Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
CLEVELAND STATE
Falcons Win 2002 Home Opener, Finally, 5-3
April 03, 2002 | Baseball
April 3, 2002
Bowling Green, Ohio - After three cancellations or postponements of Bowling Green State University's baseball home opener in the past week, the Falcons finally opened newly renovated Warren Steller Field on Wednesday afternoon with a 5-3 victory over visiting Cleveland State.
BGSU (8-13 overall) scored all five runs in the first three innings and held on using seven different pitchers to post its eighth win, and first at home, this season. The Falcons began the year with 20 road games.
Junior first baseman Kelly Hunt helped BG crack the scoring column with a two-run blast down the right-field line, scoring Tim Newell who reached on an infield single, for a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. It was Hunt's team-leading sixth four-bagger of the season.
Freshman Matt Hundley (1-1) started the game for Bowling Green, facing the minimum in the first two innings. Hundley earned his first collegiate win by not allowing a hit or run while walking two and striking out two in two innings of work.
CSU pitcher Matt Kaltenbach retired two of the first three Falcons in the second inning (fly out and strikeout) before hitting Jimmy Lipari and allowing Newell's second infield single of the game to load the bases. Jeff Warnock was the first Falcon to reach after a single down the left-field line and scored from third off of a wild pitch by Kaltenbach, giving the home team a 3-0 advantage.
BG's final runs came in the third inning when Kevin Longstreth hit a two-out double to left-center, scoring Warnock and Nate Henschen, for a 5-0 Falcon lead. Both Warnock and Henschen had reached on singles.
The Vikings (3-16 overall) scored their first run in the top of the fourth inning off of a sacrifice fly by Brook Richards, scoring Brian Beaumier, for a 5-1 Falcon lead. Later in the inning, on a double-steal attempt, shortstop Nick Elrod cut off a throw to second by Newell and threw back to home plate in time to cut down Dominic Erney for the third out.
CSU inched closer in the seventh when Richards hit a two-run home run to center field, scoring Stipe Miocic. BG's lead was cut to 5-3 as a result.
However, Falcon sophomore Ryan Lindquist allowed one hit (double) in the eighth inning and classmate Neil Schmitz pitched a perfect ninth inning (two strikeouts and groundout to shortstop) to earn his third save of the season and seal the win for Bowling Green.
Newell (2-for-4, one run) and Warnock (2-for-4, two runs scored), along with Hunt's two-run blast, supplied most of the offense for BG.
The Falcons host Ohio University this weekend, April 5-7, for a four-game Mid-American Conference series at Steller Field. Friday's nine-inning game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday (1 p.m.) and one game on Sunday (1 p.m.).
