Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Has Home-And-Home With Eastern Michigan
April 06, 2009 | Baseball
April 6, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -
BGSU Baseball Notes/Stats (vs. Eastern Michigan) 
This Week
Tues., April 7
Eastern Michigan (6-23, 2-7 MAC) at Bowling Green
Steller Field (1,100) - 3 p.m.
Wed., April 8
Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan (6-23, 2-7 MAC)
Oestrike Stadium (1,200) - 6:05 p.m.
Fri. - Sun., April 10-12
Ball State (14-12, 5-2) at Bowling Green
Steller Field (1,100) - Friday (3 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday (1 p.m.)
FALCONS SCHEDULED TO PLAY FIVE GAMES; FOUR AT HOME
The Bowling Green State University baseball team has a home-and-home series with Eastern Michigan this week before hosting Ball State this weekend for three Mid-American Conference games. The Tuesday and Wednesday contests against Eastern Michigan do not count in the MAC standings with the first game scheduled to be played in Bowling Green while the Wednesday game is scheduled for a 6:05 start in Ypsilanti. The Falcons will then play Ball State at Steller Field this weekend with games on Friday at 3 p.m. and both the Saturday and Sunday contests beginning at 1 p.m.
TELEVISION
The game Friday with Ball State will be carried live by BCSN with Greg Franke providing the play-by-play and Rick Poland working as the analyst.
SERIES INFORMATION
Eastern Michigan has a 88-64 edge in the series with Bowling Green...BG played EMU twice last season winning 15-5 at home during the regular season before losing an 11-4 decision to the Eagles in the MAC Tournament...EMU has won seven of the last 10 meetings with BG...BG leads the series with Ball State by a 49-42-2 count...Ball State has won seven of the last 10 meetings with the Falcons...the two programs have not played a three-game series in Bowling Green since 2004 when BG took two of the three games.
LAST WEEKEND
BG took two of three games from Central Michigan and were three outs from posting a sweep on the road. Bowling Green took the first game behind the seven innings of four-hit pitching by sophomore Brennan Smith and held on for a 14-10 victory. Junior Derek Spencer had four hits and three runs scored while six other players had a pair of hits as BG collected 18 safeties in the game. BG took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday only to see CMU score four runs on five hits in their last at-bat for a 5-4 win. Sophomore Matt Malewitz pitched eight innings allowing only one run and four hits. Senior Ryan Shay had three hits, including one of three solo home runs hit by BG in the game, and two runs scored. The Falcons rebounded from the tough loss to win the nightcap by an 11-4 score. Freshman Kacy Dwornik pitched the final seven innings to collect his first win and three hits by Spencer and junior T. J. Blanton led a season high 20-hit attack.
WHAT'S AHEAD
The baseball team will play four of its five games at home this week. Following the weekend series with Ball State, BG will play its next six on the road. The Falcons will then end the 2009 regular season with 11 of their last 14 games at home. BG will play three of its last four MAC weekend series' at home.
SPENCER RETURNS IN A BIG WAY
Junior third baseman Derek Spencer did not start the previous five games before the series against CMU while nursing a hamstring pull. But, his return to the starting lineup last weekend sparked a Falcon offense that was already on a roll. Spencer hit .600 (9-of-15) against Central Michigan and .588 (10-of-17) in the four games last week. He had a home run in both games of the doubleheader Saturday and had four hits, all singles, and three runs scored in the Friday victory. With his performance last week, Spencer raised his season average to .382 and his average in MAC games to .433, seventh in the league. He leads the team with 27 RBI and is one of three players on the squad with four home runs.
SMITH GETS ANOTHER WIN
Sophomore right-hander Brennan Smith pitched another strong game in the series opener with Central Michigan to earn his fourth victory of the season. Smith went seven innings allowing four singles and striking out six while leaving the game with a 14-0 lead. He lowered his ERA to 2.88 for the season with opposing batters are now hitting only .194 in his eight starts, the best figure in the MAC. He is 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in MAC play. Smith has now allowed only seven earned runs over his last 33 innings of work, a 1.91 ERA. The Sandusky, Ohio native is averaging 8.6 strike outs per nine innings.
