BGSU baseball (17-30, 10-17) wraps up its first season at the newly renovated Steller Field with a three-game Mid-American Conference (MAC) series against Western Michigan (22-21, 16-11) this weekend.
The series begins under the lights at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, as Saturday and Sunday have 3:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. scheduled first pitches, respectively.
Matchup History
The Falcons and Broncos have recently picked up a near-rivalry feel throughout multiple sports. Western Michigan has been dominant against Bowling Green in the baseball scene, winning eight of their last 10 meetings.
One of the most recent matchups came at the MAC tournament in Avon, Ohio, during the 2024 season. The Broncos overpowered the Falcons 11-0.
The last matchup at Steller Field came in the same 2024 season, where Western Michigan took two out of the three games. The last series victory for the Falcons came in 2022 at home, when they took three out of four.
Scouting Bowling Green
The Orange and Brown are on the brink of tournament elimination and in dire need of their second series victory of the season.
With only two MAC series left, Bowling Green would need to win at least two against Western Michigan to give them a shot at contention in their final series against Ball State.
Junior outfielder TJ Takats has notched multiple hits in the last four series against Western Michigan and also picked up an RBI last season when the two met in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Falcons have struggled to pick up wins when redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Ethan Stade is on the mound. Among the top 50 in the NCAA in strikeouts, Stade only has two wins in eight starts on the season.
Bowling Green has rarely been able to capitalize offensively on strong pitching performances. They need both in order to climb closer to tournament possibilities.
Scouting Western Michigan
Although they had been firmly established as a top-tier team in the MAC this season, Western Michigan has lost four of the last six conference games.
Their last two series have been against both No. 3 Miami (OH) and No. 1 Kent State, who both are still in contention to be regular-season champions.
The Broncos have their own player atop the ranks of NCAA statistics as Junior utility player Tanner Mally has the highest batting average in all collegiate baseball. The .468 batting average puts him a whole .040 above anyone else in the NCAA, .075 above anyone in the MAC, and .115 above anyone else on his team.
He is also hitting .161 better than anyone on the Bowling Green roster.
On the mound, the Broncos have all three of their starters with an ERA below a 6.00. Junior Sam Carlisle and graduate student Ricky Kidd each have a MAC-play ERA of sub-4.0 and combine for 18 of WMU’s 27 starts.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Sam Seidel (Bowling Green No. 21)
Playing in his final series at Steller Field, the senior is looking to help the Falcons end their first season on the newly renovated field on a strong note.
Being the one to design the decals on the outfield wall, Seidel will look for at least one last shot over them to end out his career in the Orange and Brown. He is tied for the team-lead in home runs with six.
Andrew DiLodovico (Bowling Green No. 25)
The freshman catcher had a season batting average above .300 as recently as April 24. He has since gone into a slight slump, recording two hits in the last seven games and lowering his batting average to .264.
To get himself and Bowling Green back on track, DiLodovico will have to step back up and notch a few more hits in the final home series of his rookie season.
Ricky Kidd (Western Michigan No. 24)
Holding the best record out of the Western Michigan starting pitchers with 6-1, Kidd will bring problems to the Bowling Green batters. He currently sits at 4.81 ERA and has only allowed 28 walks.
Kidd has allowed a team-high 66 hits on the season but lets the defense do the work for him to get outs. This plays to his advantage as the Bowling Green team tends to be contact-oriented.
Michael Maloney (Western Michigan No. 12)
The graduate student infielder is one of the best hitters for Western Michigan. He is in the top three of nearly every statistical category from the plate and leads the team with 51 RBIs.
Maloney is a major piece of the defensive play for the Broncos with only two errors in the last five MAC series (15 games). With his bat and his glove, he is a key piece in pushing the Broncos to a MAC tournament appearance.
