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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame Slips By Falcons, 3-2
April 24, 2002 | Baseball
April 24, 2002
South Bend, Ind. - Notre Dame defeated Bowling Green in six innings on Wednesday night in a rain-shortened contest, 3-2. The 7:05 EST start was delayed for nearly an hour and another storm that passed at the start of the seventh inning caused the game to be called with the Irish ahead by just one run.
A sixth inning solo home run by Notre Dame's Kris Billmaier gave the home team the deciding 3-2 verdict.
Bowling Green began the game with three-straight hits, including a game-opening double by David Barkholz off the left-field wall. Tim Newell followed with an infield single to put runners on first and third. Second baseman Corey Loomis then doubled to left-center, scoring Barkholz, and putting Falcons on second and third with no outs. However, ND pitcher Ryan Kalita got Kelly Hunt to pop out to the shortstop and then struckout Nick Elrod and Len Elias to hold BG to just one run.
BG starter Tom Oestrike faced just four batters in the bottom of the first inning and then got out of a jam in the second frame. Billmaier hit a one-out single to left field, putting Irish runners on first and third. But, Javier Sanchez hit a grounder back to the mound that Oestrike turned into an inning-ending double play to keep the Falcons ahead, 1-0.
Notre Dame finally plated a run in the third inning off of a groundout by Brian Stavisky, scoring Joe Thaman from third base and knotting the score at 1-1.
Kyle Knoblauch entered the fourth inning in relief and gave up one run on one hit for a 2-1 Irish lead.
Hunt tied the score again, though, in the sixth inning on a one-out sole home run to right field, his 13th homer and 53rd RBI of the season. The junior first baseman entered the game 19th in home runs and fifth in RBIs among Division I hitters.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Billmaier hit his two-out homer to right field off of reliever Matt Hundley for the Notre Dame lead, 3-2.
After a one-out double by Nate Henschen in the top of the seventh inning the skies opened again and the game was called after another rain delay of approximately 30 minutes. All stats reverted to the end of the sixth inning for the 3-2 Notre Dame victory.
Matt Hundley (1-3) suffered the loss despite giving up just one hit in two innings of work. Kalita (2-0) picked up the win for Notre Dame (29-12). The loss snapped a season-long five-game winning streak for the Falcons.
BG (17-17) returns home Friday, April 26, for a 3 p.m. single game against the University of Toledo. The Falcons then play UT in a doubleheader at Fifth Third Field on Saturday at 3 p.m. and return to Warren Steller Field for a single game on Sunday (1 p.m.).
