Bowling Green State University Athletics
FALCONS OPEN LEAGUE TOURNAMENT AGAINST CENTRAL MICHIGAN WEDNESDAY NIGHT
May 19, 2009 | Baseball
May 19, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, OHIO -
BGSU Baseball Notes/Stats (MAC Tournament) 
Mid-American Conference Baseball Championship
May 20-23 - VA Memorial Stadium (4,000) - Chillicothe, Ohio
May 20
Central Michigan (#8 seed, 27-28,12-15 MAC)
vs.
Bowling Green (#1 seed, 28-20, 18-8 MAC)
7:30 p.m.
FALCONS FACE CENTRAL MICHIGAN IN TOURNEY OPENER
The Bowling Green State University baseball team begins play in the double elimination Mid-American Conference Tournament on Wednesday when they play Central Michigan in the final game of four on the first day of the tourney. The Falcons and Chippewas will square-off at 7:30 p.m. The first game of the day, at 9 a.m. pits the other two teams who are on BG's side of the bracket, Kent State (#4 seed, 38-15, 17-9 MAC) and Miami (#5 seed, 28-23, 15-12 MAC), against each other. The other side of the bracket features Ball State (#2 seed, 26-23, 14-10 MAC) against Eastern Michigan (#7 seed, 23-33, 13-14 MAC) in the 4 p.m. game while Ohio (#3 seed, 28-22, 18-9 MAC) will play Toledo (#6 seed, 21-29, 14-12 MAC) in the 12:30 p.m. contest. Start times for Thursday's games are the same as Wednesday. The losing teams from Wednesday play in the first two contests Thursday, with the BG's side of the bracket playing the 12:30 game, while the four winning teams from Wednesday complete play on Thursday with the last two games, with BG's side of the bracket scheduled to play the 4 p.m. game.
BOWLING GREEN AND THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons have qualified for the league tournament for the ninth time, and they are the #1 seed for the third time. BG was the #1 seed in 1995 and 2002, hosting the tournament both those seasons. Bowling Green is 11-14 all-time in league tournament play winning the championship in 1998 and 1999. BG went 5-1 to win in 1998 and they were 4-1 the following season earning the automatic NCAA Tournament berth both seasons. BG won its first game in the tournament last season, a 5-4 decision over Ohio. BG then lost to eventual champion Eastern Michigan, 11-4, the second day and were eliminated by Ohio on the third day losing a 7-3 decision in 11 innings.
SERIES INFORMATION
CMU leads the series with the Falcons 56-36-1...Bowling Green took two of three games from the Chippewas in their series earlier this season which was played in Mt. Pleasant...BG earned a 14-10 win in the first game of the series, a game BG led 14-0 going into the bottom of the eighth, before losing a 5-4 decision the following day in the first game of a doubleheader, a game BG led 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth...BG earned the series win and split of the doubleheader with an 11-4 victory in the final game...the two programs have played twice in the league tournament with CMU winning 20-15 in the 2001 and 11-4 in 2002...Kent State has a 102-60 series edge over Bowling Green and won the series earlier this season by taking two of the three games...BG won the first game, 9-2, behind a complete game from sophomore right-hander Brennan Smith and led the second game 7-3 at one point before if became a back-and-forth contest that KSU eventually won 12-9 on a walk-off home run in the 10th inning...Kent State won the third game by a 9-4 count...BG and Kent State have met three times in the league tournament with KSU capturing decisions in 1994 (5-1) and 1995 (5-2) while BG won a 1998 meeting (3-1)...Miami holds an 82-57 edge in the series with the Falcons, but Bowling Green took two of three games from the RedHawks in the late April series played at Steller Field that saw the winds blow out at a 25-30 mile-per-hour clip all weekend...BG won by scores of 18-15 and 15-10 before Miami took the finale by a score of 14-12, with three runs in the ninth inning...the teams combined to hit 26 home runs, 19 by BG, while scoring 84 runs on 99 hits...BG's team ERA was 11.00 for the series while Miami's was 14.76...BG and Miami ahve played five times in the tournament, three of those in 1998 when Miami took an 11-6 decision before BG came back to beat the RedHawks twice (6-0, 7-6) to win the title...Miami won a 1999 meeting (12-2) with BG taking a 15-6 decision in 2002.
