BGSU baseball’s offense has come alive during the team’s recent five-game winning streak, erupting with their most electric performance of the season Wednesday against Lourdes University at Steller Field.
The Falcons defeated the Gray Wolves 13-4, scoring a season-high 13 runs on 16 hits, with every player in the lineup recording a hit.
Bowling Green’s offense entered last week’s series against Akron as arguably the worst statistical unit in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
In the first 25 games of the season, the Falcons averaged just 4.6 runs scored per game, ranking last in the MAC in batting average (.233), on-base percentage (.320), slugging percentage (.369) and OPS (.689).
However, the Orange and Brown have flipped the script.
Over the past five games against Akron, Ohio State and Lourdes, Bowling Green has averaged 9.2 runs per game, tallying a .323 batting average, .452 OBP, .494 slugging percentage and .946 OPS.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s your numbers will be your numbers by the end of the year, so don’t panic because they move every at-bat. They move every out. They move every time a runner scores in an inning. By the end of the year, they don’t move,” Bowling Green head coach Kyle Hallock said. “So, in the meantime, take a deep breath, go up there and win a pitch and take care of business.”
Before the Akron series, the Falcons made a key change to their approach at the plate after insights from associate head coach Matt Rembielak and recruiting coordinator Jordan Barchus.
“We made an adjustment offensively a couple weeks ago to kind of get up on the plate, start seeing pitches a lot longer instead of just free swinging. I think that’s kind of paid off,” redshirt senior infielder Anthony Mitta said.
Before the Akron series, the Falcons had not won more than one game in a row during the first 25 games of the season. Now, Bowling Green is tied with MAC-leading Kent State for the longest active winning streak in the conference.
“We’re tough; we’re mentally tough. I mean, we could’ve easily given up on ourselves early. We got down in a lot of games, and offensively, we stayed with it,” Mitta said. “We made the adjustments and we all had faith in our approaches, and it’s worked out.”
Along with the adjustments at the plate, there has been a major shift in the team’s confidence.
“There’s been a major step forward in the buy-in for what works at Bowling Green State University and what works within this program,” Hallock said. “I credit the players for getting together on that, and I credit them for not giving up. I credit them for their toughness and willingness to come together for something greater than themselves.”
The Falcons will seek to continue their offensive success when they return to Steller Field for the start of a three-game series against Central Michigan Friday April 10, at 6 p.m.
