The Mid-American Conference (MAC) released its end-of-season awards Tuesday morning before the conference tournament at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio, and the Orange and Brown took home plenty of hardware for the trophy case.
Sophomore catcher Garrett Wright was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year, along with being named All-MAC First Team and All-MAC Defensive Team.
Wright becomes the second player in program history to be named All-MAC Defensive Player of the Year, joining other catcher T.J. Losby from the 2014 season. Wright is the only player in the MAC with an above .400 batting average, along with an above .500 on-base percentage.
He also broke his own program single-season hit-by-pitch record, set in his freshman year, bringing it up to 26 on the season. That stat has him ninth in the nation this season.
Head coach Kyle Hallock has referred to Wright as the best catcher in the nation on multiple occasions this year.
Senior closer Connar Penrod also received All-MAC first-team honors.
Penrod is the only pitcher in the nation with 12 or more saves and five or more wins. Penrod now holds the BGSU record for single-season saves and is the only Falcon ever to have double-digit saves in a season. His total leads the MAC and puts him tied for sixth in the nation.
The Wauseon, Ohio, native has maintained a 1.78 earned run average (ERA). And has only allowed three extra base hits along with 31 strikeouts and 10 walks.
Bowling Green now look to use the momentum from the final two wins of the season against Northern Illinois, along with the pride of both Wright and Penrod’s accomplishments, to make a deep run in the conference tournament, with game one taking place Wednesday against rivals Toledo, with first pitch at 6:00 pm.
