Falcons Zip Over To Akron For Weekend Series

The Pitching Matchups
Friday
Bowling Green: RHP Mike Frank • 2-4, 3.66 ERA, 51.2 IP, 44 H, 36 K
Akron: LHP John Valek III • 3-2, 2.28 ERA, 51.1 IP, 55 H, 20 K

Saturday
Bowling Green: LHP Brett Fitzwater • 1-1, 6.00 ERA, 12.0 IP, 9 H, 9 K
Akron: RHP JT Brubaker • 3-2, 3.96 ERA, 38.2 IP, 39 H, 25 K

Sunday
Bowling Green: LHP Andrew Lacinak • 3-3, 4.81 ERA, 39.1 IP, 36 K, 20 K
Akron: RHP Myles McVeigh • 1-1, 2.86, 22.0 IP, 13 H, 19 K

The Starting Lineup
• Bowling Green enters this weekend's series with a record of 13-19 overall and 5-7 in the MAC.
• Head coach Danny Schmitz is in his 24th season at BGSU. His career record is 625-600-5.
• Cody Apthorpe, T.J. Losby, and Jeremy Shay are serving as tri-captains in 2014. Apthorpe and Losby were also co-captains in 2013.
• Rick Blanc (7th season), Mike Huling (2nd season), Garrett Gray (1st season), and Drew Kuns (2nd season) are Schmitz's assistants in 2014.
• Brian Bien leads the Falcons offense with a .353 batting average. He has started all 32 games, scoring a team-high 26 runs.
• Bowling Green has stolen 37 bases in 2014 through the first 32 games. Last season, the Falcons stole just 37 bases in 55 games.
• Jeremy Shay leads the Falcons with 23 RBI and a slugging percentage of .482. He has 10 doubles, two triples, and a home run to his credit this season.
• T.J. Losby leads the Falcons with a .422 batting average through 12 MAC games. He has eight RBI and seven runs scored in that time.
• Mike Frank has been the ace of the pitching staff in 2014. He is 2-1 since MAC play started with a 2.37 ERA.

A Look At Akron
• Akron enters the weekend with an overall record of 20-14. The Zips are 9-3 in the Mid-American Conference.
• Rick Rembielak is in his third season at Akron. He has led his Zips to six straight wins, including a sweep over Ohio University last weekend.
• Devin Ahart leads Akron with a .328 batting average. The redshirt junior has nine extra-base hits and has scored 23 runs on the year. He has walked 22 times and stolen 17 bases.
• John Valek III anchors the UofA pitching staff as the Friday starter. He has a 3-2 record with a 2.28 ERA on the year. In 51.1 innings pitched he has struck out just 20 batters, but only allowed 13 earned runs.
• Masashi Sakomoto leads Akron with a 3-1 record and 1.64 ERA out of the bullpen.
• As a team, the Zips are batting .272 with an earned run average of 3.90. In Mid-American Conference play alone, they are hitting .277 with an ERA of 2.81.
• Akron takes advantage of their speed, having stolen 47 bases this season.

Falcons Begin Crucial Stretch
• Not only does this weekend mark the beginning of divisional play within the Mid-American Conference, but it also marks the beginning of a make-or-break stretch for BGSU.
• The Falcons enter the weekend at 5-7 in MAC play, in a four-way tie for sixth. The top eight teams qualify for the MAC Tournament next month.
• Bowling Green will travel to Akron (9-3) this weekend. Akron is tied for third in the MAC.
• Following this weekend, Bowling Green hosts Kent State (9-3), travels to Miami (5-7), hosts Ohio (1-11), and heads to Buffalo (7-4) to close out MAC regular-season play.

BG Bats Explode To Salvage Series
• Bowling Green lost 2-of-3 over the weekend, but salvaged the series with an explosive 17-8 win on Sunday at Steller Field.
• After dropping a tough 7-6 game on Friday, nothing went right for the Falcons in a 16-2 defeat on Saturday.
• However, BGSU bounced back to record a season-high 17 runs and 18 hits in a victory over MAC-leading Central Michigan.

