Steller Field The Stage For BGSU And Miami This Weekend

WEATHER CHANGES WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Due to expected rain on Saturday (April 29) and Sunday (April 30), the Falcons and RedHawks will now play a doubleheader on Friday (April 28), starting at 12:35 p.m. Both schools will still try to play on Saturday at the regular scheduled time of 1:05 p.m., but that may get adjusted due to the expected weather. Stay tuned to @WEAREBGBaseball on Twitter for up-to-the second updates. BGSUFalcons.com will also post updates if there are further changes.

SCOUTING THE MIAMI REDHAWKS
Although Miami sits in dead last in the Mid-American Conference heading into the weekend, the RedHawks have been playing their best baseball of the season. MU has won 10 of its last 13 games, while taking one game apiece in each of their last two conference weekends. Miami enters play this weekend with an overall record of 17-25 (3-9 MAC). The RedHawks have won five-consecutive midweek games, including an 8-0 drubbing of 27-14 Morehead State on Tuesday (April 25). Miami is hitting .259 as a team, and averaging 4.57 runs and 8.54 hits per ballgame. Senior infielder Adam Yacek leads the club with .325, while junior infielder Ross Haffey is hitting .321, and leads the team in hits (53), RBI (29) and on-base percentage (.411). The RedHawk pitching staff owns a 5.25 ERA. Miami pitching is allowing 7.30 runs and 10.36 hits per game, while averaging 6.02 strikeouts and 4.77 walks. Sophomore right-hander Nick Ernst has been a force from out of the bullpen, holding batters to a .206 average over 34.2 innings.

SCHMITZ SAYS
"We have just nine conference games left, and we get six of them at home," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "We need to take advantage of that, and it goes without saying that this is a massive weekend. Our guys still need to take things one game at a time, but we need to have a sense of urgency about everything we do. We are fighting for a lot these last three weekends, and I want our team to embrace that, and welcome the challenge. We've had some great crowds at The Stell all season long, and we are looking forward to having another big atmosphere this weekend."

THE #ROADTOAVON HEATS UP
With three weekends to go, Bowling Green has as many wins as three other clubs in the conference. However, if the season ended today, the Falcons would be the first team out of the tournament. Miami (3-9; .250) sits in last, with BGSU (5-10; .333) and Buffalo (4-8; .333) tied for ninth. Western Michigan (6-9; .400) and Ohio (5-7; .417) rank eighth and seventh, respectively. From a BGSU perspective, Northern Illinois (6-6; .500) is particularly catchable, given that the Falcons own the tiebreaker with the Huskies. In the upcoming three weeks, the Huskies have a murderous schedule of Ball State (8-1 in last nine MAC games), Central Michigan (10-2; .833) and Eastern Michigan (8-4; .667). The last weekend could get interesting, as BGSU will be the only team not playing a conference series.

SCHMITZ MOVES INTO SECOND ON MAC'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST
With Bowling Green's 3-2 win over Central Michigan on April 22, head coach Danny Schmitz picked up his 689th win at BGSU, tying him for second all-time in wins as a MAC head coach. Joe Carbone earned 689 wins as Ohio's head coach from 1989-2012, while Fred Decker (WMU; 1976-2004) is the all-time leader in wins as a MAC head coach with 791. Schmitz's 358 MAC wins ranks third all-time, behind Carbone's 368 wins and Decker's 401 MAC victories. Schmitz still has a shot to get to the historic 700-win total in 2017. Bowling Green has 12 regular season games remaining, and potentially at least two more if the Falcons qualify for the MAC Tournament.

BGSU'S OFFENSIVE BIG THREE
This season, the Falcons have been led offensively by a trio of upperclassmen. Junior Justin Mott (.303), senior Greg Basalyga (.295) and junior Randy Righter (.285) are having standout seasons for Bowling Green at the plate. Mott was on an 11-game hitting streak, but unfortunately lost it when he pinch hit, and had just one at-bat at Kent State on Tuesday (April 25). Righter has at least one hit in 15 of BGSU's last 17 games, while Basalyga leads the team in home runs (5), total bases (57), slugging percentage (.509), and is tied for the team lead with 21 RBI. Additionally, freshman Jake Wilson is hitting .260, and also has 21 RBI.

CAREER WEEK FOR KODY
Kody Brown, a junior southpaw from Perrysburg, Ohio, performed at his best for the Orange and Brown last week. The left-hander logged 6.2 innings across two separate appearances, allowing just two walks, and no other base runners. Brown hurled 2.0 perfect innings at Youngstown State on April 19, before throwing the best game of his collegiate career on April 21 versus Central Michigan. Brown pitched a career-best 4.2 innings, and struck out a career-high four batters, which doubled his previous career high. In 25.1 innings in 2017, Brown owns a 4.26 ERA, and has held hitters to a .226 batting average.

ANTLE ADJUSTS TO NEW ROLE
With four more regular-season weekends to go, sophomore Chase Antle very well may work his way back into the weekend rotation, but for the time being, he's been dominant when his number has been called. In his three appearances since his last weekend start, which covers 5.0 innings, he's surrendered just three hits and one walk, while striking out seven batters. In a 3-2 victory over Central Michigan on April 22, Antle came on in the ninth and nailed down his first-career save. In a high-leverage situation, after putting a guy on with one out, he got a pop out, before finishing the game with a strikeout. Earlier in the week, he logged a scoreless inning at Youngstown State (April 19). This week, Antle got the start at Kent State (April 25), and worked 3.0 scoreless innings, striking out four, while not issuing a walk and yielding just two hits. In 28.2 innings this season, Antle has 34 strikeouts and a 4.40 ERA.

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
Nathan Lohmeier is putting together a strong rookie season for the Falcons. In 14 appearances (24.1 innings pitched) from out of the BGSU bullpen, Lohmeier has a team-low 3.33 ERA. Lohmeier left three runners in scoring position over the seventh and eighth innings of BG's 3-2 win over Central Michigan (April 22). He then blanked Kent State (April 25) over 2.0 innings on Tuesday. Lohmeier also tossed 2.0 scoreless innings against the Golden Flashes on April 11. The lefty has 27 strikeouts on the season, which ranks tied for third most on the club.

LANDI CHASING HISTORY
Senior closer Tony Landi earned the 15th save of his career at Northern Illinois on April 1. Landi, who was pitching about 45 minutes away from his hometown of Geneva, Illinois, had approximately 30 friends and family in attendance. With the save, the senior tied legendary righty Nick Bruns (2010-13) for second all-time on the program's career saves list. Landi now needs just three more saves to break the school record. Neil Schmitz racked up 17-career saves over his playing career from 2001-04. 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 14 wins shy of 700 for his career. He is the active leader in career wins (686) and MAC wins (356). 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.

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