Falcons Open 2017 Season At No. 20 Texas A&M

Friday, February 17

College Station, TX

7:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

No. 20 Texas A&M

February 15, 2017 | Baseball

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Texas A&M will enter play this weekend ranked No. 20 in the country according to D1Baseball.com, the NCBWA Preseason Poll and the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll. Last season, the Aggies went 49-16, finished third in the SEC, hosted a Super Regional, and finished the year ranked inside of the Top 10 in every major poll. Texas A&M returns 14 letterwinners from that squad, including four positional starters, and seven pitchers. The Aggies welcome 18 newcomers into the fold in 2017. Brigham Hill, who went 9-2 last season while recording 99 strikeouts in 97.0 innings of work, will start on Friday for the Aggies and was tabbed a pre-season All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Offensively, Texas A&M averaged 7.25 runs and 10.95 hits per ballgame in 2016. Rob Childress, who is in his 12th season, has racked up a record of 458-238-2 at the helm of the program.

SCHMITZ SAYS…
"This will just be an incredible experience for our baseball program. To play a national power like Texas A&M, and to open the season in an environment like this – the experience will just be invaluable. This is a weekend that our players have been talking about for years, since we finalized the scheduling. Our goal will be to execute in the three phrases, and get better each game. It will be nice to start evaluating players in game situations, and it's always very exciting to get a season started."

THE 27TH YEAR OF THE SCHMITZ ERA
Danny Schmitz, who has spent his entire collegiate coaching career at Bowling Green, enters his 27th year at the helm of the program. He is just 21 wins shy of 700 for his career. He is the active leader in career wins (679) and MAC wins (353). Schmitz has guided the Falcons to seven MAC division titles, four MAC regular-season championships, and three MAC Tournament titles. Three of BG's four NCAA Tournament appearances have been clinched under Schmitz's watch. BGSU has won 20-plus games 21 times under Schmitz, while winning 30-plus games a total of eight times. With 21 wins in 2017, Schmitz will become the second-ever MAC coach to reach 700 wins. Schmitz is also 16 MAC wins shy of moving into second place all-time. The Falcons have qualified for the MAC Tournament 17 times over Schmitz's 26 seasons to date.

BGSU LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK IN 2017
After 12-consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins, Bowling Green finished the 2016 season with a record of 17-37. The Falcons went 7-17 in conference play, which marked the team's lowest win total since 2007. It was an abnormal season for Bowling Green, which missed out on the MAC Tournament for just the second time in the last nine seasons. The Orange and Brown have been almost a sure bet to make the conference tournament after failing to qualify the season prior. In 2006 and 2007, Bowling Green failed to make the MAC Tournament, which is the last time BG has missed the post-season tournament in back-to-back seasons. A young team in 2016, the Falcons return 24 letterwinners from last year's team, while losing just 10. Bowling Green returns a total of 10 starters, while losing just three players that started for the Orange and Brown in 2016.

LANDI AND SCOTT NAMED CAPTAINS
Prior to the season, head coach Danny Schmitz named senior right-handed pitcher Tony Landi, and redshirt-sophomore Jeff Scott the captains for the 2017 season. Landi, a native of Geneva, Illinois, had one of the better seasons for a relief pitcher in program history last spring, as he tied the record for saves in a single season with eight, and made a total of 29 appearances, which ranks tied for second-most across a single campaign. Scott originally committed to Costal Carolina, which won the National Championship last season. The Kirklin, Indiana native played the 2016 season at Lincoln Trail Community College, where he played in 50 games and hit .246 with 10 RBI and 19 runs scored.

ANDERSON GETS THE CALL ON OPENING DAY
Redshirt-junior Tyler Anderson, from Lima, Ohio, will begin the 2017 season as the team's Friday starter. Anderson was a massive bright spot last season, as he stepped into the Friday role for the last three weeks of the season after C.J. Schildt suffered an injury. In those three starts, which were against No. 8 Florida State, MAC champion Kent State, and Buffalo, he combined for 15.2 innings, and allowed just two runs. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings at Florida State. Allowed one run over 6.0 innings, while being matched up with first-round pick Eric Lauer, who threw a no-hitter that day. He then finished off his dominant three-game stretch by striking out a career-high seven batters over 5.1 innings. Anderson went 1-1 in 2016, and struck out 29 batters across 34.2 innings. Anderson had a number of solid relief appearances last season, including a 3.1 inning effort in a win at Central Michigan, where he surrendered just one hit.

