Falcons Jumping Back into MAC Play at Ball State

Friday, April 8

Muncie, Indiana

3:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

Ball State University

April 07, 2011 | Baseball

The Falcons (9-15, 3-3) and Cardinals (6-20, 4-2) will square off in a three game set this weekend.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

	Bowling Green Falcons (9-15, 3-3 MAC) vs. Ball State Cardinals (6-20, 4-2 MAC) *Ball Diamond • Muncie, Indiana*
Friday April 8, 2011 - 3 p.m. Cody Apthorpe - So., RHP (2-2, 4.44 ERA) vs. Cal Bowling - Jr., RHP (3-1, 2.51 ERA) Saturday April 9, 2011 - 1:00 p.m. Nick Bruns - So., RHP (1-1, 4.45 ERA) vs. Derek Grabner - Sr., LHP (0-2, 5.65 ERA) Sunday April 10, 2011 - 1:00 p.m. Charles Wooten - Sr., RHP (1-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Morgan Coombs - r-Sr., RHP (2-3, 4.12 ERA)

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THE FALCONS vs. THE BALL STATE CARDINALS ...
Bowling Green and Ball State have met a combined 101 times since their first meeting in 1947. In those games, BGSU has a 55-44-2 record. Last year the Falcons dropped two of three games to the Cardinals, including a 32-10 loss that served as the “turn-around point” for Falcon baseball. Prior to last year, the Falcons won five of their last six against BSU

FOLLOW THE FALCONS ...
Track the Falcons as the 2011 season by visiting BGSUFALCONS.com for updated statistics and game results. LiveStats will be available for all Falcon games. Links to those contests' LiveStats can be found on the BGSUFalcons.com main page or on the baseball schedule page after clicking on each game. BGSU baseball can be found on Twitter all season long - @WEAREBGbaseball. Audio broadcasts will be available for this weekend's games.

ON DECK ...
Following the Falcons' series with Ball State, Bowling Green will play in two non-conference, mid-week games against the University of Michigan (4/12) and a rescheduled contest against the University of Dayton (4/13). The Wolverines and the Falcons will meet for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch and their match up with the Flyers will begin at 3 p.m. They will then regroup for a three-game set against the rival Toledo Rockets from April 15-17 in Bowling Green.

JON BERTI NAMED MAC EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jon Berti was named the MAC East Player of the Week on Monday (April 4) by the conference office, the first such honor for him this season. The Troy, Mich. native went 7-for-12 (.583), scored six times, knocked in seven runs and four extra-base hits over the weekend against Eastern Michigan. He had a slugging percentage of 1.167 and an on-base percentage of .667 in three games. He posted back-to-back three-hit games against the Eagles on Friday (April 1) and Saturday (April 2). Berti was a single short of the cycle on Friday, hitting an RBI double, triple and solo home run. His lone hit on Sunday, a single, extended his current hitting streak to a team-high eight games.

SINGER WITH A “K”
A feat for anybody to accomplish, freshman Ben Singer has managed to accumulate at least one strikeout in every one of his eight relief appearances this season. He has totaled 12 strikeouts in eight appearances, spanning 10.1 innings. He had a season-high three strikeouts in one inning against Air Force (3/12). He currently has a 3.48 earned run average and an 0-2 record.

FALCONS STRUGGLING HEADING INTO MUNCIE
The Falcons have lost five of their last six including three straight, twice in non-conference competition. Over that time, the team is batting at a .261 clip and have been outscored 38-32. Three games have decided by three or fewer runs and three were the go-ahead or tying run was on base or at the plate. The team posted a combined 5.71 earned run average and opponents are batting .315 against BGSU pitching.

Two people who has not been struggling are shortstop Jon Berti and relief pitcher Ross Gerdeman. Over the last six games, Berti has equalled his season batting average (.400) with two doubles, a triple, a home run, six stolen bases and seven RBI. The righty, Gerdeman, has appeared three times in six games spanning over 8.1 innings. He has allowed only four hits, two walks and struck out five with a save. He allowed zero runs over this span.

FALCONS REACHING HOME MARKER
Bowling Green is approaching a new milestone at the very park that has seen much of the program's action and successes. The Falcons have an all-time record of 398-273-7 (.587) and need two more to reach 400 all-time at Warren Steller Field. The Falcons next home action is against Toledo from April 15-17.

BRUNS TOSSES CG/SHO GEM
Sophomore Nick Bruns had a career day against NIU (March 27) when he tossed his first complete game and shutout in an 8-0 win. Over his 9.0 innings of work, the St. Henry, Ohio native struck out a career-high 12 batters, allowing only three hits and two walks. Bruns' complete game shutout was the first tossed by a Falcon pitched since teammate Matt Malewitz did so on March 13, 2009 against Northern Iowa. It was the first complete game shutout in a conference game since Tyler Johnson's five-hit, five-strikeout performance on April 20, 2007 in a 3-0 win at home against Akron.

MAC WRAP
The back-to-back-to-back MAC East champion Falcons begin conference play this week in an attempt to continue building history in conference play. In the program's all-tome history spanning 91 seasons the Falcons are a combined 546-567-4 against conference teams. They became a member of the Mid-American Conference in 1953 where that team went 4-4 in its inaugural season. They won their first MAC game against Miami (OH) by 1 17-2 count in Oxford.

The Falcons have enjoyed 30 seasons of .500-or-better play in the MAC out of 58 total seasons. Since 1994, the Falcons have had 12 winning regular season in conference play in its last 18.

EASY ON THE EXTRAS
Through the first 16 games this season the Falcons have played in four extra-inning games this season, holding a 1-3 record in those contests. The Falcons were twice taken to extras against Cleveland State on the weekend of March 18, splitting those games. In games that have gone to extra innings, the Falcons have been outscored by a margin just as close as those games have been, 20-21. In 2010, the Falcons played in only three extra-inning games all year, holding a 1-2 record in those games.

For complete BGSU game notes, click here.