Bowling Green State University Athletics
Wednesday, February 25
Cincinnati, Ohio
3 p.m.
Bowling Green State University
at
Cincinnati
Photo by: Georgia Tech Athletics
Falcons Prep For Final Non-Conference Tests Before MACtion Begins
February 24, 2026 | Baseball
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BGSU To Face Cincinnati Wednesday, Samford This Weekend
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team will have their final four non-conference tests this week before MAC play begins on March 6. The Falcons will first play their first game in the state of Ohio this season, taking on Cincinnati on Wednesday (Feb. 25) for a 3 p.m. first pitch. From there, the Falcons will transition to their final non-conference weekend of the season, facing off with Samford for a three-game series beginning Friday (Feb. 27). The game against Cincinnati as well as the Friday and Sunday games against Samford are set to be streamed on ESPN+. Stay up-to-date with any schedule changes through the baseball schedule at BGSUFalcons.com as well as Twitter/X (@BGSU_Baseball).
Current Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Cincinnati | 3 p.m. | ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27 at Samford | 5 p.m. EST / 4 p.m. CT | ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 28 at Samford | 12 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. CT
Sunday, March 1 at Samford | 12 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. CT | ESPN+
Seidel Showing His Speed
Through the first six games of the season, Sam Seidel has already tallied six stolen bases, including two games with multiple base swipes. Averaging a stolen base per game, Seidel is currently ranked eighth in the nation for the per game average while his six total are ranked 22nd. As for his career, Seidel has entered the program's top 10 all-time for career steals. Now with 42, Seidel is ninth all-time and trails Glenn Honeycutt (1961-63) for eighth by two steals, needing 44 total. For his BGSU career, Seidel has swiped at least nine bases in each of his three previous seasons, including a career-high 16 as a freshman. Last year, he totaled 11 in limited action, playing in 35 games.
Scouting Cincinnati
Cincinnati is off to a strong start to the 2026 season. They began by taking two of three from Jacksonville State during the opening weekend with the loss being just a 1-0 final. The Bearcats bounced back on Feb. 17 with an 8-0 road win over No. 9 Auburn before splitting a four-game series with UAB, earning a 5-3 record. Last year, Cincinnati posted a 33-26 record, earning a spot in the Knoxville Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
Series History Against The Bearcats
Scouting Samford
Samford is coming off a 30-win campaign in 2025, including a 13-8 standing within the SoCon and being the tournament runner-up, falling to ETSU. As for this year, Samford is off to a 2-5 start to the season. They began by taking two of three from Belmont, but have lost four straight, falling to Alabama before being swept by No. 9 Georgia. Before taking on the Falcons, Samford will first host North Alabama on Tuesday (Feb. 24).
Series History Against The Bulldogs
What To Watch For
Closing In On Conference Play
The Falcons are just four games away from beginning MAC play this season and are still within range to do so with a .500 overall record. If the Falcons can win their remaining non-conference contests before the MAC opener and reach 5-5 it would mark back-to-back seasons entering conference play at .500 or better after being 6-5 last season. The marks would be the first time entering MAC play with a .500 record or better in back-to-back seasons for BGSU since the 2007 and 2008 campaigns, going 10-8 in 2007 followed by an 8-7 record in 2008.
Eclipsing Win 1,800 All-Time
Bowling Green's first win of the season also marked the program's 1,800th win all-time. The 1,700-win milestone was reached during the 2022 campaign, leaving just barely four years between milestones for BGSU. The shortest span between milestones in program history stands at three, being the difference between five milestones. The most recent was between wins 1,400 and 1,500 which came in 2007 and 2010. The last 125 wins for the Falcons have come under current head coach Kyle Hallock.
New Faces To The Falcons
Bowling Green will roster 36 players this season, including 15 new student-athletes to the program, accounting for over 40-percent of the roster. Of the 15 newcomers, eight arrive as transfers and seven come in as true freshmen. The freshmen class is on par for the program, welcoming seven in 2025 as well. However, the transfer number is up from last year's four. The Falcons have added at least one transfer each season under head coach Kyle Hallock, but this year's total of eight are the most since Hallock's first season at the helm when BGSU added seven new transfers. Bowling Green added four each of the last two seasons.
