BGSU Welcomes Toledo To Steller Field For Battle Of I-75 Series

SCOUTING THE TOLEDO ROCKETS
Toledo started the year with an ugly 2-14 record through the first 16 games of the season, but the Rockets have since recovered, and have played nearly .500 baseball since. The Rockets were swept on opening weekend within the MAC by Northern Illinois, but then took two of three at home versus Western Michigan to improve to 2-4 in conference play. Toledo does not have a single player hitting over .280, but UT does have four players hitting over .260, led by junior infielder Dalton Bollinger's .277 average. Junior outfielder A.J. Montoya leads the club in doubles (10) and RBI (20). As a team, Toledo is hitting .230 and averaging 4.27 runs and 7.86 hits per ballgame. The Rockets have been led by their pitching, specifically their weekend starters. Senior southpaw Ross Achter owns a 1.70 ERA, and has 37 strikeouts in 37.0 innings. Fellow senior lefty Steve Calhoun has thrown a team-high 40.2 innings, and has a 3.54 ERA, while senior right-hander Sam Shutes has 32 strikeouts in 40.0 innings. The Rockets have a 5.79 team ERA, and are allowing 7.41 runs and 10.03 hits per contest.

SCHMITZ SAYS
"The Toledo series is always a huge series for our program. We don't take this series lightly, and we know how much the Bowling Green-Toledo rivalry means to our fans, community and program. This weekend is extra special whenever we get to play it at Steller Field. I am happy with how we have been playing in MAC play, and we are coming off a solid weekend at Northern Illinois. However, we learned at Eastern Michigan that just one or two mistakes can be the difference from winning and losing a series, so we'll have to focus on the three phrases for 27 innings this weekend if we want to take the series against a very talented Toledo team."

THE BATTLE OF I-75 RIVALRY
Since head coach Danny Schmitz stepped foot on campus in the fall of 1990, the Bowling Green-Toledo rivalry has been completely one-sided in Bowling Green's favor. Schmitz is 54-30 against Toledo all-time. Nine of Schmitz's 16 season-series wins over Toledo have been sweeps, while Bowling Green has lost just four season series to Toledo over Schmitz's 27 seasons. Bowling Green has completely owned the series over the past decade-plus, as the Falcons have lost just one series to Toledo since 2005. Bowling Green is 10-3 versus Toledo over the past four seasons, and last lost a series to Toledo in 2012. However, Bowling Green followed that series loss in 2012 with its most dominating performance in the rivalry in recent history. Bowling Green won a Schmitz-era high five games against Toledo, including two wins in the MAC Tournament that season, as the Falcons went 5-1 versus the Rockets in 2013 en route to a MAC Championship. Last season, BG lost the series opener, but then swept a doubleheader the next day to claim the series.

FALCONS OFF TO BEST MAC START SINCE 2011
The Falcons improved to 3-3 in conference play following Bowling Green's series win at Northern Illinois last weekend. When looking at the first two weekends of MAC play, BGSU's 3-3 start is the program's best start since the 2011 season. The 2011 team also started off the MAC campaign with a 3-3 mark. Two weekends ago, the Falcons started conference play by winning one of three games at Eastern Michigan, marking the first time that the Falcons weren't swept to start the MAC season since the 2011 team opened the year with two wins against Northern Illinois. In Bowling Green's series win at NIU last weekend, the Falcons opened the series with an 11-0 loss, and then fell behind 3-0 in the first game of the doubleheader the next day, but Bowling Green went on to outscore the Huskies by a score of 16-2 to secure the doubleheader sweep and series victory.

CAREY NAMED MAC EAST PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Carey, a native of London, Ohio, secured a series win and doubleheader sweep over Northern Illinois on Saturday (April 1) with a complete-game performance on the road. The complete game was the second of Carey's career, and the first since 2015. In 9.0 innings, he allowed just one unearned run. He surrendered six hits, struck out six, and issued one free pass. He retired 15-consecutive batters, and with two outs in the eighth, he was one out away from hurling a fifth-straight perfect frame. Carey now owns a 3.05 ERA and is 3-2 on the season. Carey also received the honor during his freshman season in 2015. He threw the only other complete game of his career to earn that recognition, as he twirled a shutout in a home win over Western Michigan.

ANTLE EARNS FIRST-COLLEGIATE WIN
In the first game of Bowling Green's doubleheader sweep at Northern Illinois on April 1, sophomore Chase Antle picked up his first collegiate win in impressive fashion. Antle allowed three runs and two walks in the first inning, and nearly didn't survive, as he threw 34 pitches. But after the first, Antle posted four scoreless innings, including three perfect innings, and ended his day by retiring 13 of the final 14 batters that he faced. He yielded four hits in the start, and struck out three. On the season, Antle owns a 1.66 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .224 against him. In his 21.2 innings of work, Antle has struck out a team-high 24 batters.

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.

BASALYGA BELTS 12TH-CAREER HOME RUN
Senior designated hitter Greg Basalyga hit a towering solo home run in the second game of BGSU's doubleheader sweep at Northern Illinois. The homer, which was the 12th of Basalyga's career, tied the score at 1-1. The senior is having the best season of his career for the Orange and Brown in 2017. He has a team-high .310 batting average, and also leads the club in slugging percentage (.493), total bases (35), and home runs (3). He is tied for the club lead with four doubles, and ranks second on the squad with 13 RBI. Basalyga went 2-for-4 in the series finale, and now has five multiple-hit games on the season. He's registered three hits four times in 2017.

WILSON'S SIX-RBI DAY
Jake Wilson had the best day of this collegiate career on April 1, as the Falcons swept a doubleheader at Northern Illinois. Wilson recorded multiple hits and multiple RBI in both games. He went 2-for-5 with four RBI in the opener, and then went 2-for-5 again in the finale with two more RBI. He increased his batting average by 20 points by the day's end, and currently is hitting .263 on the season. His six RBI pushed him into the team lead in that category, as the freshman now has 16 RBI. Wilson has started 23 of Bowling Green's 24 games, playing centerfield in each of his appearances.

BURKE'S IMPACT ON BGSU'S BACKSTOPS
Bowling Green's two primary catchers, junior Justin Mott and redshirt-sophomore Jeff Scott, are both having strong seasons. Mott is second on the team with a .295 batting average, and he's had two hits in three of his last five starts. Mott picked up two hits in both games of BG's doubleheader sweep at Northern Illinois on April 1. In the first game, he also tied his career high with two runs. Scott is on a three-game hitting streak, having notched at least one hit in all three games at Northern Illinois last weekend. Scott had two RBI and two runs in the first game of the doubleheader, while adding one RBI and one run in the finale. Scott owns a .991 fielding percentage, while Mott is fielding his position at a .973 percentage.

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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Chase Antle

Greg Basalyga

Tony Landi

Justin Mott

Jeff Scott

Jake Wilson

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