Falcons Open The 2016 Season At East Tennessee

Friday, February 19

Johnson City, TN

3:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

East Tennessee State

February 17, 2016 | Baseball

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Scouting The Buccaneers
The ETSU Buccaneers finished the 2015 season with a record of 21-35 (8-16 Southern) – good enough for a 9th-place finish within the conference. ETSU returns 26 players from last season's squad, while losing eight. The Buccaneers return five starting positional players, while losing three, and return three starting pitchers, while losing one. ETSU returns four players that hit over .300, including Trey York (.355, 9 HR, 51 RBI), Chris Cook (.338, 5 HR, 40 RBI), Kevin Phillips (.323, 10 HR, 55 RBI) and Hagen Owenby (.310, 7 HR, 38 RBI). The Buccaneers registered a 6.70 team ERA in 2015, and lost Jimmy Nesselt, who led the team in ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts.

Schmitz Says…
"We are very excited to open the season this weekend against ETSU, and even more excited that the 2016 season is upon us," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "A big focus for us throughout the first part of the season will be to learn more about our players, while also placing a priority on winning ballgames."

97^th Season For Falcon Baseball, 26^th Season For Danny Schmitz
The Orange and Brown have complied a 1,614–1,406–27 record across 96 seasons of baseball. Danny Schmitz has been at the helm of the program for 25 of those seasons, and will be beginning his 26th season as head coach this weekend. Schmitz owns a record of 662–637–5 at BGSU, guiding the Falcons to seven divisional crowns, four MAC regular-season titles, and three MAC Tournament championships. The Falcons' skipper won his 600th game at Bowling Green during the 2014 campaign, and currently sits with 662 victories – more than any active coach in the Mid-American Conference.

Schmitz Assembles A Staff Filled With Falcons
With the addition of 2014 BGSU graduate Jeremy Shay as volunteer assistant coach in the offseason, head coach Danny Schmitz's staff is now entirely made up of former Falcons. In fact, all three of Schmitz's assistants played for him during their careers at BGSU. All three also won a championship under Schmitz's guidance. Rick Blanc – who enters his 9th year on staff – was a part of the 1998 squad that won a MAC Tournament title, and participated in NCAA Regionals in Coral Gables, Florida. Ryan Shay – who completed his first season on staff in 2015 – won back-to-back MAC regular-season titles as a player in 2008 and 2009. Shay's brother, Jeremy, enters his first year on the coaching staff. Shay was a part of the 2014 team's Cinderella run late in the season that was capped by a MAC Tournament title and a birth in the NCAA Regionals in Louisville, Kentucky.

Blanc Names Rotation For Opening Weekend
Early in the week, pitching coach Rick Blanc announced the starting rotation for this weekend's series at ETSU. Southpaw C.J. Schildt – who transferred from Kaskaskia College last year, but was forced to miss the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery – will get the start on Friday afternoon, making his BGSU debut. On Saturday, the Falcons will turn to righty Zac Carey, who was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2015. Carey – who started primarily on Sundays last season – had a sensational rookie year, and was also named second team All-MAC. Left-hander Andrew Lacinak will get the ball on Sunday. The senior has been a part of the weekend rotation over the last two years.

BGRSO To Provide Flagship Coverage For 2016 Season
On Feb. 9, the Bowling Green State University baseball program, along with the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO), announced that flagship coverage for the 2016 season would be provided on WFAL Falcon Radio. Links to all broadcasts can be found on BGSUFalcons.com. Fans can locate the links by clicking on the baseball team's schedule, and locating the select game.

Drafting Falcons
Trey Keegan and Brian Bien become the eighth and ninth players across the last decade to be selected in the MLB Draft. Keegan was picked in the 14th round by the Atlanta Braves, while Bien was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 31st round. Both began their professional careers in 2015. Bien was promoted from rookie ball to full season Single-A ball, and finished the year with a .315 batting average. Keegan hit .267 with a .343 on-base percentage for the Braves' rookie-level club.

Four Captains In 2016
In early October, head coach Danny Schmitz announced that seniors Kory Brown, Devin Daugherty and Matt Smith, along with junior Greg Basalyga, would serve as the program's captains for the 2016 season. Brown served as a captain for the 2015 campaign, as well.

Welcome One, Welcome All
This year's version of the baseball Falcons will welcome 11 newcomers into the fold. Ten freshmen – Chase Antle, Brad Croy, Cam Daugherty, Logan Giddings, Blake Jenkins, Joe McGuinness, Riley Minorik, Mitchell Schneider, Mat Szabo, R.J. Williams – and junior Dan Ferguson – who played at Southeastern Community College over the last two years – will look to see their first action as Falcons throughout the 2016 season.

Brotherly Love
All successful programs emphasize team play, and stress the idea of coming together as a family. Well, the 2016 BGSU baseball Falcons have taken things a step further. There are a set of brothers on the coaching staff, as well as the playing roster. Jeremy Shay, who enters his first season on the coaching staff, joins his brother, Ryan, who enters his second year on staff. Senior Devin Daugherty will play his final season as a Falcon with his brother, Cam, who is a freshman on this year's squad. Cam hit a home run off Devin in his first plate appearance of the 2015 Orange & Brown World Series.

All-MAC Performers Return
Two of BGSU's four All-MAC performers from 2015 – Zac Carey and Matt Smith – return to Danny Schmitz's squad in 2016. Both were named second team All-MAC. Carey went 6-0 in conference play as a freshman, and also took home the MAC's Freshman Pitcher of the Year honor. Smith raked during MAC play, hitting for a league-high average of .398. In 27 conference games, Smith also registered 41 hits and 23 RBI.

Forecasting The Falcons' 2016 Slate
Like most seasons, due to the harsh weather of Northwest Ohio, the Falcons will play 17 games away from home leading up to a March 15 contest vs. Central Michigan, which will serve as BGSU's home opener. In total, BGSU will play 56 games in 2016, with 19 of those ballgames taking place on Warren. E Steller Field. With the MAC's loss of Akron, the Orange and Brown will play 24 conference games. Bowling Green will also face a pair of teams that were ranked across most preseason Top 25 polls, when they travel to Michigan on April 6 and Florida State for a three-game set May 6-8.

Baseball Inks Five During Early Signing Period
The Bowling Green State University baseball program announced the addition of five student-athletes during the early signing period. Alex Brinkman (RHP – Anna, Ohio – Anna), Damon Egnor (RHP – Paulding, Ohio – Paulding), Colton Flaherty (C – Newport, Michigan – Jefferson), Chandler Stillings (LHP – Findlay, Ohio – Findlay) and Jake Wilson (OF – New Lowell, Ontario, Canada – Nottawasaga Pines Secondary) will arrive on campus and join the program in the fall of 2016 as freshmen.