Falcons Set For Crucial Weekend Series Against Ohio

Bowling Green State University Falcons (21-22; 11-10 MAC)
vs.
Ohio University Bobcats (10-34; 6-15 MAC)
Friday | May 9 | 3:05 p.m | LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO
Saturday | May 10 | 1:05 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO
Sunday | May 11 | 1:05 p.m. | LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO
Weekend Promotions
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

The Pitching Matchups
Friday
Bowling Green: RHP Mike Frank • 3-5, 4.42 ERA, 73.1 IP, 70 H, 51 K
Ohio: RHP Jake Roehn • 4-6, 4.07 ERA, 73.0 IP, 72 H, 50 K

Saturday
Bowling Green: LHP Brett Fitzwater • 1-2, 5.06 ERA, 26.2 IP, 21 H, 15 K
Ohio: RHP Jake Rudnicki • 2-2, 4.60 ERA, 62.2 IP, 68 H, 43 K

Sunday
Bowling Green: LHP Andrew Lacinak • 5-3, 3.52, 61.1 IP, 55 H, 26 K
Ohio: RHP Connor Sitz • 0-8, 5.91 ERA, 45.2 IP, 60 H, 22 K

The Starting Lineup
• Bowling Green enters their final home Mid-American Conference weekend with an overall record of 21-22. The Falcons are 11-10 in the MAC.
• Head coach Danny Schmitz is in his 24th season. He is assisted by Rick Blanc (7th), Mike Huling (2nd), Garrett Gray (1st), and Drew Kuns (2nd).
• The Falcons enter the weekend with a team batting average of .283 and earned run average of 4.65.
• Brian Bien leads the Orange and Brown with a batting average of .364. He leads BGSU with 19 multi-hit games in 2014.
• T.J. Losby is hitting .351 with 31 runs batted in. He leads Bowling Green with a .400 average in MAC play.
• Jeremy Shay is hitting .322 with a team-high 34 runs scored. He is also second on the team with 30 runs scored.
• Bowling Green has stolen 60 bases so far through the first 43 games of the season. Conversely, opponents have stolen just 31 bases in 54 attempts.
• Jason Link leads the Falcons with an ERA of 1.98. He has pitched 27.1 innings in 13 apperances, allowing just six earned runs.
• Andrew Lacinak leads BGSU with five wins in 2014. He is coming off a complete-game shutout at Miami on Sunday.

A Look At The Ohio
• Ohio enters play this weekend with an overall record of just 10-34. The Bobcats are 6-15 in the MAC, but have taken 2-of-3 in each of the past two weekends.
• Rob Smith is in his second season as the head coach at Ohio.
• The Bobcats have a team batting average of .256 and an earned run average of 6.15.
• Mitch Longo leads the Bobcats with a batting average of .346. He has started 34 games, recording 46 hits on the season. He also leads OU with a slugging percentage of .474 and on-base percentage of .416.

BG Takes Series At Ohio In 2013
• Bowling Green took 2-out-of-3 from Ohio on the road in 2013. The Falcons lost the first game of the series before winning the final two.
• After losing the first game in 10 innings, the Falcons bounced back to win 7-2 in the nightcap. Mike Frank went all 10 innings for the win. On Sunday, the Orange and Brown left no doubt in a 16-2 drubbing of Ohio.

A Look Around The MAC
• Bowling Green salvaged the series at Miami over the weekend with a 5-0 shutout on Sunday, staying above .500 at 11-10 in the MAC.
• The Falcons currently sit in sixth-place in the MAC standings, safely inside the top eight to qualify for the MAC Tournament.
• BGSU currently trails fourth-place Buffalo by 1.5 games, with a series against the Bulls still remaining next week.

The Snow Out That Changed The Season
• Following a 9-0 loss on March 28 to Northern Illinois, Bowling Green was 6-16 overall and 0-4 in MAC play.
• The next day, snow and freezing rain in Indianapolis forced a cancellation and day off.
• BGSU has used that off day to their advantage, going 15-6 since that date to improve their record to 21-22, 11-10 in the MAC.
• The Falcons are batting .300 as a team during the last 21 games, after hitting just .266 through the first 22 games of the season. BGSU has also stolen 40 bases during their 21-game stretch, while stealing just 20 through the first 22 games.

