Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Murray State University
Falcons Look For Revenge At Murray State
February 19, 2014 | Baseball
Bowling Green looks to avenge 2013 series which saw MSU sweep Falcons
at
Murray State Thoroughbreds (2-1, 0-0 OVC)
Friday, Feb. 21, 2:00 pm CT Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 22, 2:00 pm CT Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 23, 1:00 pm CT Live Stats
Game Notes (.pdf)
The Pitching Matchups
Friday
Bowling Green: RHP Cody Apthorpe • 0-1, 0.00 ERA, 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 K
Murray State: RHP Andrew Bramley • 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 K
Saturday
Bowling Green: RHP Mike Frank • 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 3 K
Murray State: RHP Cameron Finch • 0-0, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 10 H, 3 K
Sunday
Bowling Green: LHP Andrew Lacinak • 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 K
Murray State: LHP Brock Downey • 0-0, 7.20 ERA, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 K
Around The Bases
• Bowling Green State University is in its 95th season of baseball. The Falcons have an all-time record of 1,564, 1,347-27.
• The Falcons are coming off the program's fourth ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013.
• BGSU returns a starter at every position from the 2013 season, and will have 12 seniors on the 2014 roster.
• T.J. Losby, Jeremy Shay, and Cody Apthorpe will serve as captains in 2014.
• Head coach Danny Schmitz is in his 24th season at the helm of the Orange and Brown. He boasts a career record of 613-583-5.
• Friday's weekend series at Murray State will continue a season-long 19 game road trip for the Falcons to begin the 2014 season.
Falcons Have Tri-Captains In 2014
• Cody Apthorpe, T.J. Losby, and Jeremy Shay will serve as tri-captains for head coach Danny Schmitz in 2014.
• 2014 marks the third consecutive season that Apthorpe will serve as a captain. He is the only player under Schmitz - and just the second in school history - to be named a captain in three different years.
• Losby will once again serve as a captain after serving as a co-captain with Apthorpe in 2013.
• The 2014 campaign will mark the first season in which Shay will represent the Falcons as a captain.
Falcons Have Senior-Laden Squad
• Head coach Danny Schmitz welcomes back 12 seniors in 2014, which includes five pitchers and seven position players.
• The five senior pitchers bring 248 games of experience and 746.2 innings pitched to the table.
• The seven position players, who have all played in at least 100 career games, have played in 905 total games and compiled 2,826 at-bats.
Schmitz's 2014 Staff Very Familiar
• Anyone involved with Falcon baseball knows Danny Schmitz, who returns for his 24th season in 2014.
• For the seventh consecutive season, assistant coach Rick Blanc will serve on Schmitz's staff as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
• Mike Huling returns for his second season under Schmitz. Huling served as the volunteer assistant coach in 2013 before being promoted to assistant coach in 2014.
• Garrett Gray, an All-Horizon League player at Wright State, joins the coaching staff as the volunteer assistant coach in 2014.
• Drew Kuns will assist the program as an undergraduate assistant in 2014. Kuns, who played from 2010-12 under Schmitz, served in a similar capacity in 2013.
A Look At Murray State
• Murray State enters the weekend with a 2-1 record, coming off a midweek win over Mid-Continent.
• The Thoroughbreds, who played just two games over the weekend, split a Sunday doubleheader with Ohio.
• Rob McDonald is the head coach of the 'Breds. Dan Skirka and Larry Scully assist McDonald.
• Luke Daugherty leads Murray State with a .500 average through three games. He also has two doubles and three RBI.
• MSU senior Cameron Finch, who allowed 10 hits and two runs in 5.0 innings, picked off four runners in four different innings on Sunday against the Bobcats.
• As a team, Murray State is batting .354 with an ERA of 4.85.
• Bowling Green is 9-8 all-time against Murray State, but was swept by the 'Breds in a three-game series last season.
ERAsing The Opposition
• Bowling Green began the 2014 season by allowing just four earned runs in 23 innings during opening weekend for a 1.57 ERA.
• BGSU's starting pitchers pitched 14.1 innings during opening weekend - their first time outside since October - compiling a 0.00 ERA.
• The Falcons allowed just eight runs during the first three games of the season. The last time a Bowling Green team allowed fewer runs over the first three games of the season came in 2006, when BGSU allowed just seven to Murray State to open the season.
