Falcons Look To Extend Record-Breaking Starts In MAC Play, At Home

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team will continue their nine-game homestand this weekend with a three-game series against the Ohio Bobcats, the last weekend series of the current homestand. BGSU and OU will begin the series on Friday (April 19) with a 3 p.m. first pitch before starting at 1 p.m. both Saturday (April 20) and Sunday (April 21). The Falcons enter the series in the midst of the best MAC start in MAC baseball history with a 15-0 standing. BGSU is also 8-0 at home, marking the best home start for the Falcons since 1975.

At The Ballpark
Saturday's game will mark Alumni Day at Steller Field, inviting all BGSU baseball alumni back to Bowling Green. Prior to the game, the Falcons will recognize the 1999 and 2009 BGSU baseball teams. The 1999 squad advanced to the NCAA Tournament while the 2009 team captured the MAC regular season title.

Current Weekend Schedule
Friday, April 19 | 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 20 | 1 p.m. | Alumni Day
Sunday, April 21 | 1 p.m.

Scouting Ohio
The Bobcats enter the series with a 10-22 record on the season and a 6-12 MAC standing. Ohio dropped a midweek game against Dayton on Wednesday (April 17), but took two of three from Eastern Michigan last week. The series win over EMU snapped a two-series losing streak, being swept by Ball State and Western Michigan. Ohio has also tallied wins over Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and two against Kent State.

Series History

The Falcons and Bobcats have played 182 times in program history with Ohio leading the all-time series with a record of 98-83-1 dating back to the first meeting in 1952.
Last year, Ohio won two of the three-game series in Athens.
The last sweep in the series for Bowling Green came in Athens in 2021.
The last series win at home for BGSU over Ohio was in 2018, taking two of three from OU.

What To Watch For

Bowling Green is 8-0 at home this year, their best home start since 1975 and tied for the second-best all-time. BGSU's best home start in program history is 9-0 (1946). This is the first time BGSU has had a home start of 8-0 or better against all Division-I opponents.
The Falcons are 15-0 in the MAC marking the best start in MAC baseball history. The record is also approaching BGSU athletics history with the best MAC start, and most consecutive MAC wins in one season, set at 18-0 by the 2020-21 volleyball team that went to the NCAA Tournament.
The Falcons have already registered 20 wins this season. Another win will mark the most in a season during the Coach Hallock Era and the most wins in a season for BGSU since 2015 (25).
Sam Seidel has reached base in every game he's played in this season for the Falcons, bringing his on-base streak to 27 games this season. Dating back to last season, Seidel has reached base in 38-straight games.

Falcons Facts To Follow

Nathan Archer is currently tied for 10th all-time in both career home runs (28) and career triples (9). He needs one of each to move up another spot in the record book.
Jack Krause and TJ Takats follow Sam Seidel on the on-base streak list. Krause is at 21 games while Takats follows with 20.
Krause is also seven walks away from entering the Top 10 all-time for career walks drawn, currently with 87.

Historic Start To Season
The Falcons are currently 15-0 in the MAC for the first time in program history and the first time any team has gone 15-0 in MAC baseball history. Additionally, the streak includes the first time in program history BGSU has swept five-straight MAC opponents. On top of the strong conference start, the Falcons are also in the midst of an 8-0 start at home, tied for the second-best in program history. The Falcons are one shy of the program record for home wins to start a season and are also closing in on the BGSU Athletics record for best MAC start, set by the volleyball program during the 2020-21 season at 18-0. Women's basketball went 16-0 in 1986-87, 1988-89 and 2005-06. They also won 17-straight MAC games in 1993-94.

Archer Etches Name In BGSU History
Junior outfielder Nathan Archer made history for the Falcons on Tuesday (April 16) against Youngstown State. Archer belted his 28th career home run, putting him inside the Top 10 all-time for career blasts. Earlier this season, Archer entered the Top 10 all-time for career triples as well with nine. Archer is just one of two players currently inside the Top 10 all-time for both career triples and career home runs. The only other player in program history that can claim that feat is Larry Arndt (1982-85). Over four seasons with the Falcons, Arndt registered 11 triples, fifth all-time, and 35 home runs, fourth all-time and the program record at the time Arndt hit the mark. Arndt also broke the program record for career RBI (162) and is now fourth in program history for the stat.

Top Five In The Nation
Through 31 games played, the Falcons have scored 7+ runs in 23 games and 10+ runs in 15 games, including a nation-leading 34 runs against Ball State on March 16. BGSU has the fifth-ranked offense in the nation, averaging 9.8 runs per game. The only teams averaging more runs per game than the Falcons are Wofford (11.4), Tennessee (10.5), Austin Peay (10.1) and Virginia (10.0).

Rare Company
The Falcons are one of just 16 teams in the nation currently to be in the Top 35 for batting average (34th), on-base percentage (27th) and slugging percentage (32nd). So far this season, the Falcons have produced a slash line of .306/.422/.516 through the first 31 games of the season. In addition to being inside the Top 35 in the nation, the Falcons currently lead the Mid-American Conference in slugging percentage and rank second in batting average and on-base percentage behind only Western Michigan in both categories.

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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