Back On The Bump
Despite the multitude of new faces, the Falcons will return the bulk of their pitching staff from the 2025 campaign. BGSU returns 64.2-percent of the team's innings pitched from a season ago as well as 56.8-percent of the team's strikeouts and 60.6-percent of the unit's wins. Bowling Green has snapped the program's single-season strikeout record each of the last two seasons, sending down 403 batters in 2024 followed by 431 last season. Leading that charge, and returning this season, was starter Jacob Turner with 51.
Falcons At The Plate
The Falcons will return a group from their offensive production a year ago. Of the returners, Sam Seidel led the group with a .324 batting average followed closely by Brady Birchmeier's .318 and Zack Horky's .308 marks. In total, the Falcons return 52.5-percent of their RBIs, 51.0-percent of their home runs and 44.8-percent of their runs scored from the 2025 season. Birchmeier blasted nine home runs and tallied 50 RBI last season, leading the team in both categories, while TJ Takats' 35 runs scored leads the returners for the stat.
Building On The Momentum
The Falcons have established strong momentum within the program the last two seasons, registering 33 wins in both 2024 and 2025. The 33-win seasons marked the first back-to-back 30-win seasons for the program since winning 36 games in 2001 and 32 games in 2002. Similarly, the 66 combined wins were the most over a two-year stretch for BGSU since the same 2001-02 stretch that resulted in 68 wins. The Falcons will now look to continue the streak. The last time BGSU had three or more consecutive 30-win seasons was a four-year stretch from 1976-79, winning 33 games in 1976, 36 games in 1977, 33 games in 1978 and 32 games in 1979.
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'
Current Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Cincinnati | 3 p.m. | ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27 at Samford | 5 p.m. EST / 4 p.m. CT | ESPN+
Saturday, Feb. 28 at Samford | 12 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. CT
Sunday, March 1 at Samford | 12 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. CT | ESPN+
Seidel Showing His Speed
Through the first six games of the season, Sam Seidel has already tallied six stolen bases, including two games with multiple base swipes. Averaging a stolen base per game, Seidel is currently ranked eighth in the nation for the per game average while his six total are ranked 22nd. As for his career, Seidel has entered the program's top 10 all-time for career steals. Now with 42, Seidel is ninth all-time and trails Glenn Honeycutt (1961-63) for eighth by two steals, needing 44 total. For his BGSU career, Seidel has swiped at least nine bases in each of his three previous seasons, including a career-high 16 as a freshman. Last year, he totaled 11 in limited action, playing in 35 games.
Scouting Cincinnati
Cincinnati is off to a strong start to the 2026 season. They began by taking two of three from Jacksonville State during the opening weekend with the loss being just a 1-0 final. The Bearcats bounced back on Feb. 17 with an 8-0 road win over No. 9 Auburn before splitting a four-game series with UAB, earning a 5-3 record. Last year, Cincinnati posted a 33-26 record, earning a spot in the Knoxville Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
Series History Against The Bearcats
- Bowling Green and Cincinnati have met 44 times previously in program history with the series leaning to Bowling Green, 30-14.
- The last meeting was a three-game series in 2019, being a sweep for Cincinnati. The last BGSU win in the series was a 9-3 final on March 12, 2008, part of a MAC title season for the Falcons.
Scouting Samford
Samford is coming off a 30-win campaign in 2025, including a 13-8 standing within the SoCon and being the tournament runner-up, falling to ETSU. As for this year, Samford is off to a 2-5 start to the season. They began by taking two of three from Belmont, but have lost four straight, falling to Alabama before being swept by No. 9 Georgia. Before taking on the Falcons, Samford will first host North Alabama on Tuesday (Feb. 24).