CROY AND CAREY ON THE WEEKEND
The Falcons will round out their weekend rotation with sophomore Brad Croy on Saturday and junior Zack Carey on Sunday. Croy, a righty, had a very solid freshman season in 2016, as he made 18 appearances, including six starts, and racked up a 4.95 ERA in 36.1 innings. He often started during the week, and came out of the bullpen in conference play. Croy picked up consecutive midweek wins during starts in March. Carey had a rough year in 2016 after one of the better freshman season's in program history. The right-hander was named the 2015 Mid-American Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year in 2015, and was also named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. Over his last seven starts in 2015, he went 7-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 63.2 innings pitched. He eliminated Kent State in the MAC Tournament that season, and finished the year with a 3.43 ERA. Carey will return to the Sunday role that he thrived in as a freshman. In 2016, he pitched on Saturdays.

MINORIK RETURNS TO THE MIDDLE INFIELD
Riley Minorik returns to second base after a very strong freshman season. Minorik played in 53 games last spring, and was named the MAC's All-Defensive team, recognizing that he was the best defensive second baseman in the conference. The product of Walsh Jesuit High School smacked a team-high four home runs as a freshman, while hitting .245 with 23 runs, 15 RBI and five doubles. Minorik hit in the leadoff spot for BG for the majority of the season, and drew 19 walks, while striking out 23 times. The highlight of his freshman season came on April 10, when he hit a home run in both games of a doubleheader at Miami. Minorik, who posted a .358 slugging percentage and a .994 field percentage, finished the season on a five-game hitting streak.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP FOR DREWES
After hitting .200 in 28 games played as a freshman in 2015, Drewes led the 2016 Falcons with a .298 batting average. He also registered career highs in games played (37), starts (29), runs scored (13), RBI (6), doubles (3), total bases (31), on-base percentage (.377) and slugging percentage (.330). Bowling Green's third baseman had 14 hits across the first 14 games that he appeared in last spring, and recorded multiple hits in seven games. In the last series of the season, Drewes, who hails from Napoleon, Ohio, went 3-for-5 with a career-high three RBI on May 19. The left-handed hitter's offensive effort helped Bowling Green pick up the victory in the series opener.

RIGHTER'S BIG BAT WILL BE BIG TO GET BACK
Junior Randy Righter appeared in 32 games last season, before sustaining a season-ending injury early on in MAC play. The first baseman had become a staple in the middle of the order across his first season-plus with the Orange and Brown. Righter had a monster freshman season for the Falcons, as he started in 47 games at first base, and hit .278 with a .411 slugging percentage. He posted nine doubles and a team-high four runs. The West Bloomfield, Michigan native notched 13 multiple-hit games, and drove in 28 runs, while scoring 23 runs himself. Righter was a two-time All-State selection in high school out of traditional powerhouse Birmingham Brother Rice.

THE COACHING STAFF IS STAYING CONSISTENT
Danny Schmitz will now have his top two assistants on staff for a third-consecutive season. Associate Head Baseball Coach Rick Blanc returns for his 10th season at his alma mater. Blanc, who played for Schmitz's 1998 MAC Tournament championship team at BGSU, is in charge of the pitchers, and is also the program's recruiting coordinator. Ryan Shay, one of the best offensive players in program history, won a pair of regular-season titles under Schmitz in 2008 and 2009. He returns to coach the Falcons' hitters and infielders for the third-straight season. In the fall, Schmitz added Dallas Burke to the staff as the team's volunteer assistant. Burke, a former catcher at the University of Iowa, spent the last three seasons at Black Hawk Junior College, where he served as the team's assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.