BGSU baseball (31-19, 17-10) starts to wrap up its baseball season this weekend with its final conference series of the regular season versus the Northern Illinois (NIU) Huskies (20-31, 8-19) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Bowling Green is looking to bounce back from a losing sweep to Notre Dame this past weekend. The Falcons were outscored 25-1 through three games, which were split between South Bend, Indiana, at Frank Eck Stadium Friday and Saturday and Steller Field in Bowling Green on Sunday.
The Orange and Brown take on NIU in their first home series in the month of May, at Steller Field, which is also their first home series since April 26 and 27 against Eastern Michigan.
Falcon Media Sports Network will have coverage on WBGU PBS’s YouTube Channel with Tyler Kavalecz and Chas McNeil on Thursday, WBGU 88.1 on Friday and Falcon Radio on Saturday.
Matchup History
Bowling Green has a pretty strong grip on the series, holding a 42-26-1 record versus the Huskies since their history began in 1968.
At home, the Falcons also tend to dominate, going 20-13-1 when the games are played in Bowling Green.
Last season, the Orange and Brown swept NIU in DeKalb, Illinois April 5 and 6, with one game being an 11-1 run-rule of the Huskies in seven innings.
Scouting Bowling Green
Although BG have a strong history versus the Huskies the Falcons have struggled in weekend series lately, losing five of their last seven Mid-American Conference (MAC) series but they have yet to be swept by a conference opponent taking one game in those five series losses.
Statistically, Bowling Green remains right in the thick of the action, placing fourth in the conference in record at 17-10.
Last week’s performance offensively did drop BGSU’s batting average quite a bit as they fall from second in the MAC to fifth with a .292 batting average, however the Orange and Brown do remain a high contact team at third in the standings with 506 hits on the year.
Pitching for BG did end up on the stronger side in their last game against Notre Dame with the Falcon bullpen allowing only four runs to the Fighting Irish, this puts Bowling Green at a 6.28 ERA on the season placing them fourth in the conference, they also lead the MAC in saves with 16.
Scouting NIU
While Bowling Green is 4-5 through conference series this season, the Huskies do struggle a bit more, standing at a 2-7 win-loss record through nine conference series.
Northern Illinois is also second to last in the MAC standings, missing the conference tournament with a record of 8-19, with one final series to go.
NIU host the second worst batting average in the conference at .265 but they do make the most of their hits with a fourth ranking .468 slugging percentage.
On the bump for NIU, their pitching does tend to struggle with a ninth in the MAC, 7.77 ERA, while also hitting and running in the conference with 571 and 434, respectively.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Garrett Wright (Bowling Green #3)
It’s no secret that Wright has been the focal point of the Falcons their season with a conference leading .407 batting and .505 on base percentage.
Last weekend however Wright found himself in a bit of a slump going 2-11 against Notre Dame’s pitching staff so with NIU’s staff being towards the bottom of the MAC it would not be a surprise to see a return to form for the sophomore.
Landon Willeman (Bowling Green #23)
With how the conference slate has gone for the Falcons, the Orange and Brown could find themselves in a deciding match and Willeman, the usual Sunday guy could give the edge to BG.
In game three at home against the Fighting Irish last weekend, Willeman pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and five strikeouts without a single walk.
Ty Brachbill (Northern Illinois #7)
If NIU wants a chance to redeem itself after last season’s sweep by BG, Brachbill may be a good guy to start with, as he finds himself fourth in the conference with 67 strikeouts.
A quick start by NIU may be just what they need to catch BGSU’s batters off guard early in the contest, as the Falcons are coming off of two scoreless games in their past three.
Logan Gregorio (Northern Illinois #35)
To pair with a strong pitching start, the Huskies will also need a strong start above home plate, and NIU’s best offensive weapon is Gregorio, who hosts a seventh in the MAC .657 slugging percentage.
NIU has shown to be a strong extra-base team throughout this season and with Gregorio leading the way the Huskies could find themselves getting quick runs early off of extra base hits.
