Falcons Begin MAC Tournament Play Wednesday

Wednesday, May 20

Avon, Ohio

9:30 a.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

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May 19, 2015 | Baseball

BGSU squares off with Ohio at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Avon

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Bowling Green Falcons (No. 6)
vs.
Ohio Bobcats (No. 3)
MAC Tournament | Wednesday | 9:30 a.m.
Avon, Ohio (All Pro Freight Stadium)
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Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

The Falcons Head To Avon
The Bowling Green State University baseball team gears up for this week's Mid-American Conference Tournament in Avon, Ohio. The tournament begins on Wednesday morning, with the championship game taking place on Sunday afternoon. BGSU has earned the No. 6 seed for the tournament following a 14-13 season in MAC play. The Falcons will take on the Ohio Bobcats (No. 3 seed) on Wednesday in the first round, and then will play either No. 2 seed Kent State or No. 7 seed Western Michigan on Thursday.

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 660 career wins and 346 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 1,611-1,399-27. 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 12 times since 1994, including seven times in the last eight seasons.

BGSU In The MAC Tournament
This season marks the 12th time that Bowling Green has qualified for the Mid-American Conference Tournament since the 1994 season, and the seventh time in the last eight seasons. The Falcons have won the MAC Tournament on three occasions – in 1998, 1999, and 2013. The Falcons are 18-23 all-time in MAC Tournament play.

BGSU In Avon
The 2015 season marks the fourth year in which the MAC Tournament will be held at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio, and the third straight season in which Bowling Green has qualified. The Falcons have a record of 4-3 in the MAC Tournament at All Pro Freight Stadium.

Regular Season Recap
Bowling Green finished the regular season with an overall record of 23-27, winning four straight to end the season. The Falcons had a record of 14-13 in MAC play to earn the No. 6 seed. After starting 5-16 overall and 0-5 in the MAC, the Falcons finished 18-11 in their final 29 games, including a conference record of 14-8.

They Said It
"We are excited to get to Avon and get MAC Tournament play underway," head coach Danny Schmitz said. "It's exciting each year to qualify for the tournament and get the chance to continue your season. This year's field is very competitive and we are expecting to have to play our best baseball in order to have a chance against the other strong MAC teams who we will be playing."

BGSU Against The MAC Tournament Field
BGSU played all seven teams in the MAC Tournament this season, including six of them within MAC play. The Falcons had an overall MAC record of 4-5 against each bracket, but took MAC series from four of the qualifying teams. Against their bracket, the Falcons won series at Ohio and at home against Western Michigan, but lost the series at Kent State. On the other side of the bracket, the Falcons took 2-of-3 from both Central Michigan and Akron, but were defeated by Ball State in all three games. The Falcons split a nonconference series against No. 4 seed Toledo.

Problem On The Paths
Redshirt senior Brandon Howard finished the regular season with 39 stolen bases, tied for second in the Mid-American Conference. Howard finished behind EMU's John Rubino (40) and tied with Buffalo's Nick Sinay (39), but was the only one of those three to qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament. His 39 stolen bases are the new single-season record at Bowling Green, and his 71 career stolen bases are third-most in school history. Howard is just one stolen base shy of second all-time and six shy of tying the all-time record.

Bombs Away
Bowling Green's 25 home runs this season are the most for the Falcons since hitting 60 during the 2010 season – the last year of the "live bat" era in college baseball. Two Falcons - Trey Keegan and Randy Righter - tied for the team lead with five. Five others - Greg Basalyga (4), Matt Smith (3), Kory Brown (2), Jesse Rait (2), and Nick Glanzman (2) - hit multiple homers.

Protecting Steller Field
After getting off to an 0-4 start, Bowling Green finished 13-7 this season at Warren E. Steller Field having won 13-of-16 to end the season. The Falcons won four straight non-conference games at home and went 9-3 over their last four series in MAC play.

First Career Home runs
Seven Falcons have hit their first career home runs during the 2015 season. Randy Righter (5), Matt Smith (3), Kory Brown (2), Nick Glanzman (2), Jesse Rait (2), Brandon Howard (1), and Tyler Greiner (1) all the first home run of their careers this season.

Falcons Chasing Records
Several Falcons are chasing records, both for a season and career, heading into the MAC Tournament this week:
Season
• Brandon Howard ranks first all-time with 39 stolen bases this season.
• Kory Brown is currently tied for fourth with 14 sacrifices this season.
• Howard is just two runs scored shy of moving into the top 10 for a single season. He has scored 49 runs this year.
Career
• Howard is third all-time with 71 career stolen bases. He is one shy of tying for second and six shy of the all-time record.
• Brian Bien is third all-time with 698 career at-bats, while Brandon Howard is 10th with 637.
• Bien is sixth all-time with 224 hits during his illustrious career.
• Howard enters the MAC Tournament fifth all-time with 202 games played, while Bien is 10th with 194. With two games played Howard will move into a tie for fourth.
• Bien is second with 574 career assists, just four behind Ryan Shay for the all-time record.
• Jason Link is 10th all-time with 69 appearances.With his expected start on Wednesday, he will become just the 10th pitcher all-time to appear in at least 70 games during a career.

