Falcons Flock South To Take On Eastern Kentucky

Friday, February 27

Emerson, GA

2:00 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Kentucky

February 25, 2015 | Baseball

Falcons finally beat winter weather; will play three-game series in Emerson, Ga.

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Bowling Green Falcons (1-2)
vs.
Eastern Kentucky Colonels (3-3)
LakePoint Perfect Game
Emerson, Ga.
Friday (Feb. 27) 11:00 a.m. DH
Saturday (Feb. 28) 6:00 p.m.
LIVE STATS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES (.PDF)

About The Falcons
• Bowling Green continues their season on Friday against Eastern Kentucky. The Falcons and Colonels will play a three-game series in Emerson, Ga. at the LakePoint Perfect Game facility.
• The Bowling Green State University baseball program is in the midst of its 96th season of varsity baseball in 2015. Bowling Green has an all-time record of 1,589-1,374-27 in its history. The Falcons have won seven MAC East Division titles and five MAC regular season championships in program history.
• The last time that Bowling Green won their first game of the season - 2013 - the Falcons went on to become Mid-American Conference Tournament champions and NCAA Tournament participants.
• BGSU is hitting .280 as a team through three games and has an earned run average of 5.87. The Falcons made just four errors during opening weekend.
• The Falcons roster features 14 newcomers in 2015 - eight pitchers and six position players. Nine Falcons made their debut in the Orange and Brown during opening weekend.

Head Coach Danny Schmitz And Staff
• Head coach Danny Schmitz is in his 25th season at the helm of the Orange and Brown. Schmitz has a career record of 638-614-5 as head coach of the Falcons.
• Schmitz's coaching staff for the 2015 season features two former Falcons who played under him. Rick Blanc, a Falcon pitcher on the 1998 NCAA Regional team, enters his eighth season as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, while Ryan Shay, a former Falcon great under Schmitz, enters his first season as an assistant coach—working primarily with hitters and infielders. Garrett Gray returns for his second season as volunteer coach, working with catchers and hitters.

The Last Time Out
• The Falcons went 1-2 to open the season on the road at Ohio Valley Conference-favorite Southeast Missouri (Feb. 13-14). Since then, Bowling Green has had five consecutive games cancelled due to winter weather.
• Eastern Kentucky went 3-1 over the weekend against Southern Illinois at LakePoint in Emerson, Ga. After losing the first three games of the season, EKU defeated SIU in three straight to even their record at 3-3.

A Look At Eastern Kentucky
• Eastern Kentucky currently sits at 3-3 on the season, with a midweek game at the University of Louisville scheduled for Wednesday (Feb. 25).
• The Colenels are coached by Jason Stein, who is in the midst of his seventh season at the helm of the Maroon and White. Stein has a career record of 160-175 entering the third week of play. He is assisted by John Peterson, Dan Scott and Tyler Cook.
• As a team, EKU has a batting average of .254 and a team earned run average of 5.37.
• Eastern Kentucky is led by both of their corner outfielders, offensively. Junior TJ Alas, a right fielder for the Colonels, leads the team with a batting average of .478. Alas has one double, four home runs, and leads the team with six runs batted in. Left fielder Shea Sullivan is hitting .400 with four doubles and a game-winning home run to his name through the first two weeks of play.

They Said It
• On the weekend series against Eastern Kentucky: "We are looking forward to being back out on the baseball field this weekend when we take on Eastern Kentucky. Having our last five games cancelled has created a challenge as we prepare our young team for the rigors of the Mid-American Conference schedule starting next month. These next several weeks will be very important to get game experience for our entire roster and our guys are itching to get back on the field this weekend. EKU is a very solid ball club from the Ohio Valley Conference and, as coaches, we are looking forward to seeing how our team responds to the challenge."

The Ohio Connection
• Bowling Green's roster features an impressive number of players who were home grown. The Falcons have done a great job of recruiting their own backyard, with the current roster featuring 25 players from the state of Ohio.

Falcons Have Tri-Captains In 2015
• Bowling Green has three captains for the 2015 season, as voted on by the coaching staff and team. Seniors Jason Link and Brian Bien will serve as captains along with junior Kory Brown, a newcomer on the 2015 roster.

First Time Falcons
• Nine of Bowling Green's 14 newcomers made their collegiate debut for the Orange and Brown over the weekend at Southeast Missouri.
• Kory Brown, Randy Righter, Cody Callaway, and Zac Carey all started games for the Falcons in their first weekend of play. Wes Rickenberg, Justin Mott, Kody Brown, Hunter Clanin, and Derek Drewes all appeared for the Falcons, as well.
• All three position players who started a game for the first time in a Falcon uniform recorded a hit, with the big one coming off the bat of first baseman Randy Righter, who cranked a three-run home run over the wall in right field for his first career hit. Justin Mott also recorded a single in the series finale.

2-B Determined: Smith Off To a Strong Start
• Through the first two seasons of his career, junior Matt Smith (Johnstown, Ohio) hit just three doubles in 116 career at-bats. However, that all changed on opening weekend, as Smith smacked two doubles in his 10 at-bats.
• Smith got off to a strong start at Southeast Missouri, batting .400 in the cleanup spot of Danny Schmitz's lineup. Smith was 4-for-10 with two doubles and an on-base percentage of .455.

Keegan's Cannon
• Replacing senior catcher T.J. Losby seemed like a tall task entering the 2015 season, as Losby was coming off a 2014 season in which he earned first team All-MAC honors and was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
• However, redshirt sophomore Trey Keegan (Sandusky, Ohio) is helping Falcon fans forget Losby, gunning out 6-of-8 would-be base stealers during the Falcons' first weekend of play.

