Falcons Fly To Tallahassee To Take On No. 8 Florida State

SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES
Florida State travels to Stetson on Wednesday, May 4, before welcoming the Falcons to Dick Howser Stadium over the weekend (May 6-8). The Seminoles are currently ranked No. 8 in the country, and own a 29-13 record, including a 14-6 mark in ACC play. The Seminoles' 14-6 record is second best in the conference. Florida State has posted a 23-6 record at Dick Howser Stadium. As a team, FSU is hitting .301, led by Jackson Lueck (.414), John Sansone (.394), Taylor Walls (.367) and Cal Raleigh (.320). Seven different players have registered at least 20 RBI. As a pitching staff, the Seminoles have held opponents to a .245 batting average. FSU's staff ERA currently sits at 3.66. The Florida State bullpen has been lights out, as five players have ERA's below 3.00. All five of those players have logged at least 20 innings, while four of the five have recorded at least 30 strikeouts. On average, opponents are scoring 4.69 runs per game against Florida State, while posting 8.42 hits per game.

SCHMITZ SAYS…
"Our guys are really excited to play such a prestigious program in Florida State," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "It's always exciting to go to a big-time venue, and play in a series like this one. I think this will be an overall great experience for our team. Now, with that being said, this is obviously the best team we've played this year. This is a team that will be extremely disappointed if they don't win a national championship, and we have to realize the type of team that we are going up against. We are going to have to play very well, and execute in the three phrases throughout each game in order to have a chance."

TWO LEGENDARY MANAGERS MEET IN TALLAHASSE
Danny Schmitz and Florida State's Mike Martin have a combined 63 years of experience at their respective schools. Martin is in his 37th year as head coach of the Seminoles, and his 1,886 wins rank second among active coaches. Currently, Martin owns the highest winning percentage (.740) across all of college baseball. Under Martin, FSU has reached the College World Series 15 times. Schmitz, on the other hand, is the active wins leader in the Mid-American Conference with 678. His 352 conference wins rank him first among active coaches, as well. Amazingly, Schmitz and Martin, combined, have won 2,564 college baseball games.

MAC TOURNAMENT RACE HEATING UP
With only 11 teams in the Mid-American Conference this year, one school each week is forced to play an out-of-conference series. This week, it's Bowling Green's turn. With only six MAC games left on the schedule, the Falcons find themselves in real battle for a coveted spot in the conference tournament, which is held in Avon, Ohio over May 25-29. Currently, the Falcons are tied for the eighth and final seed with Ohio, Buffalo, and Toledo. Fortunately for Bowling Green, the Falcons own tiebreakers over both Ohio and Toledo, and can earn the tiebreaker over Buffalo by beating the Bulls on the final weekend of the regular season.

LANDI CONTINUES TO PITCH LIGHTS OUT
It's hard to describe just how well Tony Landi has been pitching for the Orange and Brown. But by taking a look at his statistics in conference play – you get the gist of it. In 13.0 innings (11 appearances), Landi has allowed just four hits, two runs (one earned), and he's holding opponents to an unfair .103 batting average. He owns a minuscule 0.69 ERA. Overall, Landi owns a team-low 2.79 ERA. The junior, who hails from Geneva, Illinois, last allowed a run 14 appearances ago. He's logged 15.1 consecutive innings without allowing a run of any kind. On the year, the right-hander has registered eight saves and owns a record of 1-1.

CAREY AND LACINAK LOG STRONG STARTS OVER THE WEEKEND
Although the Falcons were swept over the weekend by Northern Illinois, the team received strong outings on Saturday and Sunday by both Zac Carey and Andrew Lacinak. On Saturday, Carey turned in arguably his best start of the season. The right-hander pitched a season-high 7.2 innings, allowing just five hits and two runs. He struck out two batters, and issued one free pass. On Sunday, Lacinak scattered eight hits and surrendered one earned run over 6.1 innings of work. The southpaw is really having a solid senior season. Lacinak has thrown a team-high 57.0 innings.

CAPTAINS LEADING THE OFFENSE
Captains Matt Smith and Greg Basalyga are currently BGSU's hottest hitters. Smith saw his 13-game hitting streak end on Saturday (April 30), but his hitting .291 and has 26 hits over the last 15 ballgames. Across those 15 contests, Smith has registered multiple hits eight times. Basalyga is on a four-game hitting streak, and has at least one hit in 11 of the Falcons' last 12 games. Basalyga has recorded 17 hits over those 12 games, and has bumped his batting average up to .277 on the season. The pair is also raking in conference play. Smith is hitting .338 in MAC play with a team-high 25 hits. Basalyga ranks second on the team with 19 hits, and is batting .317.

DEREK " MR. 300" DREWES
Sophomore Derek Drewes – who is batting .303 on the season – is Bowling Green's lone offensive player with a batting average of at least .300. Drewes was hitting .290 after Friday's (April 29) game versus Northern Illinois. He did not play on Saturday, but a 2-for-4 effort on Sunday bumped his average back over .300. The sophomore has proved to be a versatile infielder this season. At the beginning of the campaign, he was splitting time with Riley Minorik at second base, but with both of them having strong offensive seasons, it was becoming difficult to continue the platoon. Drewes has since moved over to third base. All six of Drewes' most recent starts have come while playing the hot corner.

GREINER GAINING STEAM TO END SENIOR SEASON
Tyler Greiner – a senior catcher from Brunswick, Ohio – has broken his way into the lineup recently, and has provided a reliable bat in the order. Greiner is batting .270 on the season across 37 at-bats, and his hitting a team-best .364 in conference play. The senior has started four of BGSU's last five games behind the plate, and has started eight of the past 13 ballgames overall. Greiner has recorded one hit across each of last three starts, and has registered a total of six hits over his last nine starts.

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 a 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.

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.

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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Greg Basalyga

Zac Carey

Derek Drewes

Tyler Greiner

Andrew Lacinak

Tony Landi

Riley Minorik

Matt Smith

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