BG TAKES TWO FROM AKRON
With the Falcons needing two wins in the final regular season series against Akron to clinch the division and regular season titles and #1 seed for the league tournament, BG took the first game, 14-9, and the last game, 17-9, to get the job done. Akron won the middle game of the series by a 15-4 count as two Zip pitchers combined on an eight-hitter. A five-run seventh inning proved to be the difference in the first game along with strong relief pitching down the stretch. Four BG players had three RBI as BG had 19 hits in the contest. In the series finale, BG needed to win to earn the hardware while Akron needed to win to earn a spot in the tournament. Akron jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the top of the third, but two BG pitchers would blank the Zips the rest of the way while the Falcons were scoring 17 unanswered runs, including an eight-run fourth and a six-run eighth. Junior Derek Spencer hit three home runs and drove in seven runs while sophomore Charles Wooten, who was the winner in the first game of the series, added a save, with 4.1 innings of relief work allowing only two hits.
BG QUALIFIES FOR MAC TOURNAMENT
The Falcons qualified for the MAC Tournament with their win May 9 over Buffalo. This will be the ninth time (1994, `95, `98, `99, 2001, `02, `05, `08, `09) in the last 16 years (since 1994) the Falcons have made the field for the league tournament. BG won tourney titles in 1998 and 1999. The winner of the MAC Tournament gets the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
MAC TOURNAMENT
The tournament will be played May 20-23 at the VA Memorial Stadium (4,000) in Chillicothe, the home of the Chillicothe Paints of the independent Frontier League. Tickets for the tournament are as follows with all tickets being general admission: daily (adult) - $12; daily (youth/student) - $8; tournament pass (adult) - $30; tournament pass (youth/student) - $20; championship day (adult) - $6; championship day (youth/student) - $5. There is no charge for children three years of age and under. Admission for games on Saturday (elimination game and/or the championship game) is separate from the rest of the tournament making tournament passes invalid for the final day. The MAC will also be holding a tournament celebration on Tuesday (May 19) at 7:30 at the VA Stadium that is free to the public during which the teams will be introduced, there will be on-field contests and a fireworks display.
LIVE STREAMING/STATS
The MAC Tournament will be streamed live with a tournament package, every game of the tournament, costing $14.95, while a single game can be purchased for $4.95. Live stats will also be available for all games of the tournament. Both the live streaming and live stats can be accessed on the MAC web site at www.mac-sports.com.
MAC TOURNAMENT FIELD
The top three teams in each division automatically qualified for the double-elimination league tournament. The other two teams in the eight-team field were the teams with the next two best winning percentages in league play, regardless of division. The top seed in the tournament is the division winner with the best winning percentage in MAC play. The second seed is the other division winner. Seeds 3-8 are determined by winning percentage in MAC play, regardless of division. The double-elimination tournament then places the #1, #4, #5 and #8 seeds on one side of the bracket and the #2, #3, #6 and #7 seeds on the other side.
IT'S BACK-TO-BACK FOR BG
The Falcons repeated as MAC East Division champions and as the league's regular season champion. Bowling Green and Kent State tied last season for the division and regular season titles with 16-8 records. When the Falcons have won division titles in the past, they have done it in pairs. BG won the East in 1998 and 1999 and again in 2001 and 2002. They have had the best regular season record in the MAC in 1972, 1995, 2002 and the last two seasons.
