Falcons Travel To Ohio For Final Road Series Of 2013

Saturday, May 11

Athens, OH

6:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

Ohio University

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Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

May 09, 2013 | Baseball

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Bowling Green State University Falcons (16-25, 10-11 MAC)
at
Ohio University Bobcats (12-35, 7-14 MAC)
Bob Wren Stadium (4,000)
Friday, May 10 (6 p.m.) Live Stats | Live Audio
Saturday, May 11 (3 p.m.) Live Stats | Live Audio
Sunday, May 12 (1 p.m.) Live Stats | Live Audio

Game Notes

Leading Off
The Falcons will take to the road for their final series away from Steller Field in 2013, taking on the Ohio Bobcats this weekend in Athens, Ohio. The Falcons and Bobcats will play a crucial series, as the Falcons currently sit in a sixth-place tie with Toledo in the MAC standings. Ohio is currently 7-14, just two games back of a MAC Tournament spot.

Scouting The Bobcats
First-year head coach Rob Smith's Bobcats have struggled during 2013, posting a 12-35 record through the first 47 games. The Bobcats, who have nine freshmen on the team, come into the weekend at 7-14 in Mid-American Conference action. Ohio has been consistent in league play, as they have lost two out of three games in each of their first seven MAC series'. The Bobcats are led offensively by Jake Madsen. He is the only Ohio player who has a batting average of over .300.

The Series
Friday night's game will mark the 151st all-time matchup between the two schools. Ohio University currently leads the series 83-66-1. For the past 22 years, Danny Schmitz and former Ohio skipper Joe Carbone have gone head-to-head, as long time coaches at their respective institutions. Carbone retired after last season with 689 career wins and 368 MAC wins. Both marks put him second in Mid-American Conference history.

Last Weekend
The Orange and Brown picked up a critical series win over Miami University, picking up wins on Friday and Sunday. In Friday's game, the Falcons were able to get a strong outing from Cody Apthorpe, as he went eight innings and allowed just three runs. Miami would take the lead in the top of the ninth, but two doubles would tie the game and set up Logan Walker's walkoff single for the 5-4 win. In Saturday's game, the RedHawks took advantage of a strong performance from Mac Thoreson, picking up the 9-1 victory. The Falcons bounced back on Sunday, holding on in a stressful ninth inning for the 10-8 triumph.

MAC Tournament
If the Mid-American Conference Tournament were to start prior to Friday's MAC contests, the Falcons would be the number six seed by virtue of owning the tiebreaker over Toledo. The Orange and Brown sit just a game out of a fourth-place tie, behind both Miami and Ball State. The current three seed is Northern Illinois. Buffalo leads the MAC standings by a game and a half. The Bulls will finish with two road series - at Miami and at Bowling Green. The bottom seven teams in the MAC standings are separated by just three games.

Senior Day 2013
On May 18 (Saturday) four Falcon seniors will be honored on the field before the game. Nick Bruns, Matt Pitzulo, Drew Kuns, and Fred Sharp will all be recognized for their career accomplishments while wearing the Orange and Brown.

Follow The Leader
Junior captain T.J. Losby is leading the Falcons in numerous statistical categories. Besides leading the team with a batting average of .354, Losby also leads in games played (41), starts (40), runs (28), home runs (6), slugging percentage (.500), and on-base percentage (.413). Losby also has the fewest strikeouts among regular starters, with just 15. He has thrown out nearly 50% of attempted base stealers, as well.

One-Two Punch
Juniors T.J. Losby and Jeremy Shay have provided quite the one-two punch in the middle of Danny Schmitz's lineup this season, appearing among the top ten in numerous statistical categories during MAC play. Both Losby (3rd) and Shay (4th) appear in the top ten in batting average during MAC play. In addition, Losby is tied for first in hits (32), second in home runs (2), third in total bases (45), eighth in on-base percentage, and fourth in slugging percentage. Shay's numbers have been just as impressive. He ranks first in home runs (4), second in doubles (8), seventh in RBI (17), first in total bases, sixth in on-base percentage, and first in slugging percentage.

Falcons Flying High On The Mound
Besides compiling a season for the ages with a current ERA of 3.97, numerous players donning the Orange and Brown have put together impressive seasons. Mike Frank currently ranks seventh in the MAC in strikeouts. Nick Bruns has made the most appearances of any pitcher during league play, with 11. Cody Apthorpe currently ranks ninth in overall ERA, at 2.97. No Falcon starter has had an ERA lower than 3.00 since 2006. In addition, Apthorpe has the lowest ERA for a Falcon starting pitcher (10+ starts) since Charles Wooten posted a 3.82 ERA in 2011.

One Final Homestand
With a home record of 5-8, the Falcons have just four home games left in 2013. Following this weekend, the Orange and Brown will finish the season with four straight at Warren E. Steller Field. Next Tuesday (May 14), Bowling Green will host new division-one opponent Northern Kentucky at 3:00 p.m. Then, because the Mid-American Conference Tournament starts the following Wednesday, the Falcons will host Buffalo in a Thursday-Saturday series. Thursday's 3:00 p.m. game will be followed by a 1:00 p.m. start on Friday. Saturday's 1:00 p.m. game will be also be Senior Day. Senior Day festivities will begin around 12:45 p.m. that day, honoring Nick Bruns, Matt Pitzulo, Fred Sharp, and Drew Kuns.

Schmitz Makes His Mark
In his 23rd season as the head coach at Bowling Green State University, Danny Schmitz has a career record of 604-575-5. Schmitz becamse just the third coach in Mid-American Conference history to win 600 career ballgames, with the Falcons' 14-6 win over Akron on April 20. Schmitz, who is the second winningest active coach in the Mid-American Conference (behind Ball State's Rich Maloney), has won a school-record 36 games on two different occasions. His teams have qualified for the MAC tournament 11 times. He has been named MAC Coach of the Year on three different occasions (1994, 1995, 2009). Below are Schmitz's career milestone victories:
1st win: March 9, 1991 at Eastern Kentucky (6-3)
100th win: April 26, 1995 at Ball State (3-1)
200th win: March 6, 1999 vs. Pittsburgh (9-8 in Homestead, Fla.)
250th win: April 15, 2000 vs. Marshall (8-4)
300th win: February 17, 2002 at Tennessee (15-11)
400th win: April 29, 2005 vs. IPFW (5-0)
500th win: March 31, 2009 at Michigan (8-3)
600th win: April 20, 2013 vs. Akron (14-6)

The Winning Tradition
Assistant coaches Rick Blanc and Spencer Schmitz have been a part of many of Danny Schmitz's 604 career wins. A two-year letter winner for BGSU, Blanc is now in his sixth season as the pitching coach. He has been involved in 205 wins, including an average of 29 during his two years as a player. Schmitz has been in the program for 10 seasons, contributing to 260 wins. During his four seasons as a player, the younger Schmitz won an average of 28.25 games per year.