The Bowling Green State University baseball team will be embarking on their third season under coach Kyle Hallock after going 18-34 a year ago with a 14-24 standing within the Mid-American Conference.
The 2023 schedule is set with 23 non-conference games, against 10 different non-conference opponents, and 30 conference contests for a total of 53 games this season.
“The 2023 schedule as a whole is a level up in terms of quality for our program compared to the first two years. We have a good number of nationally recognizable teams, along with regionally respected programs from our region,” Hallock said.
The non-conference road schedule will prepare the team well for the conference slate because they are some of the best in college baseball, he said.
“It is nice to have midweek games back so we can stay in rhythm of competing against other teams during the week to maintain our edge heading into every weekend,” Hallock said. “Every game on our schedule is important and serves a purpose to our expectations of playing for a championship in May. Everyone on our schedule is the same in our eyes. We expect to compete and perform in that matter.”
The Falcons will begin the 2023 season on the road against Tennessee Tech on Feb. 17, with a 14-game road stretch to start the season, playing 17 of their first 18 games on the road.
After the three-game series, BGSU will shift attention to Louisville for a three-game weekend series beginning Feb. 24. A four-game set against Evansville will begin on March 3.
The non-conference schedule will resume on March 14 with a home-and-home against Oakland, including the home opener on March 15.
The Falcons will host Purdue Fort Wayne on March 21 and Youngstown State on March 22. BGSU will travel to face each, going to Fort Wayne on March 28 and Youngstown State on May 10.
The non-conference schedule rounds out with a handful of games against Power 5 opponents. Bowling Green will travel to Michigan State on April 5, Ohio State on April 12, Notre Dame on May 2 and will play a three-game series at Virginia Tech beginning May 6.
The Falcons will open conference play on the road against Ohio on March 10 for the first of 10 MAC weekends. The conference schedule will keep BGSU on the road against Akron starting March 17.
The first home conference series of the season for Bowling Green will begin on March 24 when the Falcons welcome the Miami RedHawks to Steller Field.
The conference schedule will return to the road on March 31 for a series against Central Michigan before the Falcons will be back at home for two consecutive home conference series.
The Kent State Golden Flashes will visit the weekend of April 7 before the Eastern Michigan Eagles make the trip to Bowling Green, beginning on April 14.
The Falcons will go back on the road after back-to-back home conference series, traveling to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan on April 21 before being back home to host Ball State on April 28.
BGSU will have a non-conference week before resuming MAC play on May 12 against Northern Illinois for the final home series of the season. The 2023 regular season will then wrap up on the road against Toledo with the series starting May 18.
“Our 2023 team’s preseason is right on track with our expectations. The complete roster is more available than it has been in both 2021 and 2022 entering the final phases of the preseason,” Hallock said.
“We have asked this team to make some permanent adjustments that they have taken head on and completed at a high level so far. As a team, we are athletically gifted, and the game is looking easier for us to play at a high-level week in and week out.
He said that position players are playing more disciplined and at a faster tempo.
“Our pitching staff has a renewed confidence and presence that we expect to pay off based on a lot of consistent hard work. This 2023 team will make noise this year inside and outside of the conference,” Hallock said.