• The 2013 pitching staff put together arguably the greatest season in school history last year, with an ERA of 3.83.
• That ERA marked the program's best since 1979, and also the first sub-4.00 ERA in the Schmitz era.
• Reliever Ethan McKenney, who posted a 1.99 ERA in 2013, was a big part of that success. McKenney's ERA was the best since 1997, and the 12th-best all-time.
A Look At The Belmont Series
• Bowling Green lost 2-of-3 last weekend at Belmont to open the season.
• In the first game, BG led 1-0 entering the bottom of the sixth, before two errors led to two unearned Belmont runs and a 2-1 Falcon loss.
• In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, Bowling Green pounded out 16 hits en route to an 8-3 win.
• Belmont would win the series finale, 3-1, with the help of two Falcon errors leading to two more unearned runs.
Losby A Leader In All Aspects
• T.J. Losby will serve as a tri-captain of the Falcons in 2014. He was also a captain during the 2013 campaign.
• Losby, who has become one of the best catchers in the Midwest, was named first team All-MAC and second team All-Midwest Region in 2013.
• The senior from Bryan, Ohio has appeared in 112 consecutive games, dating back to the final game of the 2011 season.
Apthorpe Sets The Tone
• Cody Apthorpe was elected a tri-captain for the third consecutive season. He is the first player under Danny Schmitz to be named a captain three times.
• The fifth-year senior currently has pitched 230.0 innings in his career. He is eighth all-time in school history for most innings pitched.
Shay Has Breakout 2013 Season
• Jeremy Shay was named second team All-MAC at first base in 2013, despite winning the triple crown during Mid-American Conference play.
• Shay was also named to the All-Tournament team of the NCAA Louisville Regional in 2013.
• A captain in 2014, Shay led the Falcons with a .330 batting average in 2013. He also led the team with 35 runs scored, 15 doubles, and a slugging percentage of .524.
Lacinak Finally Returns
• Andrew Lacinak made his return to the mound last Sunday at Belmont, after missing 22.5 months due to Tommy John surgery. His last appearance had been April 1, 2012.
• Lacinak was sharp in his return to the mound, pitching 5.0 innings while allowing just three hits. He did not allow a run.
Returning To Form
• Senior Andrew Kubuski got off to a good start during opening weekend at Belmont, going 5-for-12 (.417).
• After leading the team with a .367 batting average in 2012, Kubuski struggled for much of 2013, finishing with a batting average of .245.
• The Falcons will rely on the veteran Kubuski to provide stability in 2014, both offensively and defensively.
Roll Along You BG (Road) Warriors
• It is no secret, that when you are a northern school, you must travel in order to be able to play games early in the season.
• Bowling Green will play their first 19 games of the season on the road, with trips to Nashville, Tenn., Murray, Ky., Atlanta, Ga., High Point, N.C., Dayton, Ohio, and Winter Haven, Fla.
• Over those first 19 games, which spans 31 days, the Falcons will travel 6,244 miles, according to Google Maps.
• The longest trip, round-trip, will come when BGSU ventures to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech in a three-game series.
Chasing Records In 2014
• Andrew Kubuski enters the season with 524 career at-bats. He is 85 at-bats shy of the all-time top 10, and is the current leader of the Falcons in that category.
• Jeremy Shay currently sits at 32 career doubles. He is six shy of the all-time top 10.
• Jake Thomas has hit eight triples during the past two seasons, and currently sits in a tie for 10th all-time.
• Kubuski also is the active leader in games played with 151. He is 39 games from moving into a 10th-place tie all-time.
• Two Falcons will be in the top 10 all-time for putouts after this weekend. T.J. Losby, currently 5th with 771, is just 267 putouts from a first place tie all-time. Jeremy Shay currently sits just two putouts shy of 10th all-time, with 686.
• Ben Singer is just outside the top 10 for appearances all-time. His 68 appearances is one shy of 10th all-time, and he is just 23 appearances short of the all-time record.
• Both Mike Frank and Cody Apthorpe enter the weekend inside the top 10 for innings pitched all time. The all-time record is 295.0 innings by Kip Young. Apthorpe, who is 8th with 230.0 innings pitched, is just in front of teammate Mike Frank (228.2).
• Mike Frank is 10th all-time for strikeouts in a career with 163.