Rewriting The Record Books
• Redshirt senior Mike Frank moved into second place all-time for innings pitched over the weekend. The right-hander has now thrown 276.1 innings during his career, just 18.2 shy of the all-time record currently held by Kp Young (1973-76).
• Frank is currently fourth all-time with 196 career strikeouts. He is two shy of moving into third, seven shy of second, and 36 short of Young's all-time record of 232.
• Ben Singer has made 77 career appearances, good for seventh all-time at BGSU. His next appearance will move him into a sixth-place tie.
• Jeremy Shay has doubled 10 times this season, including two last weekend. He now has 42 career two-baggers, eighth-most in school history.
• T.J. Losby has had a prolific career, spent mostly behind the dish. His 956 putouts are fourth most, just 82 shy of the all-time record.
• Fellow senior Jeremy Shay is right behind Losby for career putouts. Shay has 876 putouts of his own, fifth-most all-time.
• Shortstop Brian Bien has 391 career assists, good for ninth all-time in school history.
• Senior outfielder Andrew Kubuski has 604 at-bats during his career, just five shy of the top 10 all-time.

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 has also played in 141 straight games, dating back to 2011. He is one of just six players since 2001 to play in every game over the span of two consecutive seasons, which he did in both 2012 and 2013.
Player                     Date            Consecutive GP
Ryan Shay              2006 - 2009    194
Jeff Warnock           2002 - 2005   144
T.J. Losby              2011 - pres.   141
Kelly Hunt               2001 - 2003   128
Dave Barkholz         2002 - 2004   115
T.J. Blanton             2009 - 2010   110

Speed Separating Falcons
• Bowling Green has swiped 37 bases in 2014 through the first 32 games. In 2013, the Falcons stole just 37 bases in 55 games.
• BGSU has stolen 15 bases during the first 12 games of the MAC schedule.
• Three Falcons have at least eight steals in 2014, while four others have at least two.
• The Falcons have been an efficient bunch when it comes to stealing bags, swiping them at a 74% success rate.
• Patrick Lancaster leads the Orange and Brown with nine SBs (9-14). He is joined by Brian Bien (8-11) and Brandon Howard (8-9) as the Falcons best base stealers.

Losby Leading The Charge
• Senior T.J. Losby has been hot since Mid-American Conference play began, leading the Falcons with an average of .422 (19-for-45).
• Losby has a slugging percentage of .571 and an on-base percentage of .469 for the Orange and Brown in 12 MAC games.
• Last weekend, Losby had a double in Friday's game and a triple in Sunday's win.

Power Surge At Steller Field
• Bowling Green exploded for 17 runs in Sunday's win, thanks to several strong performances.
• Logan Walker and Trey Keegan both homered in the game, their first of the year.
• The Falcons exploded for 16 runs in a four-inning stretch, including a nine-run seventh inning which saw 15 batters come to the plate.

Fitzwater, Miller Toss No-Hitter
• Bowling Green's duo of Brett Fitzwater and Chris Miller combined to throw a no-hitter last Friday (March 14) against Bucknell during the second game of a doubleheader in Lakeland, Fla., a 7-0 victory for BGSU.
• Fitzwater went the first five innings for the win, striking out six.
• Miller finished off the game for his first career save, striking out two over three innings.
• The duo earned MAC East Co-Pitchers of the Week for their efforts.
• It was the ninth no-hitter in school history and first since April 5, 1995.

Apthorpe, Losby Have CLASS
• Bowling Green State University seniors Cody Apthorpe and T.J. Losby were named national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award this week, two of just 30 players in the country.
• Apthorpe and Losby are the only two players to be listed among the national candidates from the Mid-American Conference.
• The award is named for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.

The Schmitz Connection
• This weekend's series between Bowling Green and Akron will feature a family connection. Head coach Danny Schmitz will oppose Akron assistant coach, and son, Spencer.
• Spencer spent the last six seasons as a volunteer and assistant coach under Schmitz at Bowling Green, before accepting a similar position at Akron following the 2013 season.
• Spencer also played at Bowling Green under his father, from 2001-04.

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.

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