.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University
OHIO
BGSU Defeats Cold and Ohio, 6-5
April 05, 2002 | Baseball
April 5, 2002
Bowling Green, Ohio - With snow flurries and temperatures in the thirties, Bowling Green won the first game of a four-game series against visiting Ohio University on Friday afternoon at Warren Steller Field, 6-5. It was the second win a row for BG and third in the last four games.
Ohio's Adam Fox hit a two-out single to left field, moving Jason Shockey to second, in the top of the ninth inning. However, both runners moved up a base when left-fielder Kirk Jensen misplayed the ball, putting the tying run on third base and the go-ahead run on second base. But reliever Neil Schmitz shut the door on the Bobcats when he got Ben Crabtree to ground out to Andy Hudak at third base for the final out, securing the 6-5 Falcon win. Schmitz earned his fourth save.
OU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Crabtree singled to right field, scoring Dan Lunsford from third base. All three outs in the first frame came on strikeouts via Falcon starter Doug Flere.
BG responded with the tying run in the bottom half of the first inning. Nick Elrod drew a one-out walk and Tim Newell received a two-out walk. On Newell's free pass, Crabtree's errant throw down to second base went into centerfield, moving Elrod to third base. Elrod scored in the next at-bat when Hudak hit a single to left field to plate the tying run.
Neither team threatened in the second inning. Then Elrod was hit by OU pitcher Walt Novosel to begin the third inning and moved to second on a single by Kelly Hunt. Both runners advanced on a passed ball by Crabtree. Tim Newell followed with a groundout to score Elrod for the go-ahead run, 2-1. Len Elias then hit into a fielder's choice, which scored Hunt from third base for a 3-1 Falcon lead.
Elrod started things again in the fourth inning with a two-out single to right field and Hunt brought him home with a opposite-field home run to right field, his seventh of the season, for a 5-1 BG lead.
OU shortened the lead to one run, 5-4, with three runs in the top of the fifth inning off of just one hit, one Falcon error, two walks and a bases-loaded balk by Flere. That would be all for Flere (2-4) who gave up three earned runs, four walks and struck out six in five full innings to earn his second win of the season.
BG extended its lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth when Elias began the inning with a double to right-center field. He scored off of a single by Kirk Jensen.
Burke Badenhop entered in relief of Flere in the sixth inning, lasting two and one-third innings and allowing one run off of two hits. Schmitz then relieved Badenhop with one out in the eighth inning, allowing just two hits and striking out three over the final one and two-third innings.
Hunt finished 2-for-4 for the Falcons. Ohio (8-13 overall, 0-5 MAC) stranded nine runners while BG left eight runners on base.
BG (9-13 overall, 2-3 MAC) hosts Ohio for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 6, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Steller Field.