SMITH ONE OF BEST IN MAC
When last season ended, BG had its top three starters returning. When one signed professionally over the summer and the other two had season-ending surgery, the Falcons were looking for someone to fill the role of #1 starter. Sophomore right-hander Brennan Smith has done that and more emerging as one of the top starters in the MAC. He is coming off a no-decision last weekend against Akron in which he gave up six runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings of work. He was the MAC East Division Pitcher of the Week (April 27-May 3) going seven innings allowing only five hits and three earned runs while equalling his career high with 10 strikeouts against Ohio (May 1). He retired 14 of the last 20 batters he faced, two of those reaching on errors. Smith, who has won eight of his last 11 starts, has given up more than eight hits in only one start and has given up four runs or fewer in 11 of his 14 starts. The Sandusky, Ohio native is 8-1 with three no-decisions in his last 12 starts (BG is 11-1 in those 12 games) with a 3.86 ERA allowing just 60 hits (7.71 per nine innings) in 70 innings of work. Over those same 12 starts, Smith has 70 strike outs (9.00 per nine innings). Smith has been dominant in the games he has won compiling a miniscule 2.05 ERA in his eight wins this season. He has allowed only 38 hits, 26 of those singles, in 57.0 innings of work while striking out 54, an average of 8.53 strike outs per nine innings. In his eight wins, he is allowing only 6.00 hits per nine innings. Smith has a 10.01 ERA in his three losses, two of those coming the first two weekends of the season, and three no-decisions. Smith is 8-3 on the season with a 4.17 ERA, first in the MAC, with opposition hitters batting only .234 against him, the best figure in the league. He is averaging 8.57 strike outs per nine innings. In league play, he finished 6-1 with a 4.66 ERA, fifth in the MAC. He pitched the first complete game of his career in a 9-2 decision April 17 at Kent State. Smith, who is the probable starter Wednesday against Central Michigan, limited opposition hitters to a .246 average in league play, the top figure in the conference. Smith is 21st in the country in wins (8) and 61st in hits allowed per nine innings (7.64). He is tied for fourth in the MAC in innings pitched (77.2) and his eight wins leads the league. Smith ranks among the BG single-season leaders in strikeouts (74, 9th) and wins (8, t-8th).
ELKINS TO RETURN AFTER INJURY
Junior Tyler Elkins, who has started at first base, as the designated hitter, and as the catcher this season, has been hampered the last two weekends with a pulled left hamstring, but he has fully recovered and will play in the league tournament. The Hamilton, Ohio native had a 14-game hitting streak come to an end when he did not get a hit in a pinch-hitting role May 12 against Oakland. During the streak, he hit .459 (28-of-61) with 15 RBI and 15 runs scored to go along with eight doubles. Elkins, who hit safely in 13 consecutive games earlier this season, has hit safely in 33 of his last 38 games. Elkins leads the team with a .407 average, second in the MAC, for the season and 16 doubles, tied for 10th in the league. He has multiple hits in 21 of the 34 games he has hit safely in this season. He hit .400 in MAC play, tied for fifth in the MAC. He is sixth on the team with 31 RBI, 22 of those coming in league play. Elkins is 64th in the country in the toughest to strike out category averaging one every 13.3 at-bats. Elkins, who transferred to BG from John Logan CC (Ill.) before last season and sat out the 2008 campaign after having surgery, is fourth on the team with 18 extra-base hits. Elkins has two or more hits in nine of 13 contests before his injury. He has hit .466 (26-of-58) in those 13 games. Elkins' 16 doubles this season is tied for eighth on the BG season list while his 66 hits is five shy of moving into the top 10 in that category. Elkins hit safely in 19 of the 21 league games he played in this season. He has just two at-bats in BG's last seven games while recuperating from the hamstring injury.
GALVIN ON A ROLL
Junior outfielder Mark Galvin is 10th on the team with a .325 average. Galvin has hit safely in eight of his last nine games and 12 of his last 14. He has 15 RBI in those 14 games while scoring 16 times. The Pickerington, Ohio native is one of three players on the team who has had a 14-game hitting streak this season. He hit .400 (22-of-55) with 16 RBI and nine runs scored during the streak for most of the month of March. Galvin is third on the team with 12 multiple-RBI games this season, including a game with four RBI against Michigan State on March 17 to equal his career high. Galvin has hit safely in 31 of his last 37 contests with a batting average of .354 (51-of-144) over the period. He has hit safely in 31 games this season and is tied for the team lead with three game-winning RBI. Galvin hit .317 in MAC play hitting safely in 11 of the last 12 league games.
