Falcons Ready To Battle Broncos At Mercy Field This Weekend

Bowling Green State University Falcons (8-16, 2-4 MAC)
at
Western Michigan University Broncos (12-12, 3-3 MAC)
Mercy Field (Toledo, Ohio)
Friday, April 4, 2:00 p.m. LIVE STATS
Saturday, April 5, 12:00 p.m. LIVE STATS
Sunday, April 6, 1:00 p.m. LIVE STATS
Complete Game Notes (PDF)

The Pitching Matchups
Friday
Bowling Green: RHP Devin Daugherty • 1-1, 3.18 ERA, 17.0 IP, 15 H, 11 K
Western Michigan: LHP Steve Laudicina • 2-3, 3.22 ERA, 44.2 IP, 48 H, 31 K

Saturday
Bowling Green: RHP Mike Frank • 1-4, 4.00 ERA, 36.0 IP, 33 H, 21 K
Western Michigan: RHP Chad Mayle • 3-2, 2.84 ERA, 38.0 IP, 47 H, 31 K

Sunday
Bowling Green: LHP Andrew Lacinak • 2-2, 4.02 ERA, 31.1 IP, 27 H, 14 K
Western Michigan: LHP Keegan Akin • 3-0, 2.27 ERA, 39.2 IP, 41 H, 32 K

Around The Bases
• Bowling Green State University is in its 95th season of baseball. The Falcons have an all-time record of 1,571-1,361-27 and are currently 8-16 in 2014.
• 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 620-597-5.
• Mike Frank was named MAC East Pitcher of the Week on Monday, as he pitched seven innings to earn his first victory of the season on Sunday. He allowed just one hit and one unearned run in the game, striking out three.
• Brian Bien went 3-for-4 on Friday night against NIU to raise his batting average to .418, but then went hitless in Sunday's doubleheader. The junior still leads the Falcons with an average of .384. He recently had a 22-game on-base streak come to an end.
• Logan Walker led the Falcons over the weekend, reaching base in seven of 11 plate appearances. He also added a triple, two RBI and stole a base.
• The Falcons earned their first two MAC victories of the season by sweeping Sunday's doubleheader. Mike Frank and Andrew Lacinak picked up the wins on the mound, while Ethan McKenney and Jason Link earned saves.
• Jeremy Shay has been a force in the middle of the lineup for the Orange and Brown. He has a .314 average and leads the team with eight doubles. He has added two triples and a home run and leads the Falcons with 17 RBI.
• Bowling Green trails the all-time series with Western Michigan 80-56. WMU has swept the Falcons in each of the past two seasons.
•This weekend's series will be considered home games for the Broncos, despite being played at Mercy Field in Toledo, Ohio.

A Look At Western Michigan
• Western Michigan enters the weekend at 12-12 overall and 3-3 in Mid-American Conference play.
• The Broncos are coached by Billy Gernon, who is in the midst of his fourth season.
• As a team, WMU holds a .265 batting average and an ERA of 3.92.
• Kurt Hoekstra leads the Broncos with a .360 batting average. He has started 21 games, recording 31 hits.
• All of Western Michigan's weekend starters hold ERA's under 3.25, with a combined record of 8-5 in 2014.
Falcons Win Series Against NIU
• Bowling Green lost their fourth consecutive game to begin Mid-American Conference play on Friday (Mar. 28) night, as Northern Illinois jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 9-0 victory.
• Following a snow-out on Saturday, the two teams concluded the series on Sunday.
• The series, which was played at Westfield Grand Park near Indianapolis, went to the Falcons as they swept Sunday's doubleheader by 4-1 and 7-3 scores.

Rewriting The Record Books
• Jeremy Shay is currently tied for ninth all-time with 40 career doubles. He has eight this season.
• Ben Singer is seventh all-time with 75 career appearances on the mound. He is just 16 appearances shy of setting the all-time record.
• Mike Frank is currently third all-time, having pitched 260.2 innings in his career. Kip Young holds the all-time record with 295.0 innings pitched.
• Cody Apthorpe is right behind Frank, having tossed 252.1 innings during his career, good for fourth all-time.
• Mike Frank is inside the top 10 for career strikeouts with 181, good for seventh-most in school history.
• T.J. Losby is currently fourth all-time with 899 putouts in his career. The all-time record is 1,038.
• Fellow first baseman and catcher, Jeremy Shay, sits sixth, right behind Losby, with 828 career putouts.
• Brian Bien sits just 18 assists away from the top 10 all-time. The junior shortstop has 369 career assists.
• Senior outfielder Andrew Kubuski currently sits just outside the top 10 for career at-bats with 582. He is just 27 at-bats shy of the top 10 in school history.
• Senior right-handed pitcher Cody Apthorpe has 14 career wins, just two shy of the top 10.

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.

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 133 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.       133
Kelly Hunt           2001 - 2003       128
Dave Barkholz   2002 - 2004        115
T.J. Blanton         2009 - 2010        110

Bien Ball
• Junior shortstop Brian Bien has been on a tear at the plate this season, leading the team with a .384 batting average.
• Bien has been on base in all but two games this season, as his 22-game on-base streak was recently snapped.
• He has an on-base percentage of .446 and a slugging percentage of .442. He has walked 11 times and been hit by a pitch once.
• Bien also leads the team with six sacrifices (three bunts, three flies) and has stolen four bases.

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 has already played their first 24 games of the season on the road, and will play at least three more away from home this weekend.
• Following this weekend's series, the Falcons will have played their first 27 games of the season on the road and traveled over 7,000 miles to do so, according to Google Maps. All but one trip for the Falcons has been on a bus this season to date.
• Following this weekend's games, the Falcons are scheduled to play four consecutive games at Warren E. Steller Field. If any of those games happen, it would mark the first home games of the 2014 season for the Falcons.

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.

Falcons Have Tri-Captains In 2014
• Seniors Cody Apthorpe, T.J. Losby, and Jeremy Shay will serve as tri-captains in 2014.
• Apthorpe and Losby were both captains last season. Apthorpe was also a captain in 2011, while Shay will serve as a first-time captain.

More Games Away From Home
• This weekend's series will be played at Mercy Field in Toledo, Ohio.
• At the conclusion of the weekend, the Falcons will have played their first 27 games of the season away from home.
• Mercy Field is the home of Lourdes University (NAIA) and Toledo Central Catholic High School.
• 2014 will far surpass the previous record for BGSU Baseball for most games played before a home game. The previous record was 20 games away from home, set in 2002.
• Bowling Green's first home game will not come until the 28th game this season.

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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics

Falcons Ready To Battle Broncos At Mercy Field This Weekend

Next Event

Related Videos