Lacinak Tosses Complete-Game Shutout
• After missing 22 months following Tommy John surgery in 2012, Andrew Lacinak has bounced back nicely this season as BGSU's Sunday starter.
• Lacinak leads the Falcons with a 5-3 record, compiling a 3.52 ERA in 61.1 innings pitched.
• On Sunday, Lacinak tossed his first career, complete-game shutout, blanking the RedHawks 5-0.
• In that game, he scattered just five hits while striking out three. His nine innings were a career-high, surpassing his previous mark of 7.0 innings.

Falcons Salvage Series At Miami
• Bowling Green was defeated in 2-of-3 over the weekend at Miami, but salvaged the series with a 5-0 win on Sunday.
• On Friday night, BGSU scored two runs in the ninth to tie the game at four runs apiece, but eventually lost in the 10th, 5-4.
• The Falcons managed just four hits on Saturday against MU starter Nathan Williams, dropping a 3-1 decision.
• BGSU got exactly what they needed from starting pitcher Andrew Lacinak on Sunday, as the redshirt freshman tossed a complete-game shutout, giving the Falcons a 5-0 win.

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 152 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
T.J. Losby          2011 - pres.   152
Jeff Warnock       2002 - 2005   144
Kelly Hunt           2001 - 2003   128
Dave Barkholz   2002 - 2004   115
T.J. Blanton         2009 - 2010   110

Rewriting The Record Books
• Redshirt senior Mike Frank became the program's all-time leader last weekend for career innings pitched, surpassing Kip Young's previous record of 295.0 innings. Frank has now pitched 298.0 innings in his career.
• Frank is also second in school history with 211 career strikeouts. He is 21 punch outs shy of the all-time record.
• T.J. Losby is currently second in school history with 1,029 career putouts. He is just nine shy of tying the all-time record.
• Classmate Jeremy Shay currently sits fifth all-time with 939 career putouts.
• Junior Brian Bien is tied for fifth with 426 career assists.
• Ben Singer is sixth all-time with 80 career appearances on the mound. He is 11 shy of the all-time mark.
• Jeremy Shay is eighth all-time with 43 career doubles.
• T.J. Losby and Andrew Kubuski are currently tied for 10th all-time with 614 career at-bats.

Speed Separating Falcons
• Speed has been a large factor towards Bowling Green's late season success this season. The Falcons have stolen 60 bases through the first 43 games this season, after stealing just 37 in 55 games a season ago.
• Bowling Green has stolen multiple bases in 19 games this year. They are 15-4 when doing so.
• Three Falcons have 13+ stolen bases, while four others have at least three. Brandon Howard and Patrick Lancaster lead the way with 14.

Seniors On A Roll
• Four seniors have led the charge for the Falcons over the past 21 games, as BGSU has turned around its season by going 15-6.
• T.J. Losby, who has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games, is hitting .447 since March 30.
• Jeremy Shay, who is batting .333 in that span, leads the team with 22 runs scored in the last 21 games. He has an on-base percentage of .541. Shay has been on base in 12 straight games and 53 total times over the past 21 games.
• Patrick Lancaster has also reached base in 12 straight games. He is hitting .325 since March 30.
• Jake Thomas has been one of the hottest hitters in Danny Schmitz's lineup. He is batting .324 with a .426 slugging percentage in the past 21 contests.

The March Towards Avon
• Bowling Green started slowly in 2014, going just 6-16 through the first 22 games of the season. But, since March 30, the Falcons have gone 15-6, turning their season around as the MAC Tournament approaches.
• In the first 22 games, BGSU had 10+ hits on 10 different occasions, but scored just 6+ runs three times. The Falcons did not run as much, either, stealing just multiple bases in five different games.
• In the last 21 games, the Falcons have had 10+ hits 11 times, but have been much more efficient with their hits, scoring 6+ runs in 12 games. They have also stolen multiple bases in 14-of-21 games. BGSU is 10-1 in the last 21 games when recording 10+ hits, and 11-1 when scoring six runs.

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.

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