BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team will be playing in the state of Ohio for the first time this season, scheduled for a midweek against Dayton and a weekend series against Ohio. The Falcons and Flyers will play on Wednesday (March 5) with a 3 p.m. tip before a three-game series between Bowling Green and Ohio this weekend in Athens, Ohio. The four games are the final four on the schedule before BGSU's home opener, set for Tuesday (March 11) against Tiffin University. 

Current Weekend Schedule
Wednesday, March 5 at Dayton | 3 p.m.
Friday, March 7 at Ohio | 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 8 at Ohio | 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 9 at Ohio | 1 p.m.

Scouting Dayton
The Flyers currently hold a 6-6 record on the season while being 4-0 at home. The four home wins for the Flyers have been in the last four games, taking one from Bellarmine and three from Bradley. The other two wins for Dayton came against Western Michigan in a doubleheader against the Broncos. Before the Falcons take on Dayton, the Flyers will head to Bellarmine on Tuesday (March 4). Last year, Dayton went 33-22 on the year.

Series History

• Bowling Green and Dayton will be meeting for the 73rd time in program history with the Falcons leading the series with a 47-25 record.
• Last year, BGSU and UD faced off on March 13 with the Flyers claiming a 14-4 final.
• The last Bowling Green win in the series was on April 3, 2019 with a 12-8 victory. 
• The last Falcon win at Dayton came on Feb. 28, 2012 with a 5-2 score. 

Scouting Ohio 
The Bobcats enter the week with a 3-7 record and will have a midweek against Marshall (March 4) before taking on the Falcons this upcoming weekend. For Ohio, their three wins have come against West Georgia and two against Butler. The series against Butler was Ohio's first home series of the season, taking two of three contests. Last year, Ohio went 18-32 on the season while being 13-17 within the Mid-American Conference. 

Series History

• Bowling Green and Ohio have met 185 times previously with the series leaning to the Bobcats with a record of 99-85-1. 
• The Falcons took two of three in last year's series between BGSU-OU.
• The last series win in Athens for Bowling Green came in 2021, winning three of four. 
• Ohio enters the week 3-7, but will play a midweek against Marshall on Tuesday (March 4). 

What To Watch For

• A win against Dayton would give BGSU a 6-5 record, entering MAC play with a record above .500 for the first time since 2008 when they were 8-7 to start the non-conference season. 
• Garrett Wright enters the week inside the top 50 in the nation for Hit-By-Pitches per game, averaging 0.60 which is tied for 39th in the nation and first in the MAC. 
• Wright is also tied for the most triples so far this season in the MAC with two. Miami (OH)'s Ryan Novak is the only other MAC player with multiple triples this season. 
• As a team, the BGSU pitching staff has tallied 90 strikeouts over nine games, the third-most in the MAC behind Ball State (111 in 11 games) and Akron (104 in 11 games). 

For The First Time Since… 
The Falcons have a few accomplishments on the line this week as they enter MAC play. A win over Dayton would give the Falcons a 6-5 record entering MAC play, which would mark the first winning record for BGSU heading into the conference schedule since going 8-7 in 2008. Additionally, the Falcons are looking to start MAC play with a series win in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2018-19, taking two of three from Ohio in 2018 and a sweep over Toledo in 2019. Last year, the Falcons began MAC play with a sweep over Miami (OH), beginning a stretch of 17-0 to begin the conference schedule, the best start in MAC baseball history and the second-best in BGSU Athletics history. 

Birchmeier Off To Strong Start
Through the first 10 games of the season, Brady Birchmeier has been strong at the bat for the Falcons. So far, Birchemeier has knocked at least one hit in every game this year, resulting in a .310 batting average. He's also belted two of BGSU's six home runs this season with a .500 slugging percentage. Birchmeier's hot start has led to a team-leading 13 RBI, which is tied for third in the MAC and just three off the MAC lead, held by Evan Applewick at Miami (OH). Birchmeier also leads the team in at-bats (42) and total bases (21). 

Newman Returns To The Mound
DJ Newman returned to the mound for the Falcons for the first time since April 13 of last year, getting a start this past weekend. Newman tossed four scoreless innings for the Orange and Brown, striking out four in the process. In addition, Newman is leading the Falcons in batting average, hitting .375. He also tops the team list in runs scored with 10 while being tied for the team-lead in doubles with three this season. This comes after Newman's 2024 season was cut short by injury, missing the final 18 games of the season. Prior to the season, Newman was named to multiple Preseason All-American teams as a two-way player. 

Follow the Falcons
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Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSU_Baseball
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