BGSU Heads To Nashville For Mule Mix Classic This Weekend

Friday, February 24

Nashville, TN

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Lipscomb

February 22, 2017 | Baseball

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

SCOUTING THE LIPSCOMB BISON
Lipscomb took two of three last weekend from Oakland to open up the 2017 season. The Bison averaged 7.0 runs and 7.3 hits across the three-game series. Lipscomb will take on Middle Tennessee on Feb. 22, prior to battling BGSU on Friday (Feb. 24). Last season, the Bison went 31-27, and finished third in the Atlantic Sun by accumulating a 12-9 conference record. LU returns a total of 21 players from the 2016 team, including 10 starters. Lipscomb returns three players that hit over .300 last spring, while its top pitcher, Brady Puckett, led last year's club in ERA (2.93 ERA), strikeouts (101), and wins (9). Lee Solomon is back with LU after hitting a team-best .370 in 2016. The Bison won the A-Sun Tournament in 2015.

SCOUTING THE MTSU BLUE RAIDERS
Middle Tennessee won its season opener over Georgia Southern, but lost its next two on the weekend. MTSU, after playing Lipscomb on Feb. 22, will take on Northwestern to open this weekend's tournament. The Blue Raiders return its top nine batters in the lineup from last year's team that went 20-35. However, MTSU went 5-24 in conference play to finish 12th in Conference USA. Infielder Riley Delgado returns to the fold after being a First Team All-Conference selection a season ago. Outfielder Blake Benefield, who was a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2016, is also back. MTSU, which averaged 5.3 runs and 12.0 hits across opening weekend, return two of its three weekend starters from last year's team.

SCOUTING THE BELMONT BRUINS
Belmont was swept by Kent State across opening weekend, and lost the three games by a combined score of 23-4. The Bruins have Western Kentucky (Feb. 22), Missouri State (Feb. 24) and Northwestern (Feb. 25) on the docket before playing the Falcons. Belmont went 33-27 in 2016, and return 21 letterwinners, including a total of eight starters. The Bruins had a potent offense last season, as they hit .297 as a team and averaged 7.8 runs per ballgame. The Bruins return catcher/infielder Chad Hadden and outfielder Brennan Washington, who hit .370 and .330 last spring, respectively. Tyler Vaughn also returns, after leading the pitching staff in 2016 in ERA (4.00) and wins (7).

SCHMITZ SAYS…
"Last weekend is behind us. It was great to get out on the field, and to play baseball outside, but we were just nowhere near good enough. I was happy with how our offense battled against an extremely talented staff. We put guys on base, and racked up hits, but now it's about executing in terms of situational baseball. We are excited to be playing against three great baseball programs this weekend. We feel like this will be a great test for us, and we are eager to start racking up some wins and continuing to grow as a team."

THE 27TH YEAR OF THE SCHMITZ ERA
Danny Schmitz, who has spent his entire collegiate coaching career at Bowling Green, is in 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. Scott smacked a home run at No. 20 Texas A&M in the first game of a doubleheader on Feb. 18. He also cut down two would-be base stealers in the series.

RIGHTER RETURNS WITH A BANG
Randy Righter, a junior infielder from West Bloomfield, Mich., went 5-for-8 with two runs and a walk in Bowling Green's three-game series at No. 20 Texas A&M over the weekend. His performance was especially encouraging, given that it was his first game action since suffering a season-ending injury last April. Righter went 3-for-3, scored a run, and reached base in all four of his plate appearances in the season opener on Feb. 17, as he was also hit by a pitch. In the series finale on Feb. 18, he went 2-for-3, drew a walk, and scored two runs. Righter is hitting a team-high .625 on the season following opening weekend.

ANTLE AND SZABO STRIKING OUT THE COMPETITION
Sophomore right-handed pitchers Chase Antle and Mat Szabo have two of the more promising arms in the conference. Last year, controlling the baseball was a big problem for the duo, as they combined for 25 walks in 16.2 innings. Over the weekend, the pair struck out eight and issued just one free pass. Antle struck out the side in his lone inning on the weekend. He got three swinging third-strikes in the season opener against No. 20 Texas A&M, with each of those pitches clocking in at 92-93 MPH. Szabo went 3.1 innings in the second game of the series. He racked up five strikeouts, and issued just one walk.

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. Minorik registered a hit in two of the three games over the weekend at No. 20 Texas A&M. His weekend was highlighted with a two-run triple in the series finale that gave BGSU a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. The triple was the first of Minorik's career.

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. He's off to a productive start in 2017, as he went 3-for-9 in the series opener at No. 20 Texas A&M. In the series finale, he went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored. He started all three games at third base for the Falcons.

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.