apr. 12th when the junior tallied a hit in game two at Ball State. That streak put the junior within reach of BG's all-time career hitting-streak leaders. Below is a look at the Falcons' all-time longest hitting-streaks
Player Hitting Streak Season
1. Mike Combs 25 1995
2. Lee Morrison 20 2001
3. Chuck Black 19 197
Ryan Shay 17 2008
SHAY'S RECORD WATCH
Few players in BG history have had the kind of season that Falcon junior Ryan Shay has had at the plate, as the Garden City, Mich. native is closing in on numerous single-season school offensive lists. Here is a look at where he stands on the different lists.
Hits
Shay - T-3rd - 81
Leader: Aric Christman - 86 (2001)
Runs
Shay - 50
Leader: Aric Christman - 73 (2001)
Doubles
Shay - T-4th - 18
Leader: Len Elias (1999), Tim Newell (2002), Eric Lawson (2005) - 19
Total Bases
Shay - 114
Leader: Kelly Hunt - 168 (2002)
Batting Average
Shay - .411
Leader: Corey Loomis - .404 (2002)
MULTIPLE-HITS AGAIN AND AGAIN
Multiple-hit games have become a common occurence for junior shortstop Ryan Shay this season. Through the Falcons ` 49 games this season, the Garden City, Mich. native has recorded multiple-hits in 29 of those 49 games, as teams have held him below two hits just 20 times. In the 29 games that Shay has collected multiple-hits, BG is 20-9. Those 29 multiple-hit efforts are the most by a Falcon player since Kelly Hunt recorded 26 multiple-hit games in 2003. Below is a look at the top multiple-hit contributers for BG since 2001.
Player Multiple-Hit Games Season
Corey Loomis 29 2001
Ryan Shay 29 2008
Aric Christman 27 2002
Len Elias 26 2002
Kelly Hunt 26 2002
Kelly Hunt 26 2003
Lee Morrison 26 2002
CANTRELL CONTINUES TO PICK UP THE "W"
Senior captain Nick Cantrell pitched three innings of scoreless relief this past Friday to help the Falcons to a 12-7 win over Akron in extra-innings. The effort earned the Waldo, Ohio native his eighth victory of the season and the 19th victory of his career. The vaulted Cantrell into the Falcons' top-10 single-season wins list, as he is just four shy of tying Jason Kelley for the all-time single-season win mark of 12, which he set back in 1999. The right-hander's 19th career win then tied him with Jason Tippie (1993-96) for third on the list the all-time career wins list. Kip Young (1973-76) is the all-time BG career wins leader with 37, while Jason Kelley (1996-99) is second with 22.
HANGBERS AND SHAY ON THE PUTOUT
Two of the Falcons' everyday players have slowly and silently been moving their way up some career BGSU defensive categorie lists. Junior shortstop Ryan Shay, who has 136 assists on the season, currently has 402 assists in his career, which places him sixth on the all-time career BGSU assists list and nine assists shy of Jamie Reiser (1983-86) for fifth. On the opposite end of an assist is a putout and junior Brian Hangbers has 381 of those on the year, which has him now at 665 for his career. That total places the left-handed first baseman eighth on the all-time career putout list.
