By Ben Shanahan

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

D.J. Newman got his passion for sports at a young age, growing up as a three-sport athlete from tee-ball all the way to his last day at Archbold High School, where he was first team All-Ohio and led the Blue Streaks to a state runner-up finish his junior year.

This spring Newman, a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore right-handed outfielder and pitcher, led the Bowling Green State University baseball team (23-14 overall, 18-3 MAC) to its first Mid-American Conference playoff bid since 2015.

“Yeah, I’ve always played baseball since I was a little kid, all the way from tee-ball to coach pitch and then the normal high school baseball back in Archbold,” Newman said.

“My family was involved in all sports. I was a three-sport athlete in high school. I grew up in a family that was very sports-oriented. And baseball was just something I loved from day one.”

Newman began to realize he was a special talent in baseball back in high school when he got his first offer from BGSU coach Kyle Hallock to play at the NCAA Division I level.

“I would say later in high school, ‘You think you are good, but you never know.’ I always had that little doubt,” Newman said.

“The first offer came from Bowling Green, and that’s when it kind of started to kick in. I was like, ‘Alright, I do have a chance to play somewhere and continue on one of my dreams?’”

Hallock started eyeing Newman when he was a freshman in high school, but they did not get to connect until later down the road.

“The first time he ever watched me play, I was a freshman,” Newman said. “And I was playing third base.

“He did not reach out to me, but that was the first time he saw me, and then the next time I played in a future game, he reached out to me after that,” Newman continued.

“Honestly, we just kind of got along to build a relationship. It was not all just business and baseball-related. It was just talking about success in this or what’s going on in other sports.

“So we created a relationship before anything really happened and then kind of went from there, which was really cool to see from a coach.”

BGSU baseball took a huge step this season, starting out the year 17-0 in the MAC, surpassing their MAC win total from last year (13) with ease before losing their first game to Ohio. BGSU has also clinched its first MAC playoff in nine years with ten games remaining in conference play.

“Great. Last year, we struggled in the MAC,” Newman said. “Our whole team really worked the whole offseason. We had a decent amount of guys back, and the cool thing is that we really were just locked in.

“We still have games this season left, so it’s cool to see that none of the guys have been like that’s all we needed to accomplish. You know, we broke a record too, but the guys are still locked in, and we’re trying to get better every single day.”

As a team, the Falcons have been one of the most electric offenses in the nation this season. BGSU is currently averaging 9.8 runs per game, ranked fifth in the country with only Wofford (10.7), Austin Peay (10.6), Tennessee (10.1) and Columbia (10) averaging more.

Through 37 games, Bowling Green has scored seven-plus runs in 26 games and 10-plus runs in 18 games, including a nation-leading 34 runs against Ball State on March 16 and 26 against Ohio on April 20.

The Falcons are closing in on the record book in the walks category in three different ways. As a team, BGSU has drawn 227 walks this season, 26 shy of matching the program record of 253 set in 1978.

As for career marks, Krause has 91 walks as a Falcon, needing 94 to enter the Top 10 all-time for career walks drawn, and three to enter the record book. Krause is also trailing teammate Leighton Banjoff on the single-season walks list with 30 this year, only eight away from the Top 10.

Newman has an active hitting streak of 14 games, and is second on the team with a .360 batting average (50-for-139) with 42 runs, six doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 35 RBIs, and is 10-for-11 in stolen bases.

As a freshman, Newman played as BGSU’s lone two-way player, appearing in 41 games with 30 starts in the lineup while making 15 appearances on the mound with three starts.

He led the team and all MAC freshman while finishing the regular season fourth in the MAC for batting average (.383)

BGSU baseball was infamously cut in 2020 before being saved by alumni. Newman was not committed to the program when that occurred, but he was still grateful for the alumni and look to pay them back with more wins.

“I was not committed when the program got cut, but I definitely remember where I was. I was on the way to a basketball game when I saw that one of my good buddies, Luke Krouse (Antwerp), was committed here, and he’s now my roommate,” Newman said.

“And we’re like, ‘What is Luke going to do with the program cut?’ But it was a strange day. The alumni stepped in and did everything they could to bring it back.

“We owe them. The only way we can pay them back is by winning, so we really just want to keep this season going, and you know, play for each other, but also know we are playing for the alumni.”