MAC Baseball Notebook (April 18)

Updated 4/18/2000

FALCONS TIE FLASHES FOR LEAD:
Bowling Green swept its four-game series with Marshall this past weekend, and improved its record in league play to 9-1. The league mark for the Falcons, who have won seven straight MAC games, is tied with Kent for the top spot in the East Division and the best mark overall in the conference. BGSU, which closes out its six-game homestand this week, is 12-2 at Steller Field this season and has won nine of its last 10 games at home. During Bowling Green's seven-game league winning streak, the Falcons have outscored their opponents 52-22.

ADAMS TIES SAVES RECORD:
Kent senior relief pitcher Dan Adams tied Miami's Ted Ward for the MAC career saves record with his 25th save in Kent's 5-2 win against Ohio on Sunday. Earlier that day he picked up the victory in Kent's 5-3 eight-inning win. For the week, Adams was a part of four of the five Golden Flash wins with a 1-0 record and had three saves to go with a 1.50 ERA.

SCHRAGE HAS NIU WINNING:
Northern Illinois first-year head coach Dave Schrage has his Huskies doing something that they haven't been able to do much over the previous two seasons, and that's win. With 16 wins to date, Schrage has won more games this year than NIU had won over its last two years combined (14). In addition, junior pitcher Brian Miller tossed a seven-hit shutout against Toledo on Sunday, posting the team's first blanking since Apr. 3 of last year and ironically was the squad's last win of the 1999 campaign.

TEKAVEC NABS SEVENTH WIN:
Miami's Nate Tekavec became the league's first seven-game winner on Saturday when he threw a complete game six-hitter at Akron. Tekavec, who also struck out seven, won his sixth straight decision and also pitched his third straight complete game. With the win over the Zips, the junior hurler also moved into a tie for third all-time in career wins at Miami with 25.

CHIPPEWAS GOING DEEP:
Heading into last week's action, Central Michigan had 23 home runs. The Chippewas improved that total to 33 with 10 long balls in CMU's six games last week, seven of which came in league games with Ball State. Junior Jason Helps had three of the team's 10 homers.

CARDS GOING LONG AS WELL:
In addition to Central Michigan's 10 home runs last week, Ball State topped that figure by hitting 15 homers in six games. Eight of those came off Chippewa pitchers. The Cardinals are tied with Marshall for second in the league with 42 home runs this season. Ohio is leading the MAC with 44 homers.

MOVED, BUT NO CHANGE:
Marshall junior Jason Ricceri opened the four-game series with Bowling Green at the bottom of the lineup and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in a 4-3 loss to the Falcons. That performance prompted moving Ricceri to the second slot in the batting order, and he did nothing to disappoint head coach Dave Piepenbrink. The shortstop concluded the weekend by going 5-for-9 with a double, a home run and three RBIs.

ZIP DOUBLES HIS PLEASURE:
Akron junior Mark Malaska doubled his two-bag output for the season in one weekend, and early did it in one game. Malaska, who tied for the league lead in doubles last year (22), banged out four last week to increase his total to eight. In Sunday's first game with Miami, the outfielder was a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate -- all three hits were doubles -- and drove in two runs.

SCHIML STOPS KENT STREAK:
Ohio's Tony Schiml, who was the MAC's Co-Pitcher of the Week last week, continued his winning ways over the weekend, and in turn ended Kent's nine-game winning streak. Schiml went the distance in the Bobcats' 6-3 win over the Golden Flashes. The senior allowed only two earned runs over the seven innings and surrendered four hits. Schiml improved his record to 4-2.

TONER ALMOST HITS FOR CYCLE:
Western Michigan junior outfielder John Toner nearly hit for the cycle in the team's second game on Sunday against Eastern Michigan. Toner, who was 3-for-4 in the contest, was a triple shy of pulling off the feat. For the week, he hit .571 (8-for-14) to improve his average to .410, which is fourth in the league. Toner also leads the MAC in hits (50) and is sixth in RBIs (32).

SENIORS DOUBLE IT UP FOR UT:
Toledo seniors Mario Wallace and Jason Stuecher have teamed up this season to double their pleasure for the Rockets. The pair, who rank third and seventh in the league in doubles, respectively, have combined for 25 two-baggers.

SCHELL DISPLAYS CONTROL:
Central Michigan's Dan Schell improved his record to 3-0 following his performance against Ball State over the weekend, and displayed some control. Schell had a career-high 12 strikeouts against no walks in the 9-6 win at Ball State. For the season, Schell has 32 strikeouts and five walks.

THOMAS TOPS EMU LISTS:
Eastern Michigan's Vince Thomas ranks in the top five in the MAC two offensive categories -- hits (5th, 46) and stolen bases (5th, 11). Thomas, who also paces the Eagles in batting (.343), is the only EMU regular hitting over .300.