BOWLING GREEN, Ohio—The Bowling Green State University baseball program, under the direction of head coach Danny Schmitz, announced their 2015 schedule on Wednesday (Dec. 10) morning. Coming off a 25-27 season in 2014, the Falcons will begin their season on Feb. 13. The 2015 schedule will feature all 11 Mid-American Conference foes, and at least three first-time opponents.
“We are excited to announce our 2015 schedule,” head coach Danny Schmitz said. “The early season schedule will both challenge us and prepare us for Mid-American Conference play. With such a young team, it will be important to get game experience against a very good lineup of teams.”
The season will begin with three straight series on the road against Ohio Valley Conference competition. BGSU’s season will start in the second weekend of February when the Falcons travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo. for a four-game series with Southeast Missouri State. Last season, the Redhawks went 37-20, finishing 23-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The series will mark the first time that the Falcons and Redhawks have met on the diamond.
The next two weekends will see the Falcons play six games in the state of Kentucky against two different opponents. The Orange and Brown will travel to Morehead State for a three-game showdown with the Eagles (Feb. 20-22). A season ago, MSU finished 29-28, including an overall record of 16-14 in the OVC. For the second straight weekend to open the season, the Falcons will face an opponent for the first time in school history in the Eagles.
Week three of the season will see the Falcons return to Kentucky – this time in Richmond – for a battle with the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. For the first time during the 2015 season, the Falcons will see a somewhat familiar opponent in the dugout across from them, as BGSU leads the all-time series 21-5. The last time the two teams met was in 2012, when the Falcons took 2-of-3 on the road.
The Orange and Brown will begin their annual spring break trip with a trip to Buies Creek, N.C. for a three-game series against Campbell University. The Camels finished the 2014 season at 41-21, qualifying for the NCAA Regional hosted by South Carolina. It was the third-straight 40-win season for CU.
Following the series with Campbell, the Falcons will trek down to the greater Winter Haven, Fla. area for the annual RussMatt Invitational. BGSU will face Bucknell and Butler on Tuesday, March 10 to begin their schedule in Winter Haven. The next day, the Orange and Brown will square off with Illinois State. After an off day Thursday, the Falcons will finish up the spring trip with single games against Maine (Friday, March 13) and Cornell (Saturday, March 14).
The Falcons will play their home opener on March 18, when Youngstown State comes to town. The Penguins are one of three NCAA Tournament participant teams from a season ago on the Falcons’ schedule this season. BGSU will round out the home-and-home series with YSU when they travel to Northeast Ohio on April 21.
The Falcons will play three other home-and-home series this season in non-conference play, including two against MAC foes. The Orange and Brown will take on Toledo (April 28 at BG; April 29 at UT), Eastern Michigan (April 8 at EMU; April 14 at BG) and Dayton (Feb. 24 at UD; May 12 at BG) in other non-conference home-and-home midweek series.
BGSU will travel to Michigan on March 24 and host Findlay on March 31 to round out their non-conference portion of the schedule.
In Mid-American Conference play, the Falcons will host 15 games at Warren E. Steller Field during the 2015 season. MAC play starts on March 20 when BGSU plays host to Ball State. Last season, the Cardinals swept the Orange and Brown en route to a regular season MAC Championship.
Coming off a 15-12 MAC record in 2014, the Falcons will hit the road for the first time during conference play for a three-game weekend series in Dekalb, Ill. The Orange and Brown will play at Northern Illinois March 27-29. Last season, the Falcons defeated NIU in 2-of-3 games.
The next two weekends will see the Falcons start East Division play, as the Orange and Brown welcomes Miami to town for a three-game series, April 3-5. The following weekend, Bowling Green will travel to Southeast Ohio for a series with the Ohio Bobcats. The Falcons won 2-out-of-3 against OU last season in a series played at Steller Field.
Following the weekend trip to Athens, the Falcons will return home for a three-game tilt with Western Michigan. BGSU defeated the Broncos in 2-of-3 during the regular season in 2014, but were eliminated by WMU in the MAC Tournament.
The final of four weekend series against West Division competition will take place in Mount Pleasant, Mich. the following weekend, when the Orange and Brown take on Central Michigan at Theunissen Stadium. Last season, the Chippewas came to Bowling Green and took the weekend series by winning 2-out-of-3.
The final three weekends will prove key as the Falcons jockey for position among East Division teams for the MAC Tournament. The Falcons will host Akron (May 1-3) and Buffalo (May 14-16), while traveling to Kent State (May 8-10), during the final three weekends of the regular season. Last year, the Falcons won 7-of-9 against their final three opponents, including a road, three-game sweep at Akron. The Falcons won their series against both Kent State and Buffalo by taking 2-out-of-3.
