After having the day off yesterday, the Bowling Green baseball team faces two non-conference opponents over a two-day span.
The Falcons (11-4, 2-1 in MAC) are on the road today to face Detroit Mercy (2-13) in the Titans home-opener, then come home to face Tiffin (8-13) tomorrow.
Coming away with wins in two out of three games this past weekend against reigning Mid-American Conference West champions Ball State, BG will try to remain focused against two teams that are off to a slow start.
“Detroit’s always been notorious for a team, from their past history, that really swings the bats well … they are struggling this year (.233 team batting average) which is kind of unusual,” said BG head coach Danny Schmitz. “They’ve always been a dangerous team and we’ve got to be ready to play hard.”
The Titans hitting woes this season have been the exact opposite of their opponents, who are lighting up their pitching staff with a .319 batting average, while scoring 123 runs, compared to just 61 for Detroit. Alex Martin and Mark Moehlig are tied for the team lead in batting at .306 and Tim Poley leads the teams in runs batted in with 13. They also have great team speed, stealing 32 out of 41 attempts.
Schmitz is excited to host Tiffin, which should provide a solid fan turnout since the schools are close to one another.
“One thing about Tiffin, being a local college, it’s always fun to play schools like that,” Schmitz said. “Playing the lower division schools, it’s a big game for them to come play against a Division I opponent. It’s also great for our guys and the community, where you get two local universities that go head to head. You normally get a nice turnout and it’s usually a fun game to play.”
The Dragons have received good production at the plate from Tony Pierce (.388 AVG) and Ryan Rammel (.355), while their pitching staff has a quality 4.71 team earned run average.
The Falcons will use these two games to give some players more playing time keeping them loose. They will send out a freshman to take the mound in each game.
Against Detroit, Schmitz will start lefty Alan Brech (0-0, 2.70 ERA), who will make his second start of the year.
At Stellar Field tomorrow, righty Greg Mentrek (1-0, 4.50 ERA) will make his first start of the season after three relief appearances.
