Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Travel To Ypsilanti For Midweek Showdown
April 07, 2015 | Baseball
Bowling Green Falcons (9-17)
at
Eastern Michigan Eagles (12-18)
April 8 | 6:00 p.m.
Ypsilanti, Mich. (Oestrike Stadium)
Live Stats | Live Audio
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
at
Eastern Michigan Eagles (12-18)
April 8 | 6:00 p.m.
Ypsilanti, Mich. (Oestrike Stadium)
Live Stats | Live Audio
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
The Week Ahead In Falcon Baseball
The Bowling Green State University baseball team hits the road for the next four games, beginning Wednesday evening at Eastern Michigan. The Falcons will play fellow Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan in a non-league matchup beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Oestrike Stadium in Ypsilanti, Mich. Following the midweek matchup between the Falcons and Eagles, Bowling Green will travel to Athens, Ohio for a three-game showdown with the Ohio Bobcats.
BGSU Coaching Staff
Bowling Green is coached by Danny Schmitz, who is in his 25th season at the helm of the Orange and Brown. Schmitz owns 646 career wins and 335 Mid-American Conference wins in his career, both of which are the third-most in MAC history. He is assisted by Rick Blanc, who is in his eighth season in charge of BGSU's pitchers and recruiting. Ryan Shay coaches the hitters and infielders, while Garrett Gray coaches the catchers under Schmitz.
About Falcon Baseball
The BGSU baseball program is in the midst of its 95th season playing varsity baseball, with an all-time record of 1,597-1,389-27. The Falcons have won seven MAC East championships, five MAC regular season titles, and have won the MAC Tournament on three occasions. Bowling Green has qualified for the MAC Tournament 11 times since 1994, including six times in the last seven seasons.
About The Eagles
Eastern Michigan enters the week with an overall record of 12-18 overall. The Eagles are 4-5 in Mid-American Conference play, and will play at University of Michigan on Tuesday afternoon prior to hosting the Falcons on Wednesday night. The Eagles are coached by first-year head coach Mark Van Ameyde, who came back to Ypsilanti after six seasons in the Michigan State dugout. Eric Roof, Spencer Schmitz, and Jordan Keur assist Van Ameyde. Much like the Falcons, the Eagles won 3-of-4 games this past week, including taking 2-of-3 from Western Michigan over the weekend. EMU also defeated Michigan State 10-5 last week. As a team, the Eagles are hitting .264 with an earned run average of 4.52. Offensively the Eagles average just over four runs per game, while they have an on-base percentage of .339 and slugging percentage of .355.
The EMU Series
Bowling Green trails the all-time series with Eastern Michigan, owning a record of 68-94. The two schools first met in 1939, with Michigan Normal winning 7-6. Last season, however, the Falcons defeated Eastern Michigan 11-8 in Ypsilanti in the only game the two teams played. The Falcons and Eagles are scheduled to play in Bowling Green next Tuesday (April 14).
BGSU-EMU Connection
The Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan baseball programs are intertwined, especially this season. BGSU head coach Danny Schmitz was a four-year letterwinner for the Eagles from 1974-77, taking them to back-to-back College World Series' in 1975-76. In 1976, Schmitz led the Eagles to the CWS finals and earned All-College World Series at second base. This season, Danny's son (and former Falcon) Spencer is an assistant coach at EMU.
They Said It
"Every week from here on out is very important," head coach Danny Schmitz said. "After a strong week last week, Wednesday's game at Eastern Michigan is an important game for us to continue playing with confidence and momentum into next weekend's series at Ohio."
