Falcons Host Rockets In Battle Of I-75 On The Diamond

Friday, April 1

Bowling Green, Ohio

12:30 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

Toledo

March 31, 2016 | Baseball

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

SCOUTING THE ROCKETS
Toledo will enter this weekend's series with a 4-21-1 record, including a 1-2 mark in the Mid-American Conference. Last weekend, Toledo dropped two games to Buffalo across MAC opening weekend. The Rockets nearly knocked off Ohio State in Columbus on Wednesday (March 31), but the Buckeyes scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth for the walk-off 9-8 victory. As a team, the Rockets have struggled offensively. Toledo owns a .203 team batting average. Toledo does not have a player hitting .300, but the Rockets have four players with double-digit RBI, and six players that have hit a home run. The Toledo pitching staff has registered a 5.93 ERA to this point. Five players have a sub-4.00 ERA, led by three bullpen arms. Casey Johnson (2.84), Michael Jacob (3.00) and Steven Duby (3.48) own the lowest ERA's on the team, while starter Ross Achter leads the team in innings pitched with 33. Steven Calhoun and Achter have punched out a team-high 19 batters.

SCHMITZ SAYS…
"It goes without saying that our guys are very fired up about this weekend's series," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "We take this rivalry very seriously, and we respect Toledo a great deal. It's extremely exciting to play a three-game MAC series at Steller Field as part of the Battle of I-75."

THE BATTLE OF I-75
The Falcons and Rockets have played 211 baseball games, with Bowling Green owning the 123-87-1 series advantage. Bowling Green and Toledo split a home-and-home series last season. This weekend's series will mark the first MAC series played between the two schools since 2013. In 2013, the Falcons swept the Rockets. Dating back to 2005, the Rockets have only won one series in the rivalry. Toledo swept Bowling Green in 2012, but the Orange and Brown have tied or won a series over the Rockets every other year across the last 11 years. Aside from the 2012 series, the last time Toledo beat Bowling Green in the season series was in 2004.

FIRST WIN AT STELLER FIELD IN 2016
On Tuesday (March 29), Bowling Green picked up its first home win of the season by defeating Findlay, 5-4. Brad Croy got the start for the Falcons, and picked up the win by throwing three scoreless innings. Croy was awarded the decision due to the fact that he was on a pitch count. The Orange and Brown scored in the bottom of the first inning, and never relinquished the lead across the rest of the ballgame. The Falcons took a 4-1 lead midway through the game, before holding on for the 5-4 victory. Tony Landi threw a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his fourth save of the season. Riley Minorik, Matt Smith, Logan Giddings and Greg Basalyga drove in runs for the Falcons.

BASALYGA IS BOUNCING BACK
Junior captain Greg Basalyga got off to a slow start to the 2016 season, but he's beginning to right the ship. Basalyga is currently on a six-game hitting streak and has registered at least one RBI in six of Bowling Green's last 10 games. At the start of the spring-break trip back on March 4, Basalyga was hitting .100. He's played in 18 games since, and has bumped his average up to .225. The Pickerington, Ohio native has 16 hits on the year, and is second on the team with 11 RBI.

DREWES IS GOOD FOR A HIT PER BALLGAME
Sophomore Derek Drewes – who hails from Napoleon, Ohio – leads the Falcons offense with a .400 batting average. He's made 14 appearances on the year, and has notched 14 hits on the season to this point. Drewes has also had four multiple-hit games. The sophomore – who has played second base for Bowling Green this season – picked up two hits in the Falcons' win over Findlay on March 29, and has registered 11 hits over his last 10 appearances. Of his 14 appearances on the season, 11 have been starts.

KENDALL A KEY COG TO BGSU'S PITCHING STAFF
Redshirt-freshman Zach Kendall has to be one the biggest impact freshmen across the Mid-American Conference so far this season. After redshirting last year, the right-handed pitcher has delighted Falcon fans. Kendall has thrown 21.1 innings, making four starts and three relief appearances, and owns a 3.80 ERA. He's averaging just about a strikeout per inning, as he's fanned 21 batters on the season. Although it appeared at the start of the season that Kendall might fill the midweek starter role perfectly, his arm might be too valuable. Kendall was the first pitcher out of the bullpen in Bowling Green's MAC opener at Eastern Michigan March 24. The righty threw 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.

CROY CAPTURES FIRST COLLEGIATE WINS
Bowling Green has won its last two midweek games. A huge reason for that success has been the pitching of freshman Brad Croy. Croy picked up the wins in both ballgames, as BGSU defeated Central Michigan on March 22 and Findlay on March 29. Although Croy didn't pitch the usually required five innings in either game, he earned the decisions due to the fact that he was on a pitch count in both outings. Across the two starts, Croy pitched seven shutout innings, allowing four hits while issuing two walks and striking out three batters. Croy went four innings at Central Michigan, and three innings versus Findlay. Croy has posted a 3.07 ERA over 14.2 innings pitched this season.

BEST SPRING-BREAK TRIP SINCE 2005
Bowling Green recorded its best spring-break trip since 2005 in March, going 6-3 on the trip while competing in the Elon Tournament (Elon, North Carolina) and the Perfect Game Tournament (Emerson, Georgia) over March 4-13. At the Elon Tournament from March 4-6, Bowling Green swept the competition, earning wins over Elon, Appalachian State and Stony Brook. BGSU was the only team at the tournament to go undefeated. The Falcons then traveled south to Emerson, and went 3-3. The 6-3 record marked the program's best spring-break trip since the 2005 team went 6-1.

SCHMITZ ASSEMBLES 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.

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.

FALCONS PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN MAC EAST
The Falcons were picked to finish third in the East Division, according to the conference's coaches poll. With 43 points, BGSU was picked above Miami (37) and Buffalo (22), and below Kent State (63) and Ohio (55). Central Michigan was picked to win the West Division. Kent State was picked to win the MAC Tournament, garnering four votes. Bowling Green received one vote to win the tournament, along with Ball State, Miami, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, while Central Michigan earned two votes.

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.

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.