Falcons Head To Muncie To Face MAC-Leading Ball State

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
One of the most, if not the most complete team in the Mid-American Conference, Ball State enters the weekend atop the MAC West standings. Ball State is also tied for first place across the entire conference with Kent State and Miami, as all three schools own identical 9-3 records. Overall, Ball State is 23-15 on the season. The Cardinals, remarkably, have six players with at least 21 RBI. Four players are hitting over .320, helping the Cardinals boost an impressive .295 team batting average. Caleb Stayton and Alex Call are having dynamic seasons. Stayton is hitting .389 with seven home runs and 54 RBI, while Call is hitting .384 with 27 extra-base hits, 22 RBI and 12 stolen bases. As a pitching staff, BSU owns a 3.89 team ERA. Starting pitchers Kevin Marnon (4-3; 3.59 ERA), Brendan Burns (5-1; 2.66 ERA) and Zach Plesac (3-2; 4.24 ERA) are having strong seasons. The Cardinals are 10-2 at home this year.

SCHMITZ SAYS…
"There's no doubt about it – Ball State is a very good team," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "We've played some very talented teams this year, but Ball State is right up there with any club we've played. They really are a complete team. They have so many players having outstanding offensive seasons, and their pitching has been just as good. They are also a very tough team to beat at home. With only four MAC weekends to go, each series becomes more and more important. We are battling for a spot in the MAC Tournament right now, so this is another huge weekend for us."

FOUR CONFERENCE WEEKENDS TO GO
The Falcons picked up a series win over the weekend at Ohio, which was much needed after heading into the series with a 2-7 MAC record. The series victory put BGSU right back into the race for a MAC Tournament bid. Currently, the Falcons are tied with Buffalo and Central Michigan for the seven seed. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament. Bowling Green faces a very difficult schedule to close out conference play. After facing Ball State this weekend, BGSU hosts Northern Illinois, who is 7-5 in MAC play. The Falcons will then host 9-3 Kent State, before hitting the road to take on Buffalo. The Buffalo series could very well be a win-and-you're-in, lose-and-you're-done weekend.

DANNY SCHMITZ PICKS UP 675TH WIN, 350TH MAC WIN
Skipper Danny Schmitz picked up his 675th-career win, and 350th-career MAC win, as Bowling Green clinched the weekend series over Ohio with a 6-2 victory on April 16. Schmitz, who is in his 26th season at the helm of the program, is the conference's active leader in total wins and conference wins. Schmitz sits third all-time, as well, in both categories. Only Fred Decker (Western Michigan – 791 total wins, 401 MAC wins) and Joe Carbone (Ohio – 689 total wins, 368 MAC wins) have won more baseball games within the Mid-American Conference than Danny Schmitz.

FALCONS CAPTURE IMPRESSIVE VICTORY AT WRIGHT STATE
In midweek action, Bowling Green knocked off Wright State in 10 innings on April 19 by a score of 7-6. Wright State – who went 43-17 last season and won a pair of games in the NCAA Tournament – entered the game with a 24-11 record, including a 9-2 mark at home. After the Raiders scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game, Greg Basalyga hit an RBI double in the tenth inning to put the Falcons on top for good. Tony Landi threw two scoreless innings and shut the door in the bottom of the frame to secure the victory.

BOWLING GREEN WINS SECOND MAC SERIES OF 2016
The Orange and Brown took two games last weekend (April 15-17) from the Ohio Bobcats – the defending MAC Tournament champions. The pair of wins improved Bowling Green's conference record to 4-8. The Falcons have now won two conference weekends, as they bested Toledo two-games-to-one over April 1-3. Bowling Green took Friday's game from the Bobcats, 5-4, before clinching the series with a 6-2 win on Saturday. Bowling Green even jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Sunday, but Ohio stormed back for a 10-5 win. Greg Basalyga and Matt Smith led the Falcons' offensive attack, going 6-for-14 and 5-for-12, respectively. Basalyga registered five RBI against the Bobcats. C.J. Schildt picked up the win on Friday – his first-career MAC win, while Danny Schmitz's posted his 675th victory at BGSU on Saturday. The victory also gave Schmitz 350 MAC wins.