BLANTON A SLUGGING LEADER
Junior outfielder T.J. Blanton, who normally hits ninth in the BG order, is eighth on the team with a .333 average and is third on the team with 21 extra-base hits, including 10 doubles, four triples, tied for sixth in the MAC, and seven home runs. He had a pair of home runs March 25 in the Cleveland State game, the first multi-homer game of his career, and then repeated that effort April 25 with two home runs against Miami. His .561 slugging percentage is fourth on the team. The Sandusky, Ohio native had a career-best 11-game hitting streak come to an end over the weekend when he went hitless in the last two Akron contests. He hit .383 (18-for-47) during his streak. He has 43 runs scored, third on the team, and has hit safely in 33 games this season. He has already established career highs in every offensive category. Blanton hit .330 in MAC games, eighth on the team, with 28 runs scored, fourth on the squad. Blanton, who hit safely in 16 of his last 19 league games, is second on the team with 10 stolen bases this season and leads the team with eight sacrifice bunts.
SHAY AMONG CAREER LEADERS
Senior Ryan Shay, who was a first-team All-MAC and All-Mideast selection in 2008, has picked up where he left off last season. He is hitting .392, fifth in the MAC, with 51 RBI and 70 runs scored, second in the league. He is also among the league leaders in doubles (16, t-10th), home runs (13, t-7th), slugging percentage (.691, 6th), on-base percentage (.488, 3rd) and walks (34, 6th). He leads the team with 32 extra-base hits and 18 stolen bases, seventh in the MAC. The Garden City, Mich. native was a single shy of hitting for the cycle April 22 against Toledo and was a triple shy of the feat May 2 against Ohio. He has hit safely in 27 of the last 30 games hitting .421 (56-of-133) with 38 RBI and 50 runs scored over the period. In addition, in those last 30 games, he has 12 doubles, three triples and 10 home runs for an .782 slugging percentage to go along with a .510 on-base percentage. In the last 30 games, Shay has an RBI in 20 contests, 11 multi-RBI games, and has scored at least one run in 27 games, 18 of those multi-run games, including each 13 of the last 15. For the season, he has hit safely in 40 of the 48 games, and 86 of his last 100 contests dating back to the beginning of last season. He has two or more hits in 60 of the 86 games he has hits in over the last two seasons. Shay has hit .402 (167-of-415) since the beginning of the 2008 season with 35 doubles, 18 home runs, 87 RBI and 123 runs scored. He has a .631 slugging percentage since the beginning of last season and a .485 on-base percentage. He is among the BG career leaders in at-bats (741, 1st), runs scored (177, 3rd), hits (250, 3rd), doubles (52, 3rd), assists (576, 1st), total bases (365, 3rd) and games played (203, 4th). He has hit from the lead off spot in 47 games this season reaching safely leading off the game for BG 22 times (12 hits (seven singles, three doubles, two home runs), seven walks, two hit by pitch and one error). He hit from the top spot in the order last season 48 times and reached safely 26 times (21 hits, four walks, one error) in his first at-bat of the game. BG has scored at least one run in the first inning of 15 of the 22 games, this season, in which Shay has reached safely in his first at-bat. Shay hit a home run on the first pitch of the first game this season against Western Carolina. Shay hit .398 in MAC play, seventh in the league, with 36 RBI, tied for first in the MAC, 43 runs scored, first in the MAC, 22 extra-base hits (10 doubles, 10 home runs), a .771 slugging percentage, sixth in the MAC, and a .489 on-base percentage, fourth in the league. Shay is hitting .391 (18-of-46) during a current 10-game hitting streak. Shay has scored at least one run in 20 consecutive contests, and 27 of the last 29 contests. Shay was ninth in the country in this week's national statistics in runs scored per game (1.43) and he was 27th in runs scored (63). He also ranks among the top 100 in the country in five other categories.