Series History Against The Bulldogs
- Bowling Green and Samford will be meeting for the first time in program history, becoming the first new all-time opponent for the Falcons this season.
- Samford will enter the BGSU record book as the 274th different opponent in program history after Bowling Green added two last season with USC Upstate and Southern Indiana.
What To Watch For
- The series against Samford will be BGSU's final non-conference weekend series of the season with MAC play beginning next weekend with Kent State on March 6. The Falcons will have non-conference midweek games sprinkled throughout the schedule.
- If the Falcons can tally a win over Samford, it would mark 223 unique different opponents that Bowling Green has defeated over the course of the program's history.
- The first 17 games of the season for Bowling Green will be played on the road before their home opener on March 17, the first game on the team's new turf playing surface.
- Bowling Green will be competing in their 110th season for baseball, dating back to 1915 with a hiatus in both 1935 and 1937.
Closing In On Conference Play
The Falcons are just four games away from beginning MAC play this season and are still within range to do so with a .500 overall record. If the Falcons can win their remaining non-conference contests before the MAC opener and reach 5-5 it would mark back-to-back seasons entering conference play at .500 or better after being 6-5 last season. The marks would be the first time entering MAC play with a .500 record or better in back-to-back seasons for BGSU since the 2007 and 2008 campaigns, going 10-8 in 2007 followed by an 8-7 record in 2008.
Eclipsing Win 1,800 All-Time
Bowling Green's first win of the season also marked the program's 1,800th win all-time. The 1,700-win milestone was reached during the 2022 campaign, leaving just barely four years between milestones for BGSU. The shortest span between milestones in program history stands at three, being the difference between five milestones. The most recent was between wins 1,400 and 1,500 which came in 2007 and 2010. The last 125 wins for the Falcons have come under current head coach Kyle Hallock.
New Faces To The Falcons
Bowling Green will roster 36 players this season, including 15 new student-athletes to the program, accounting for over 40-percent of the roster. Of the 15 newcomers, eight arrive as transfers and seven come in as true freshmen. The freshmen class is on par for the program, welcoming seven in 2025 as well. However, the transfer number is up from last year's four. The Falcons have added at least one transfer each season under head coach Kyle Hallock, but this year's total of eight are the most since Hallock's first season at the helm when BGSU added seven new transfers. Bowling Green added four each of the last two seasons.
Back On The Bump
Despite the multitude of new faces, the Falcons will return the bulk of their pitching staff from the 2025 campaign. BGSU returns 64.2-percent of the team's innings pitched from a season ago as well as 56.8-percent of the team's strikeouts and 60.6-percent of the unit's wins. Bowling Green has snapped the program's single-season strikeout record each of the last two seasons, sending down 403 batters in 2024 followed by 431 last season. Leading that charge, and returning this season, was starter Jacob Turner with 51.
Falcons At The Plate
The Falcons will return a group from their offensive production a year ago. Of the returners, Sam Seidel led the group with a .324 batting average followed closely by Brady Birchmeier's .318 and Zack Horky's .308 marks. In total, the Falcons return 52.5-percent of their RBIs, 51.0-percent of their home runs and 44.8-percent of their runs scored from the 2025 season. Birchmeier blasted nine home runs and tallied 50 RBI last season, leading the team in both categories, while TJ Takats' 35 runs scored leads the returners for the stat.
Building On The Momentum
The Falcons have established strong momentum within the program the last two seasons, registering 33 wins in both 2024 and 2025. The 33-win seasons marked the first back-to-back 30-win seasons for the program since winning 36 games in 2001 and 32 games in 2002. Similarly, the 66 combined wins were the most over a two-year stretch for BGSU since the same 2001-02 stretch that resulted in 68 wins. The Falcons will now look to continue the streak. The last time BGSU had three or more consecutive 30-win seasons was a four-year stretch from 1976-79, winning 33 games in 1976, 36 games in 1977, 33 games in 1978 and 32 games in 1979.
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'
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
C/OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
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