HAVE A HOT WEEK AT THE DISH, GREG BASALYGA
Greg Basalyga had quite the week at the plate last week, going 6-for-14 with six RBI, three runs, one home run and one double. The junior captain went 1-for-3 with an RBI in a midweek lost to Dayton, before having a pair of multiple-RBI games to begin the weekend series versus Ohio. In Saturday's (April 16) victory over the Bobcats, Basalyga went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, three RBI, one walk and two runs scored. Basalyga continued to swing a red-hot stick in the April 19 win at Wright State, as he went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and hit a game-winning double in the 10th inning. Over his last five games, Basalyga is 9-for-19 (.474) with nine RBI, three runs, two doubles, and one home run. Across those five ballgames, Basalyga has racked up 15 total bases.

"MULTIPLE-HIT GAME" MATT SMITH
Senior captain Matt Smith is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak. In six of those eight games, Smith has registered at least two hits. Smith currently leads the club with 13 multiple-hit games. And across his eight-game hitting streak, he has taken his batting average all the way from a .221 clip, to his current average of .284. The Johnstown, Ohio native has also made a living in conference play over the last two seasons. Including last year's conference slate, and the first 12 games of the MAC season this year, Smith is hitting .377 (58-for-154). Last season, Smith hit a robust .398 in MAC play, while his .333 average this year is tied for the team lead with Greg Basalyga.

WILLIAMS FINISHES A TRIPLE SHY OF THE CYCLE
Freshman R.J. Williams went 4-for-4 with three runs and three RBI in Sunday's (April 17) 10-5 loss to Ohio. Williams hit his first-career home run – a three-run shot – in the first inning, giving BGSU a 3-0 lead, and ended up finishing just a triple shy of the cycle. After hitting a homer in the first, Williams registered singles in the third and sixth, and concluded his day with a double in the eighth. Williams is having a very solid season for the Falcons. The Pickerington Central graduate has a team-high .392 on-base percentage, and is now batting .262 on the campaign.

SCHILDT EARNS FIRST MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE VICTORY
Southpaw C.J. Schildt, Bowling Green's Friday starter, earned his first Mid-American Conference win of his career on April 15 versus Ohio. The junior, who hails from Hauppauge, New York, surrendered zero earned runs over five innings of work. After sitting out the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, the lefty has turned himself into a legitimate ace. Schildt leads the club in innings pitched (50.0), strikeouts (39) and complete games (1). Schildt is also tied for the team lead in wins with three, while his 2.70 ERA is the lowest on the club.

TONY LANDI IS LOW-KEY UNHITTABLE RIGHT NOW
Tony Landi has not been giving up many hits lately. Over his last 10.1 innings of work, he's yielded just two hits. Those two hits were recorded off him at Wright State earlier in the week. Landi logged two scoreless innings against the Raiders that night, picking up the win in the process. Before pitching against Wright State, Landi had pitched in eight-consecutive games without surrendering a hit. The junior has been nearly flawless in conference play. In his seven appearances, where he has thrown eight innings, Landi has given up just two hits and one earned run. Opponents are hitting just .080 versus Landi in MAC play. Landi owns a team-low 1.12 ERA in conference play, and has posted two of his six saves against MAC opponents.

"KDB" IS TAKING HIS TALENTS TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Kody Brown, known as "KDB" by pitching coach Rick Blanc, has followed up his strong rookie season with an even better sophomore campaign. Last season, Brown posted a 4.64 ERA in 21.1 innings of work. This season, Brown has been a top three bullpen arm. The sophomore has appeared in 15 games, and has posted a 2.75 ERA while logging 19.2 innings to this point. Over the weekend, Brown pitched in both of the Falcons' victories over the Bobcats. On Friday, Brown pitched just a third of an inning, but he recorded arguably the most important out of the ballgame. He entered in the eighth inning, and stranded the game-tying run on third base, setting up a Tony Landi save in the ninth. On Saturday, Brown pitched three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits.

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.

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.

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