Basalyga Bullies Opponents Last Week
Greg Basalyga shined during last week as the Falcons won 3-of-4 games to climb back into MAC Tournament contention. The sophomore from Pickerington, Ohio hit three home runs, drove in 11 runs, had seven hits and 17 total bases on the week to lead the Falcons. Basalyga set his career-high in RBI three different times during the week, and twice set it in total bases. Against Miami on Sunday, Basalyga went 4-for-5 with a home run, double, five RBI and two runs scored – all of which were new career highs. Basalyga hit three first inning home runs on the week, driving in seven runs in the first inning of games alone. His 1.214 slugging percentage led the team, along with his 11 RBI, three home runs, seven hits and .563 on-base percentage.
Keegan An All-Around Contributor
Trey Keegan has been impressive to say the least for the Falcons in 2015, both offensively and defensively. Keegan has hit .322 through 26 games with an on-base percentage of .446. He has hit six doubles and three home runs for a slugging percentage of .489. Behind the dish, Keegan has thrown out 14-of-27 (.519) would-be base stealers and picked off three more, which is the second-best percentage among sophomore catchers in the nation.
Worth The Wait For Rait
Senior Jesse Rait entered this past weekend without an extra-base hit on the season in 22 games played. He broke the streak in a big way over the weekend, smacking four extra base hits in the final two games of the series against Miami. In Saturday's 7-5 win over the RedHawks, Rait got going with a double down the left field line. On Sunday, Rait broke out with three extra-base hits, including his first career home run and first two-double game of his career.
Ka-Pow For B-How
Redshirt senior Brandon Howard had a huge week as the Falcons went 3-1 this past week, batting .500 with a 1.000 slugging percentage. Howard went 7-for-14 with seven runs scored and seven RBI for the Orange and Brown. Howard hit his first career home run on Sunday in the fourth inning of an 18-12 victory against Miami. He also had two doubles, a triple, and was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts during the week.
Southpaw Saves Sunday Victory
True freshman Kody Brown earned the first save of his career on Sunday afternoon in the Falcons' 18-12 win over Miami. Brown, a native of Perrysburg, Ohio, entered a 15-12 game with two outs in the eighth inning and pitched the final 1.1 innings. He struck out two in the game.
Falcons Offense Has Huge Week
Bowling Green's offense broke out last week, leading the Falcons to a 3-1 record. The Falcons hit .343 on the week with a slugging percentage of .530. The Orange and Brown hits eight doubles, one triple and five home runs on the week and were also successful on 8-of-9 stolen base attempts.
Lacinak Back In W Column
Andrew Lacinak turned in a much-needed quality start for Bowling Green on Saturday, earning his second win of the season over Miami. Lacinak pitched a season-high 7.0 innings in the 7-5 victory, allowing just three earned runs while striking out five. Coming off a loss in the first game of the doubleheader to drop the Falcons to 1-6 in the MAC, Lacinak gave the Orange and Brown exactly what they needed to get back in the win column and give the Falcons a chance to win the series on Sunday.
BGSU Explodes In Win Over Miami
The Falcon bats exploded in an 18-12 win over the Miami RedHawks on Sunday afternoon, as BGSU outslugged MU 18-12 to take the weekend series. The Falcons scored a season-high 18 runs and tied their season-high with 18 hits in the ballgame. Seven of the Falcons' 18 hits went for extra bases, including three home runs. All nine Falcons had at least one hit, while five Falcons had multi-hit games. Five Falcons had multi-RBI games in the win, while seven players scored at least two runs. The top six in the Falcons' lineup combined to go 15-for-27 (.556) with 16 runs scored and 15 RBI.
Seventh Inning Stretch
Bowling Green has made a habit of extending games – and putting them out of reach – this season in the seventh inning. The Falcons are outscoring opponents 24-3 in the seventh inning of games this season and are a perfect 9-0 when leading after seven in 2015.
First-Inning Falcons
The first inning has been kind, and impactful, to Bowling Green baseball in 2015. The Falcons have outscored opponents 31-13 this season in the first inning of games, and are 8-3 on the year when scoring in the first inning of a game. This past week, BGSU outscored their opponents 12-1 in the first inning of games and went 3-0 in games where they scored in their first at-bat.
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