Falcons Face Niagara In Opening Weekend At Steller Field

SCOUTING NIAGARA

The Purple Eagles are off to a 7-7 start in 2017. Niagara already has a massive signature win this season, as the Purple Eagles went into Charlottesville, Virginia and knocked off the No. 12-ranked Virginia Cavaliers by a score of 8-5. Niagara has lost three of its last four games, and last weekend, Marshall won two games of a three-game series with the Purple Eagles. Niagara is hitting .234 as a team, and own a 5.00 team ERA. NU has three players hitting over .320, while two of its three weekend starters own sub-3.00 ERA's. Last season, Niagara went 16-37-1.

SCHMITZ SAYS
"With the way that the weather is in Northwest Ohio at the beginning of the season, we are always forced to play a quite a few games away from Bowling Green to start the season. However, because of that, our first home games are always extra special. We are very excited to play baseball at Steller Field this weekend. We enter the weekend playing our best baseball of the season, and finished our spring trip on a winning note."

STAY TUNED FOR WEATHER-FORCED CHANGES TO WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Bowling Green has already had two games postponed this weekend. The program's scheduled home opener on Tuesday (March 14) was postponed due to inclement weather. Friday's (March 17) scheduled series opener versus Niagara was pushed back to Saturday (March 18) for the same reason. Bowling Green received a large layer of snow on Friday morning, and more inclement weather is expected. Sunday (March 19) appears to be the best day of the weekend, and the program appears confident that baseball will be played, at the very least, on Sunday. However, for up-to-the-second updates, follow @WEAREBGBaseball on Twitter for changes to the weekend schedule. All changes will also be posted on the baseball schedule at BGSUFalcons.com.

HOME OPENER AT STELLER FIELD
The Orange and Brown have lost its last four home openers, and lost won on Opening Day at Steller Field in 2012. In that season, the Falcons beat Dayton, 3-2, on March 13, 2012. This season, Bowling Green will have played 14-consecutive games away from Steller Field before its home opener. After this weekend, however, the Falcons will be on the road for quite some time. After the series versus Niagara, Bowling Green will play eight of its next nine games away from home. BGSU's next weekend home series is against Toledo. The three-game series is set for April 7-9.

THE FALCONS HAVE WON THREE OF FOUR
Following a 1-9 start, the Falcons have now won three of their last four games, and will enter play this weekend with a 4-10 record. At the program's annual spring trip to Emerson, Georgia, Bowling Green knocked off Georgia State twice, and beat Army. The Falcons earned a come-from-behind win over Georgia State on getaway day by a score of 6-3. Georgia State is 9-8 and earned a win at Ole Miss in early March.

ANDERSON IS THE ACE
Junior right-hander Tyler Anderson has absolutely carried over the success that he experienced in his last three starts of the 2016 season. In four starts in 2017, which spans 22.1 innings, Anderson owns a 2.01 ERA and has allowed just five earned runs. He has racked up 12 strikeouts, and Bowling Green has won his last two starts. In both of those starts, Anderson has logged at least 6.0 innings, while giving up no more than three hits and one run. Anderson logged 6.0 innings of two-hit ball in his most-recent start, as he earned his first win over the season in a start against Georgia State on March 10.

ANTLE ENTERS WEEKEND ROTATION
For the first time in his young career, sophomore right-handed pitcher Chase Antle is expected to make a weekend start in a three-game series. Antle, who brings it with the fastball at over 90 MPH, has yet to surrendered a run over 11.2 innings of work in 2017. He's racked up a team-high 15 strikeouts, and is holding opponents to a .205 batting average. In his last outing, Antle went 4.2 innings in a start against Army (March 10). BGSU won the game, 5-0, and Antle struck out four while giving up just one hit.

LANDI CHASING HISTORY
Senior Tony Landi earned a save in Bowling Green's most-recent win over Georgia State on March 12. Landi now has 14 saves for his career, which ranks third-most in program history. With one more save, Landi will tie Nick Bruns for second all-time, and with four more saves, the right-hander will break the record, surpassing Neil Schmitz's career total of 17 saves. Last season, Landi tied the single-season record with eight saves, while making a total of 29 appearances. His 29 outings rank second-most all-time for a single season.

MORE POWER IN 2017
In 54 games last season, Bowling Green hit 13 home runs. Through the first 14 games of the 2017 season, the Falcons have already smacked six home runs. Greg Basalyga and Jeff Scott each have two, while Blake Jenkins and Cam Daugherty hit the first home runs of their collegiate careers this season.

WILSON AND BASALYGA PACING THE BGSU BATS
Freshman Jake Wilson and senior Greg Basalyga are the lone Falcons hitting over .270 on the season. Basalyga leads the team in batting average (.289), slugging percentage (.526), RBI (11), and is tied for the team lead with three doubles and two home runs. Wilson is having a very strong rookie season, and ranks second on the club with a .273 batting average. He's registered 12 hits, five RBI, four runs and two doubles. The center fielder owns a 1.000 fielding percentage, and is one of two Falcons with a stolen base on the season.

LANDI CHASING HISTORY
Senior Tony Landi earned a save in Bowling Green's most-recent win over Georgia State on March 12. Landi now has 14 saves for his career, which ranks third-most in program history. With one more save, Landi will tie Nick Bruns for second all-time, and with four more saves, the right-hander will break the record, surpassing Neil Schmitz's career total of 17 saves. Last season, Landi tied the single-season record with eight saves, while making a total of 29 appearances. His 29 outings rank second-most all-time for a single season.

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 17 wins shy of 700 for his career. He is the active leader in career wins (683) 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 full 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.

THE COACHING STAFF IS STAYING CONSISTENT
Danny Schmitz has 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.

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Tyler Anderson

Chase Antle

Greg Basalyga

Cam Daugherty

Blake Jenkins

Tony Landi

Jeff Scott

Jake Wilson

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