MALEWITZ HAS STRONG OUTING
Sophomore left-hander Matt Malewitz had another quality start for the Falcons in the first game of the doubleheader with Central Michigan Saturday. He went eight innings allowing one earned run and four hits while striking out seven and leaving the game with a 4-1 lead. He did not figure in the decision when CMU came back to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Malewitz is 2-1 on the season with a 2.70 ERA while in league play he is 1-0 with a 3.05 ERA. The Grand Rapids, Mich. native has allowed just seven earned runs in his last 29.2 innings for a 2.12 ERA. Malewitz has 13 strikeouts in his last two appearances and a 0.57 ERA covering 15.2 innings pitched.
SHAY LEADS THE WAY
Senior shortstop Ryan Shay collected five extra-base hits among his seven total hits in the Central Michigan series. Shay had four doubles and a home run for a .933 slugging percentage in the three games. He hit .467 (7-for-15) for the weekend with four RBI and seven runs scored. He had two hits in the first and last games and three in the middle game of the series. For the season, Shay is now hitting .370 with 20 RBI and 29 runs scored. In league play, he is hitting .400 with nine RBI and 11 runs scored. He ranks among the BG career leaders in at-bats (645, 4th), runs scored (136, t-10th), hits (210, 7th), doubles (45, t-5th) and assists (507, 3rd). Shay has hit safely in 20 of 26 games this season, and 66 of his last 78 games dating back to the beginning of last season. He has two or more hits in 46 of those 66 games he has hit safely in over the last season and a half.
BGSU BLOOP SINGLES
The Falcons are hitting .330, the top figure in the MAC, as a team and averaging 7.2 runs per contest...the opposition is hitting .300 and averaging 7.8 runs...BG has won six of its last eight and 11 of its last 16 games...they have won each of their four mid-week games since returning from their spring trip to Florida...the Falcon pitching staff, which has a 6.64 ERA for the season, has had two consecutive good weeks...last week they had a 3.82 team ERA after the previous week when they had a 3.34 team ERA...they have given up 28 earned runs in their last 70.1 innings (eight games), a 3.58 ERA...the Falcon hitters had their best week of the season hitting .380 as a team last week in the four games, .393 in the Central Michigan series...BG has had at least 10 hits in 19 games this season, including 13 of the last 15...BG is hitting .348 as a team in MAC play, second behind Kent State, which is hitting .351 as a team in league play...BG has a 4.92 ERA in MAC play, seventh in the MAC...freshman left-hander Kacy Dwornik had the best outing of his young career going the final seven innings in the second game of the doubleheader Saturday at Central Michigan...Dwornik had a 10.12 ERA in 13.1 innings before Saturday...he gave up only six hits and two earned runs while striking out four and throwing 102 pitches...he lowered his season ERA to 7.52 in earning his first victory...freshman Jon Berti, who has started in left and right field this season in addition to shortstop and as the designated hitter, had his best week of the season hitting .467 (7-of-15) with three RBI...Berti, a 36th round draft pick of the Oakland A's last summer, hit .500 (6-of-12) in the three games with Central Michigan...junior Logan Meisler has been one of the most consistent hitters for the Falcons this season and last week was more of the same...he hit .444 (8-of-18) for the week and .357 (5-of-14) against CMU...he helped the Falcons beat Michigan in their only mid-week game by collecting a team-high three hits...he has hit safely in 20 games this season and leads the team with a .398 average, fourth-best in the MAC...junior Mark Galvin had his 14-game hitting streak, the best of his career and the longest on the team this season, come to an end when he went hitless in the first game of the doubleheader with CMU Saturday...Bowling Green had a total of 60 hits in the four games last week and scored 37 runs...in the three games against Central Michigan, BG scored 29 runs and had 48 hits.
NEXT WEEK
The Falcons play a mid-week game at Oakland University before travelling to Kent for a weekend MAC series against the Golden Flashes.