Seventh Inning Stretch
Bowling Green has made a habit of stretching the lead this season during the seventh inning, outscoring opponents to date 39-5 in the inning. It has proven to be a large part of the Falcons success, as it has led the Orange and Brown to a 21-3 record this season when leading after seven innings.

Glanzman Named MAC Player of the Week
Nick Glanzman helped Bowling Green to a 4-0 week, as the Falcons swept their first Mid-American Conference series of the season and will take a season-long winning streak of four games into the MAC Tournament. Glanzman led the Falcons by hitting the first two home runs of his career, as BGSU scored 13 runs in back-to-back games to finish off the weekend sweep. In both Friday's and Saturday's games, Glanzman set a new career mark with three-hit games, scoring four runs and driving in three in the final two games of the weekend. On the week, the Falcons' third baseman had a team-high slugging percentage of .867.

Careying His Weight
True freshman Zac Carey has turned himself into a candidate for not only MAC Freshman of the Year, but also for All-MAC honors this season. The London, Ohio native finished MAC play with a 6-0 record and an earned run average of 2.40. He pitched 56.1 innings with a WHIP of under 1.00. Carey tied for the league-lead with six MAC wins and was the only starting pitcher to go undefeated who started all nine weeks during conference play.

The Missing Link
Early in the season, Bowling Green got spotty starting pitching from their weekend rotation, and struggled to get to Jason Link in the bullpen. Despite picking up two saves early in the season, BGSU decided that Link would better serve the team as a weekend starter in MAC play. After a slow start as he built up his arm strength, Link has turned into one of the toughest Friday starters in the conference. Over his last six starts, the senior from Hamilton, Ohio has a 5-0 record with a 1.99 ERA to lead the Falcons pitching staff.

Timeline Tony
Chances are, if you are following @WEAREBGBaseball on Twitter during a Falcon baseball game, Tony Landi's name pops up on your screen. The sophomore closer has appeared in a team-high 21 games this season and has compiled a 3.05 ERA. A native of Geneva, Ill., Landi started his career as a walk-on but has turned into one of the most valuable members of the Bowling Green pitching staff. Landi has a 1-1 record in 38.1 IP with a team-high four saves. This past week against Buffalo, the righty appeared in back-to-back games, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings to pick up a save and a win.

MAC Smith
Junior Matt Smith has shined in the cleanup spot of the Falcons' order this season, leading the team with his .322 batting average. More impressive, though, has been Smith during MAC play this season. The Falcons left fielder led the MAC with a .398 average during league play. His .539 slugging percentage and .439 on-base percentage both ranked amongst the top 10 in the MAC. His 41 hits and 23 RBI during MAC play also ranked inside the top 10. Smith did not commit an error during league play and had an overall fielding percentage of .990 this season.

Keegan's Cannon
Trey Keegan finished the regular season as one of the best all-around players in the entire Mid-American Conference. Keegan batted .309 with an on-base percentage of .412 this season. His 12 doubles and five home runs led the Falcons, along with his 38 runs batted in. The redshirt sophomore scored 43 runs and stole eight bases. Not only was Keegan Bowling Green's strongest hitter in the middle of the Falcons' lineup, he also shined defensively. He threw out 19-of-40 would-be base stealers overall, including 12-of-24 in MAC play. Keegan picked off four runners on the season and committed just three defensive errors. His five passed balls were amongst the lowest in all of the Mid-American Conference.

Second-Half Schmitz
Danny Schmitz has proven over the course of his 25-year head coaching career that he knows how to have his teams playing their best baseball in the second half of the year. Schmitz's all-time record is 660-635-5 (.510), but his career record in April and beyond is 446-392-1 (.532). This season has been no different. After starting the season 5-16 (0-5 MAC), BGSU has gone 18-11 overall and 14-8 in the MAC during the second-half of the season.

First 21		Last 29
5-16	Record	18-11
0-5	MAC Record	14-8
.263	Batting Avg.	.299
.347	Slugging Pct.	.404
.335	On-base Pct.	.365
23	Stolen Bases	57
5.14	Runs/game	6.41
5.92	ERA	3.51
7.09	Runs/game allowed	4.31
.308	Opp. Average	.242