The Running Difference
• Although Bowling Green had just four stolen bases in the first three games of the season, their speed will make a difference all season long. The Falcons' lineup features several threats to steal bases, led by Brandon Howard who stole three during opening weekend.
• The Falcons were 4-of-7 on stolen base attempts against Southeast Missouri, while holding opponents to just a 2-for-9 success rate. The Orange and Brown will look to make stolen bases a large part of their success in 2015, as they are 1-0 when stealing at least two bases as a team.

Righter Hits Two Home Runs Opening Weekend
• True freshman Randy Righter (West Bloomfield, Mich.) made a big splash on opening weekend, hitting two home runs in two starts for the Falcons.
• Righter became the first Falcon since Kurt Wells in 2007 to homer twice in the season's first three games. Wells did so against Mid Tennessee State.
• The right-handed hitting first baseman became the first true freshman in the Danny Schmitz era to hit two home runs in his first three career games.

Howard A Prolific Base Stealer
• Brandon Howard (Cincinnati, Ohio) stole three bases in a game twice during the 2014 season and was a perfect 21-for-21 over the final 30 games of the year. Playing primarily at third base in 2014, Howard had 11 multi-hit games.
• Starting all three games at second base during the three-game series at SEMO, Howard was on base five times and stole three bases. He now has 35 career stolen bases, just five shy of cracking the top 10 on BGSU's career stolen bases list.

Callaway A Two-Sport Athlete at BGSU
• True freshman Cody Callaway (Elyria, Ohio) is the only male student-athlete at Bowling Green to play two sports. On top of baseball, Callaway is a quarterback on the Falcon football team.

Basalyga Has Career Day In Season Opener
• Sophomore Greg Basalyga (Pickerington, Ohio) got off to a strong start in the 2015 season, recording a career-high three hits in the season opener at Southeast Missouri. Basalyga went 3-for-4 in the Falcons' 7-6 win against the Redhawks on Feb. 13 with a run scored.
• Basalyga, who started all three games this weekend, led the Falcons with a .455 batting average.

#FalconFast
• One of the Falcons' keys to success during the 2014 season was their team speed, as the Orange and Brown stole 76 bases last season. On the flip side, the BGSU pitching staff and defense held opponents to just 34 steals on 60 attempts.
• In 27 MAC games, the Falcons recorded 47 stolen bases on 59 attempts, while allowing just 17 steals against them. Both Howard (17-for-17) and Bien (12-for-16) led Bowling Green during MAC play in stolen bases.
• The Falcons were 18-5 in 2014 when stealing at least two bases in a game.

Brown Sparking Bottom Of Order
• Kory Brown, a newcomer and captain for the Orange and Brown, gave the Falcons a spark out of the nine-hole in the batting order this past weekend.
• A native of Sparta, Mich., Brown was 3-for-8 with a team-best four runs scored and an on-base percentage of .545. Brown made 11 plate appearances for the Falcons, walking three times and reaching base a total of eight times.

Looking To Get Off To A Quick Start
• Bowling Green won their season opener at Southeast Missouri State on Friday (Feb. 13), marking the first time they have done so to open a season since 2013. It was just the second time since 2007 that the Falcons have won their first game of the season.
• The Falcons have gotten off to slow starts in each of the last six seasons overall. Since 2009, BGSU has not had a better start than 2-7 through their first nine games. The last time that the Falcons had a .500-or-better record through the first nine games of the season came in 2007, when the Orange and Brown started 6-3.

Falcons In The Pros
• Four former Falcons will be playing professional baseball in 2015. Both Burke Badenhop and Nolan Reimold have spent the last several years in the big leagues, while Jon Berti and Brennan Smith continue to move up the ranks in the minor leagues.
• Badenhop signed a contract with the Cincinnati Reds in the offseason. He has a mutual option for the 2016 season. Last season, Badenhop had a career-best 2.29 ERA in 70 appearances for the Boston Red Sox.
• Reimold signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles this offseason, with an invite to big league spring training. Reimold spent the first five seasons of his major league career with the Orioles prior to playing for three different organizations last season.
• Berti continues to impress at the minor league level, competing last season for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats—the Double-A affiliate for the Toronto Blue Jays. Berti has been successful at every stop he has gone in his brief professional career, and competed this past fall in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.
• Smith spent time in both A and AA last year in the Detroit Tigers organization. Over the course of his career, Smith has compiled a 3.36 ERA in 123 career games with 14 wins and nine saves.

Roll Along You BG (Road) Warriors
• Bowling Green will play their first 14 games of the 2015 season on the road, traveling well over 4,000 miles round trip to do so. According to Google Maps, the Falcons will travel 4,560 miles to play games throughout the first month of the year.
• The Falcons traveled approximately 1,034 miles round trip for a weekend series against the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri to begin the season. This weekend will see the Orange and Brown head to Emerson, Ga. to play against Eastern Kentucky (1,208 miles round trip).
• The spring trip will start with the Falcons traveling to Buies Creek, N.C. (608 mile trip) for three games at Campbell University. From there, BGSU will travel 613 miles by bus to Winter Haven, Fla. before making the 1,097-mile trip back to Bowling Green for the home opener against Youngstown State on March 18.

Falcons Picked Fourth In MAC East
• BGSU was picked to finish fourth in the MAC East in the preseason, as voted upon by the league's 12 head coaches. The Falcons did receive one first place vote.
• The Falcons also received one vote to win the Mid-American Conference Tournament, one of seven schools receiving at least one vote.

Up Next
• Following this weekend's series against Eastern Kentucky, the Falcons are scheduled to play eight games in nine days over their spring break. BGSU will play at Campbell University next weekend before traveling to the RussMatt Invitational in Winter Haven, Fla. for five games.