BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team will take on teams from the state of Michigan this week, starting on the road with the University of Michigan on Tuesday (April 22) before a weekend series against Eastern Michigan at home. BGSU's first game, being against the Michigan Wolverines, is set for a 4 p.m. start in Ann Arbor on Big Ten Network Plus. From there, the Falcons will be back at home, hosting Eastern Michigan in a three-game series starting on Friday (April 25). Friday is currently set for a 3 p.m. start before 1 p.m. first pitches on Saturday and Sunday (April 26-27). The game on Sunday is set to be on BCSN with a simulcast on ESPN+. Any schedule changes will be announced on BGSUFalcons.com as well as Twitter/X (@BGSU_Baseball). 

Current Week Schedule
Tuesday, April 22 | at Michigan | 4 p.m. | B1G+
Friday, April 25 | vs. Eastern Michigan | 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 26 | vs. Eastern Michigan | 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 27 | vs. Eastern Michigan | 1 p.m. | BCSN/ESPN+

What To Watch For

• As a team, Bowling Green is averaging 2.13 doubles per game, ranking second in the MAC while being tied for 48th in the nation. 
• Garrett Wright is tied for seventh in the nation and leads the MAC in hit-by-pitches per game with an average of 0.54. Wright has been hit 20 times this year, one away from tying his own record. 
• Brady Birchmeier heads into the week ranked 49th in the nation for RBI per game with an average of 1.29 while totaling a team-high 44 for the season. 

Scouting Michigan
Michigan will enter Tuesday's game with a record of 23-17 on the season while being 8-10 within Big Ten play. The Wolverines were just swept by Iowa at home during a three-game weekend series, a string of losses that snapped a seven-game winning streak for Michigan. The Wolverines are no stranger to MAC opponents, holding a record of 4-2 against MAC foes. The wins for U of M have come over Toledo twice, Eastern Michigan and Akron, while the losses have been to Western Michigan on March 18 (6-0) and Eastern Michigan on March 25 (9-8). 

Series History Against The Wolverines

• Bowling Green and Michigan will be meeting for the 64th time in program history with the Wolverines holding the all-time advantage at 47-15-1.
• The meeting will be the first between the teams since 2019. The BGSU win in the series came on April 22, 2014 with a 7-4 final, the last time the two met on April 22. 
• The last Power 5 win for BGSU came on Feb. 25, 2023 over #5 Louisville with a 9-6 victory. 

Scouting Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan heads into the week with a 16-18 standing on the season while being 9-9 within the MAC with a midweek set for Tuesday (April 22) against Youngstown State at home. EMU is coming off a series win over UAlbany in their non-conference weekend. Prior to that, the Eagles took one of three from Toledo after being swept by Ball State. The last MAC series win for Eastern Michigan came at the end of March, taking two of three from Ohio. EMU's lone MAC sweep of the year came over Akron in their first conference series. 

Series History Against The Eagles

• Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan have met 190 times previously with EMU holding the advantage with a record of 113-77.
• Eastern Michigan is coming off their non-conference weekend of the season, taking two of three from UAlbany, snapping a 1-5 streak after series against Toledo and Ball State. 
• The Falcons have won two of three games in the series against EMU each of the last two seasons.

Antillon's Big Week Earns MAC Honor
Over the last week, Gunner Antillon hit .700 with only one strikeout for BGSU. He led the Falcons with 14 hits and 12 RBI, totaling 25 bases over four games to notch a 1.250 slugging percentage. Antillon belted his first two home runs of the season and added five doubles over the course of the week while scoring six times. He tallied at least three hits in all four of BGSU's games this week while scoring himself and logging at least an RBI in each contest as well. He began the week with a home run and two doubles in each of BGSU's first two games.

Wright Among Nation's Elite Company
Garrett Wright has worked his way inside the Top 15 in the nation for both batting average and on-base percentage, one of just six players in the nation to do so. Over the last week, Wright posted a .611 batting average to go along with a .708 on-base percentage. The strong stretch improved Wright's season numbers to .420 and .530, respectively. Wright now leads the Mid-American Conference in both stats while being ranked 12th in the nation for batting average and 13th in the nation for on-base percentage. Wright is the top catcher in the nation for both stats as well. He's also worked his way into the Top 50 in the nation for hits per game, averaging 1.57 to be tied for 42nd in the country. 

The Freshmen Three Stooges Of BGSU
Brayden Curlis (Curly), Carter Mottice (Mo) and Alex Laird (Larry) have put together breakout campaigns over the last week for the Falcons. The three freshmen, all earning nicknames resembling The Three Stooges, lit up the bottom of the order for BGSU over the last week, hitting seven-eight-nine on the lineup card. The three freshmen combined for a .354 batting average while scoring 10 runs and driving in 13 RBI. Each of the three tallied a double over the last week while Curlis added his first home run as a Falcon. The trio also combined for seven walks drawn, five sacrifices and two stolen bases for the Orange and Brown. 

Falcons At The Dish
As a team, Bowling Green has moved into the Top 50 in the nation for multiple offensive stats. The Falcons are hitting a MAC-leading .308 so far this season, ranking 34th in the nation. To accompany the batting average, BGSU has tallied 418 hits while producing an on-base percentage of .415, both second in the conference. The hit total for the Orange and Brown is tied for 27th in the country while the on-base percentage slots in at 42nd. On top of the strong marks in categories that result in getting on base, the Falcons are also among the best in sacrifice flies, ranking second in the MAC and tied for 39th in the nation with 22. 

Penrod's Record Book Pursuit 
Connar Penrod added another save to his season total this past week, bringing his mark to 10, becoming the first Falcon in program history with double-digit saves in a season. For his career, Penrod now has 11 saves, which is tied for fifth in program history with Mike Muzi (1997-2000) and Eric Stachler (1994-95). The next step would be tying Jeremy Spezia (2018-22) with 12. The program record for career saves is set at 17 by Neil Schmitz (2001-04). As for the MAC record book for single-season saves, Penrod would need 13 saves this season to enter the Top 10. 

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