BGSU baseball (3-10, 1-2) heads down to Dayton, Ohio, to face off against the Dayton Flyers (12-3, 0-0) on Tuesday, with first pitch coming at 3:00 p.m.
Bowling Green has a 48-24 overall record against Dayton all-time, with the Falcons taking both matchups between the teams in their last season. The record while at Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium in Dayton, Ohio, also leans in the way of the Orange and Brown 22-17.
Scouting Bowling Green
The Falcons head into this midweek game following a series loss against Kent State, picking up the Saturday game 7-2.
One of the biggest contributors to BGSU’s singular win over the Golden Flashes came from the stellar pitching performance of redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Ethan Stade.
The Minnesota State transfer came into the ballgame in the sixth inning in relief of redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Nate Kress, who pitched five innings and allowed two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Stade would enter the ball game and dominate his outing, recording 11 strikeouts while allowing just one hit through 15 batters.
The Falcons’ first midweek game of the season, an 11-1 loss to Cincinnati, featured Stade as the starting pitcher. In that game, Stade allowed two runs on five hits and only worked through two innings.
Stade was able to redeem his rough outing against Cincinnati with his stellar play against Kent State.
From an offensive standpoint, junior infielder Vinny Salvione had himself an impressive first Mid-American Conference (MAC) series, totaling two home runs and a triple throughout the series. Both of the home runs were the only runs scored by the Falcons in both the Friday and Sunday games.
Scouting Dayton
The Flyers are yet to play an Atlantic-10 conference game this season, but are sitting at the top of the conference standings through the majority of non-conference play.
Dayton heads into the weekday matchup on a five-game win streak, including victories over MAC opponents such as Ohio and Akron. The team is currently 5-1 against MAC opponents on the season.
The Flyers are led offensively by graduate student utility player Danny MacDougall, who is currently batting .452 on the season with 28 hits, including double-digit doubles and two home runs.
Throughout two midweek matchups this season, the Flyers have used multiple pitchers in both of their games.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher David Cox and left-handed pitcher Carson Samuels totaled eight innings between the two, with only two runs being let up by Samuels.
While neither of the two sophomores started a midweek game, with the Flyers seemingly throwing by committee on these matchups, it is most likely one or both of these two will see the mound at some point in the game.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Vinny Salvione (Bowling Green No. 23)
Since being moved to the second spot in the batting order, Salvione has notched three home runs and has been the most consistent hitter in the Bowling Green lineup. Looking to continue his hot stretch before getting into the depths of MAC play, Salvione will need to produce against a tough in-state opponent.
TJ Takats (Bowling Green No. 10)
In the Falcons’ only win against the Golden Flashes, Takats was the only Falcon with multiple hits. While not playing in the field yet this season and still gaining momentum back from his ACL injury in the Fifth Third Field game against Toledo last season, Takats has started to look like himself again at the plate, which is needed for this BGSU offense.
Danny MacDougall (Dayton No. 21)
Leading this Dayton offense, MacDougall will look to take advantage of a Bowling Green pitching staff that has been making changes in the past few games. In games against MAC opponents, MacDougall has totaled 10 hits and four RBI; he will look to add to those numbers in this matchup.
The freshman infielder has begun his collegiate career with scorching hot batting, batting .333 with 15 hits and six homers. Lynch also leads the team in RBI with 22 and slugging percentage with .800. The majority of his career highs have come against other MAC opponents.
