First-Place Falcons Welcome Second-Place Broncos To Steller Field For Weekend Series

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team will be back at Steller Field this weekend, hosting the second-place Western Michigan Broncos in the MAC standings. BGSU and WMU are scheduled for a three-game weekend series, beginning on Friday (May 3) at 3 p.m. before 1 p.m. starts on both Saturday (May 4) and Sunday (May 5).

At The Ballpark
Saturday's game will mark Graduation Day at Steller Field. Prior to the game, Bowling Green will recognize the team's graduating student-athletes that weren't able to participate in the University's graduation due to the team's schedule. The day will also be Star Wars Day for May the 4th be with you.

Current Weekend Schedule
Friday, May 3 | 3 p.m.
Saturday, May 4 | 1 p.m. | Graduation Day, Star Wars Day
Sunday, May 5 | 1 p.m.

Scouting Western Michigan
Western Michigan enters as the first team trailing the Falcons in the Mid-American Conference standings with a 13-8 MAC record while being 23-18 on the season. The Broncos are coming off a 15 inning game on Tuesday (April 30) against Valparaiso, claiming an 8-6 win. As for conference play, Western Michigan lost two of three last weekend against Akron and two of three against Ball State the weekend before after back-to-back MAC sweeps over Ohio and Miami (OH) to start the month of April.

Series History

The Falcons and Broncos have met 165 times previously in program history with Western Michigan holding the all-time advantage with a record of 96-69.
The matchup will feature the top two teams currently in the Mid-American Conference standings.
BGSU and WMU have split the last 10 meetings, 5-5.
The Falcons won three of four the last time they hosted Western Michigan, being in 2022.

What To Watch For

The Falcons have won 25 games this season. Another win will mark the most since 2010 when BGSU tallied 31 victories.
In MAC play, BGSU has registered 18 wins. One win would give the team the most conference wins since 19 in 2010. Two wins would grant the Falcons their first 20-win MAC season since 1999 when they won a program-record 22.
BGSU enters the weekend inside the Top 25 in the nation for all parts of the slash line. The Falcons are hitting .317 (14th in the nation) with a .437 on-base percentage (5th) and a slugging percentage of .532 (23rd).
Bowling Green has drawn 257 walks this season at the plate, ranking 18th in the nation.
The Falcons are 25th in the nation for home runs per game (1.80) with 72 total.
Sam Seidel has reached base in every game he's played in this season for the Falcons, bringing his on-base streak to 33 games this season. Dating back to last season, Seidel has reached base in 44-straight games.

Top Three Offense In The Nation
After registering scoring totals of 17, 18 and 19 during the midweek contests, the Falcons are now up to third in the nation for average runs per game at 10.4. Only Austin Peay (11.2) and Wofford (10.6) are averaging more runs per game than Bowling Green this season. Through 40 games, the Orange and Brown have scored 7+ runs in 29 contests while surpassing 10+ runs in 21 games and 15+ in nine games, including a nation-leading 34 runs against Ball State on March 16 and 26 against Ohio on April 20.

BGSU Breaking Records
As a team, the Falcons have already set one program record for a season and are closing in on another. Bowling Green this season has drawn 257 total walks at the plate, breaking the program record on Wednesday (May 1) against Oakland with 11 games still left in the regular season. The previous record was set at 253 walks during the 1978 season, a record that stood for 46 years. Now, the BGSU pitching staff is trying their hand at a record. This year, Falcon pitchers have combined for 315 strikeouts and need 53 more to match the program record. Currently, the record is set at 368 strikeouts by the 1999 squad.

Archer Re-Writing The Record Book
Nathan Archer is putting his name all over the BGSU baseball record book. So far this season, Archer has already cracked the top 10 all-time in three career stats and two more single-season stats. Now, he's on the cusp of two more. Entering the weekend, Archer is tied for fourth all-time in single-season home runs (16) and is eighth all-time for single-season runs scored (59). He's now closing in on the single-season RBI list with 53, needing one more to break into the top 10 all-time. He's also nearing the single-season total bases list with 127, needing four to enter the top 10 all-time. As for career stats, Archer is making his mark there as well. He enters the weekend tied for sixth all-time in career home runs (32), tied for ninth all-time in career triples (9) and tied for 10th all-time in career total bases (319).

Wright-ing His Name In History
As a freshman in the program, catcher Garrett Wright has already etched his name in BGSU baseball lore. So far this season, Wright has been hit by a pitch 16 times, believed to be a program record based off available information. Prior to Wright, TJ Blanton topped the list with 15 HBPs during the 2010 season. Over the last 10 seasons, going back to 2015, Wright is just the third Falcon to reach double-digits in the stat with Tyler Ross (2023) and Kory Brown (2015) both being hit 10 times. Nationally, Wright is tied for 39th while being second in the MAC behind only Akron's Nicky Sackett with 17.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons' baseball team on social media
Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_Baseball
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsu_baseball'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics'
YouTube - 'Falcons Athletics'

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