After setting a program record with 24 Mid-American Conference (MAC) wins during their historic regular season, the Bowling Green baseball team’s performance has been recognized by the conference, as they have set another program record for All-MAC selections (11), with nine Falcons combining for 14 honors.
Head coach Kyle Hallock earned his first MAC Coach of the Year honor, becoming the first person in conference history to win MAC Coach of the Year and a specialty award as a player (MAC Pitcher of the Year with Kent State in 2011).
This marks BG’s fourth MAC Coach of the Year honor, with Danny Schmitz winning the award in 1994, 1995 and 2009.
Along with setting the program record for most All-MAC selections in a season, under Hallock, the Orange and Brown set program records for most runs scored in a MAC game (34), most runs batted in (RBI) in a game (33), best home start (10-0), best MAC start (17-0), most walks drawn in a single season (296) and most strikeouts thrown in a single season (379).
The 17-0 MAC start was also the best in conference history.
After one of the best regular seasons in Bowling Green history, junior outfielder Nathan Archer racked up the awards, earning MAC Player of the Year All-MAC First Team and All-MAC Defensive Team honors.
Archer is the third Falcon to win MAC Player of the Year and the first since Nolan Reimold in 2005.
At the plate, Archer led the conference with 65 runs scored. He also ranked third with three triples and 62 runs batted in (RBI), sixth with 72 hits and 17 home runs and 10th with a .614 slugging percentage (SLG).
He was the only player this season to rank in the top three in the MAC for both runs and RBI and one of just two players with at least three triples and 15 home runs.
In the fielder, Archer ranked ninth in the conference with a .993 fielding percentage, recording just one error compared to 149 putouts.
Freshman catcher Garrett Wright also received multiple awards, earning MAC Freshman of the Year, All-MAC First Team and All-MAC Defensive Team honors.
While Wright is the sixth player in program history to win MAC Freshman of the Year, he is just the third Falcon to be named an All-MAC First Team selection as a freshman.
Wright led all MAC players with a .506 on-base percentage (OBP). He also led all freshmen with a .393 batting average (BA) and a 1.113 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), ranking second and fourth in the conference, respectively.
The Massillon, Ohio, native was also hit by 19 pitches during the regular season, setting a new program record.
Sophomore infielder Sam Seidel earned his first All-MAC First Team selection.
Seidel reached base in 41 of his 42 games played this season and ranked third in the conference with three triples.
At one point, Seidel had a 49-game on-base streak stretching back to last season.
Junior pitcher Nic Good earned All-MAC Second Team and All-MAC Defensive Team selections.
Good is the first pitcher in program history to earn All-MAC Defensive Team honors.
Good led the conference with 14 games started and just one sacrifice fly and triple allowed, ranking fifth with five wins and seventh with a .307 opponent batting average.
The Grosse Pointe, Michigan, native also allowed the fourth-fewest triples with three, the fifth-fewest doubles with 10, and the seventh-fewest walks and home runs with 23 and seven, respectively.
Rounding out the honors, sophomore pitcher and designated hitter DJ Newman, senior infielders Leighton Banjoff and Tyler Ross and senior outfielder Jack Krause earned All-MAC Second Team selections.
At the plate, Newman ranked third in the MAC with a 1.119 OPS and three triples, fifth with a .371 BA, sixth with a .664 SLG and seventh with a .455 OBP.
Banjoff finished third in the MAC with 40 walks drawn. He played four different positions for the Falcons throughout the regular season.
Ross ranked second in the conference with six sacrifice flies and third with three tiples. He earned MAC Player of the Week honors twice during the regular season, on March 11 and 25.
Krause led the MAC with 42 walks drawn. He also ranked fifth with a .466 OBP and ninth with 51 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.
Next, the Orange and Brown will look to add more hardware to the trophy case in the MAC Tournament in Avon later this week.
The Falcons, who enter the tournament as the top seed, will play on Thursday at 2 p.m. against the lowest remaining seed in the winner’s bracket.
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