SPENCER CLEANING UP IN #4 SPOT
Junior Derek Spencer, who was a first-team All-MAC selection a year ago, was the MAC's East Division Player of the Week after hitting .706 (12-of-17) three weeks ago (April 20-26) with six home runs, 10 RBI and 12 runs scored. He hit .750 (9-for-12) in the Miami series that week with five home runs, eight RBI and nine runs scored. Spencer has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games with a batting average of .493 (34-of-69) over the period with 28 RBI and 27 runs scored. He has an RBI in 13 of the 16 contests during his streak an has scored two or more runs nine times. The Oregon, Ohio native leads the team with 57 RBI, 4th in the MAC, and is third on the team hitting .389, seventh in the MAC. He has hit safely in 37 of the 47 games he has played in this season and he has an RBI in 30 contests. Spencer, who leads all BG players with a .380 career batting average, has 27 two-out RBI this season, the team leader. Spencer did not start for three games in late March because of a hamstring pull, but he has fully recovered from that. Spencer hit .423 in MAC play, third in the league, with 33 RBI, sixth in the MAC, and 31 runs scored. For the 25 MAC games he has played in, Spencer had an .811 slugging percentage, third in the MAC, with 11 home runs, third in the conference. Spencer hit safely in 22 MAC games. Spencer was a double shy of hitting for the cycle in the May 10 game at Buffalo. Spencer is coming off a three home run, seven RBI game against Akron.
HANGBERS A TRIPLE THREAT
As he has done throughout his career, senior Brian Hangbers can have an affect on the game at the plate, in the field and on the mound. Hangbers is hitting .339 this season with eight home runs, 41 runs scored, and he has drawn 27 walks. Hangbers is one of the top fielding first basemen in the MAC and has a .986 fielding percentage with just five errors in 350 chances this season. He has a career .987 fielding percentage in 1133 chances. On the mound, he has pitched in 10 games, five of those starts, this season and has two saves and a 6.86 ERA in 21.0 innings of work. Hangbers has 45 career appearances covering 110.0 innings with a 4.99 ERA. His 31 career home runs is the seventh-highest total in BG history and makes him one of only seven players in school history to hit 30 or more home runs. He has hit safely in 34 of the 45 games he has an at-bat in this season. The Hamilton, Ohio native has been at his best this season while the Falcons made their drive to the league title. He has hit safely in each of the last nine games, a career best, hitting .488 (20-of-41) with 15 RBI and 12 runs scored. Since being moved to the #2 spot in the batting order, the Falcons are 11-2 in those 13 contests with Hangbers hitting .411 (28-of-68) with 20 RBI and 17 runs scored. He has two or more hits in each of the last nine games and in 11 of the last 14. He hit .324 in league play with eight home runs, tied for 10th in the MAC. Hangbers hit .471 (8-of-17) last week with six RBI and five runs scored.
MEISLER IS CLUTCH
Junior Logan Meisler is fifth on the team with a .369 batting average. A career .337 hitter, Meisler is third on the squad with 44 RBI, 17 of those with two outs. He has hit safely in 35 of the 48 games this season and he has an RBI in 25 contests. Meisler hit .550 (11-of-20) last week with 10 RBI and eight runs scored. Meisler has a seven-game hitting streak in progress during which he has hit .514 (19-of-37) with 16 RBI and 14 runs scored. He has an RBI and a run scored in each of the seven games. Meisler has three or more hits in six of his last nine games. The Port Clinton, Ohio native hit .342 in MAC play with 25 RBI and 23 runs scored. His 40 hits in league play was 10th in the conference. Meisler leads the team with four game-winning RBI.
