Finally, the Bowling Green baseball team can get back to business. Maybe.
After having its second long layoff of the young season prolonged by two mid-week cancellations, the Falcons may get a chance to get back on the field this weekend with a four-game series at Eastern Michigan’s Oestrike Field. That is, if nasty Mother Nature takes a break from her job of ruining spring sports’ schedules. The series will mark the conference-opening games for both teams.
“We’re ready to get back out there this weekend,” said BG coach Danny Schmitz. “They just got a little dusting is what we hear in Ypsilanti, so it looks like a go from our standpoint. Our guys are definitely ready to get back onto the field; we’ve been indoors since the start of January except for a few days.”
BG, coming in to the game with a record of 6-10 overall, has been off since last Tuesday’s loss at the University of Michigan, one that got away from BG. An eighth-inning two-run homer by Wolverine Gino Lollio doomed the Falcons. Before the Wolverine loss, BG went 5-3 on an eight-game Spring Break trip.
The Falcons were scheduled to open the home portion of their slate this past Tuesday at the newly-remodeled Warren Steller Field, but heavy snowfall and horrific traveling conditions prevented Tuesday’s game vs. IPFW and Wednesday’s game against Findlay to commence.
Eastern Michigan enters the weekend at 7-14 on the year, having just taken three of four from Ohio last weekend in Athens. The Eagles won the first two games 4-2 and 13-4 before dropping a nine-inning affair 5-4. EMU came back to steal the fourth and final game of the series from the Bobcats, 5-4.
“Eastern Michigan is a quality team,” Schmitz said. “They always play tough, and this will be on their home turf. They got out and played last weekend at OU, so they will be a little bit less rusty than us this weekend with these cancellations. We just need to put the three phases of the game – pitching, batting and defense – together, like I always say.”
Today’s game will pit the Eagles’ Joe Linde and the Falcons’ Kyle Knoblauch. Linde has been named the Mid-American West Division Pitcher of the Week already this year, while Knoblauch has also been steady in his appearances. Doug Flere will throw for BG tomorrow, as he continues his recovery from reconstructive elbow surgery; Tyler Saneholtz will go for BG also.
Falcon Kelly Hunt leads his team with a .379 average, with six doubles, four home runs and 20 RBIs on the season. Senior catcher Tim Newell and junior second baseman Corey Loomis have chipped in with 22 and 21 hits, respectively. Knoblauch’s 3.86 ERA paces the squad.
The Eagles are led offensively by Greg Anglin, who has tallied 28 hits thus far in 2002. Brian Bixler has scored 20 runs for Eastern, while Ryan Goleski leads the team with six home runs and 23 RBIs.
After the four-game series with the eagles, the Falcons will return home in hopes of finally playing at home Tuesday (vs. Detroit-Mercy) and Wednesday (vs. Cleveland State), both non-conference games.
