Bowling Green State University Athletics
Smith Named MAC East Division Pitcher Of The Week
May 04, 2009 | Baseball
May 4, 2009
CLEVELAND, OHIO - Bowling Green State University sophomore right-hander Brennan Smith was named the Mid-American Conference East Division Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced today. It is the first time the Sandusky, Ohio native has earned one of the conference's weekly honors.
Smith, a 6-3, 200-pounder, got the Falcons started on a weekend sweep of Ohio with a strong performance last Friday (May 1) in the series opener with the Bobcats. Smith went seven innings allowing only five hits and three earned runs while striking out 10, equalling his career high set earlier this season in shutout of Sacred Heart. When Smith was taken out of the game, BG had a 12-3 lead. The Falcons held on to post a 12-9 victory.
Smith, a product of Perkins High School, is now 7-3 on the season with a 3.36 ERA with 64 strike outs in 67.0 innings of work. He has started all 12 games he has appeared in going five or more innings in eight of those starts.
Since losing his first two starts of the season, both in late February, Smith has posted a 7-1 record with a 2.88 ERA in 59.1 innings of work. Smith has 60 strike outs (9.10 per nine innings) and has allowed only 43 hits (6.53 per nine innings) over his last 10 starts.
Smith has been even better in the seven games he has won this season. He has a 1.41 ERA in those contests with 50 strikeouts in 51.0 innings while allowing only 29 hits. Opposition batters are hitting .162 against Smith in his seven wins this season.
Going into the games last weekend, Smith led the MAC in ERA, wins, starts and opponents batting average while he was also among the league leaders in strike outs (3rd), innings (3rd) and complete games (t-2nd). Smith has started the first game of all seven MAC weekend series' this season.
Smith pitched in 18 games as a freshman for the Falcons starting four times and had a 7.49 ERA in 39.2 innings of work. He had a 3-2 record.
With finals this week at BGSU, the team will not return to action until this weekend when they travel to Buffalo for a three-game series against the Bulls that begins with a 3 p.m. game on Friday. BG is 23-18 overall this season, and, after the sweep of Ohio, is now 13-7 in MAC play, one game behind East Division front-runner Kent State (14-6). BG has won 10 of its last 13 games in league play and 10 of its last 14 overall contests.
Following the Buffalo series, the Falcons complete the regular season with home games against Oakland (May 12) and Akron (May 14-16). Eight league teams will then make their way to Chillicothe, Ohio for the MAC Tournament which will be played May 20-24.