MALEWITZ AMONG MAC LEADERS
Sophomore Matt Malewitz became one of the starters for the Falcons in MAC play this season, normally drawing the starting assignment in the middle game of the series. He is second on the squad in innings pitched (76.1, sixth in the MAC) and ERA (5.07, 8th in the MAC). Malewitz was the East Division Pitcher of the Week (week of March 9-15) for his complete game one-hitter against Northern Iowa on the spring trip. Malewitz was part of a second shutout, on March 28, as he combined with sophomore Charles Wooten on a three-hitter against Northern Illinois. Malewitz, who is 5-2 this season, was 4-1 in MAC play with a 6.20 ERA. Opposition batters are hitting only .256 against Malewitz this season, second in the MAC. Malewitz has gone at least five innings in nine of his 13 starts.
BERTI AMONG TOP FROSH
Freshman Jon Berti has become an integral member of the team in his first season. The Troy, Mich. native is fourth on the team with a .375 batting average, 10th in the MAC, and he hit .388 in MAC play, sixth on the team. He had 23 RBI in league play while slugging at a .663 clip and he had a .469 on-base percentage. In his last 29 games, he has hit safely in 24 contests with a .409 (38-of-93) average to go along with 29 RBI and 28 runs scored. Berti has three game-winning RBI, including a walk-off three-run homer in the 10th inning against Ball State (April 12), part of a career-best four-RBI game. Berti, a 36th-round draft choice of Oakland in last summer's amateur draft, has showed his versatility this season making starts in left and right field, at shortstop and as the designated hitter. Berti had a 14-game hitting streak come to end last weekend. He has scored at least one run in 15 of the last 16 games.
DWORNIK BG'S THIRD STARTER
Freshman left-hander Kacy Dwornik earned his first start of the season May 3 and got the win against Ohio. The Toledo St. John's graduate also got the last out of the Friday (May 1) win against Ohio to earn his first career save. He made his second start in the series finale with Buffalo and had another strong outing getting the win going 5.0 innings allowing four hits and two earned runs. Dwornik did not have a good start in his last outing allowing eight hits and eight earned runs to Akron in the series finale last Saturday. But, Dwornik had made eight appearances in a row in which he had been effective before last weekend. Over that period, Dwornik had a 3.45 ERA in 31.1 innings of work allowing 27 hits and 12 earned runs. He struck out 27, and average of 7.76 per nine innings, while walking only six. Dwornik yielded 15 earned runs in his first six appearances in a BG uniform covering 9.0 innings. In league play, Dwornik was the league leaders in opponent batting average (.270, 7th) and wins (4, t-7th). He was 4-0 with a 5.60 ERA in MAC play.
SCHMITZ REACHES 500
Head coach Danny Schmitz reached a milestone on March 31 in BG's 8-3 win over Michigan that not many in Mid-American Conference history have. The win was his 500th victory, all at Bowling Green, joining four other MAC baseball coaches in the small club of people who have won 500 games. Schmitz joins Western Michigan's Fred Decker (1976-04, 791 wins), Ohio's Joe Carbone (1989-present, 610), Toledo's Stan Sanders (1970-81/1983-92, 534) and Central Michigan's Dean Kreiner (1986-98, 516) as the only baseball coaches in the 62-year history of the Mid-American Conference to reach the 500-win milestone.
RETURNING ALL-LEAGUE
Bowling Green has two players returning this season who were All-MAC choices last season. Senior shortstop Ryan Shay and junior third baseman Derek Spencer were both first-team all-conference selections in 2008. Shay led the league and was 22nd nationally with a .412 batting average while Spencer was eighth in the league hitting .360. Shay, whose average last season was 155 points higher than his career average coming into the season, hit safely in 46 of the 52 games setting school records for batting average, hits (87) and doubles (19). He had a 16-game hitting streak and a 17-game hitting streak, fourth-best in school history. Shay was also a first-team All-Mideast selection last season. Spencer led the team with 54 RBI (third in the MAC, tied for eighth on BGSU single-season list) and in extra-base hits (25) and two-out RBI (21). He did not go more than two games at any point in the season without getting a hit.
FALCON CAPTAINS
Seniors Ryan Shay (SS), Dusty Hawk (RHP), Brian Hangbers (1B) and Kevin Leady (RHP) will serve as captains of the 2009 team. Leady will not play this season after having surgery in the fall.
EARLY SEASON HONORS
Senior shortstop Ryan Shay was picked as one of the top seven shortstops in the country by the web site Ping!Baseball. The web site picked the top players in the country for their preseason All-American list and included Shay among the best shortstops in the land. Shay also was named to the preseason All-MAC team by Baseball America. In the same publication, freshman Jon Berti was picked as the second-best newcomer in the MAC.
BGSU BLOOP SINGLES
The Falcons are hitting .348 as a team and averaging 9.1 runs per game while the opposition is hitting .315 and scoring 8.8 runs per outing...the Falcon batting average is the best in the MAC and is 12th in the nation while their average runs per game is 23rd in the country...in MAC play, BG hit .365 and averaged 10.2 runs...BG's team batting average in MAC play also led the league...BG has 47 (0.98 per game) double plays this season, third in the MAC...last season the Falcons led the MAC in twin-killings (59) and were 14th in the nation with a 1.13 average per game...sophomore catcher Ryan Schlater, who was the MAC East Division Player of the Week after hitting .692 (9-of-13) last week and .727 (8-of-11) against Akron...Schlater had four doubles, one triple, and his first home run of the season helping the Falcons to the series win over the Zips with a slugging percentage of 1.545...Schlater has a career-best seven-game hitting streak in progress during which he has hit .538 (14-of-26) with seven runs scored and 12 RBI...Schlater has eight of his 10 doubles for the season in the last 11 games...red-shirt freshman Patrick Martin had a school-record tying five hits, all singles, in the non-league game against Oakland last week...sophomore right-hander Charles Wooten has had four strong relief appearances in a row throwing 11 innings while allowing nine hits and four earned runs...he has a 3.27 ERA for the period with 14 strike outs and only three walks...Wooten has picked up two saves and one win over those last four appearances...junior Dennis Vaughn hit .375 last week (6-for-16) with three RBI and five runs scored along with a double and his third home run of the season...he hit .500 (6-for-12) in the Akron series...Vaughn has hit .447 (17-of-38) in his last 10 games with eight RBI and 15 runs scored...he has scored at least one run in nine of those 10 contests...Vaughn led the team with a .450 batting average in league play...the BG opposition has scored 10 or more runs in 18 games this season - BG has scored 10 or more 20 times, including 12 times in the last 15 games during which the Falcons are scoring an average of 13.4 runs per game...the Falcons have 10 or more hits in 37 games this season, including 18 of their last 20, and 31 of their last 37 games...BG had 10 or more hits in 22 of their 26 league games, including 16 of their last 17 contests...BG won 12 of its last 16 MAC games...BG comes into the tournament having won eight of its last 10 games overall...the Falcon starting pitchers have compiled a 5.73 ERA this season while the relievers have a 9.51 ERA...BG is the MAC leader in sacrifices with 41 and they rank 35th in the nation with that figure...Bowling Green has three of the 13 shutouts recorded this season by MAC teams...since 2001, BG is 184-6 when leading going into the ninth inning - two of those losses have come this season....BG is tied for second in the MAC in slugging percentage at .529 behind Ohio (.548) and tied with Ball State...in MAC play, BG had the top figure in the league at .591...BG leads the MAC in on-base percentage at .420 and they had the top average in league play with a .438 mark..BG's 311 strikeouts (by batters) is the second-fewest in the league behind only Ohio (296)...in league play, BG's 158 strike outs was the lowest figure among the 12 teams...BG is second in the MAC in runs scored with 436 behind only Kent State (476)...in MAC play, Bowling Green's 266 runs was 23 more than the next closest teams, Kent State and Ball State, with 243...Bowling Green's 12 saves this season is second in the MAC behind Kent State who had 16...in MAC play, BG had seven saves along with Ball State and Akron to league the league.
