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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Kent State
BGSU Drops Series Finale, 13-9
May 12, 2002 | Baseball
May 12, 2002
Kent, Ohio - Bowling Green dropped its final game of the series at Kent State on Sunday after a three-hour rain delay, 13-9, at Gene Michael Field.
A three-run rally in the top of the ninth inning ended short of BGSU recording a four-game sweep of KSU. BGSU won the first three games of the series prior to Sunday.
The Falcons scored in each of the first three innings and four of the first five frames on Sunday. Kelly Hunt hit a two-out double to left-center field in the first inning and came home on an RBI-single from Andy Hudak for an early 1-0 lead.
KSU took the lead in the bottom of the first inning with two runs off of a throwing error. The Falcons tied it in the top of the second inning, 2-2, off of an RBI-single to center field by David Barkholz, scoring Len Elias who had reached on a KSU error.
The Flashes scored three runs in the bottom of the second for a 5-2 advantage. However, BGSU came back with three runs of their own in the top of the third inning to knot the score at 5-5. Tim Newell began the inning with a double to right-center field and scored one batter later when Hunt singled to center field. The next batter was Hudak who drilled his eighth homer of the season, a two-run blast to left-center field, to tie the score, 5-5.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the fourth inning when the hosts plated six runs off of four hits and one Falcon error for a 11-5 lead. Bowling Green scored a run in the top of the fifth inning before KSU added another run in the bottom of the sixth and eighth innings to push its lead to 13-6.
BGSU's first five batters reached base to begin the ninth inning for its rally. Hudak led off the inning with a walk and Corey Loomis followed with a two-run homer down the left-field line, his 11th of the season, to bring the Falcons to within five, 13-8. Nick Elrod followed Loomis with a solo blast to right field, his sixth of the year, to narrow the gap to 13-9. Jeff Warnock then doubled and Elias singled with no outs to increase the threat. Spencer Schmitz struck out for the first out and then Barkholz grounded into a double play to end the game.
Elrod finished the day 3-for-5 with five other Falcons collecting two hits apiece. Hudak was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three runs batted in. The sophomore third baseman extended his longest hitting streak of the season to eight games.
Freshman Burke Badenhop (3-2) suffered the loss, allowing 10 runs (six earned) in three and one-third innings of work. He walked three while striking out a career-high seven batters. Freshman Matt Hundley entered in relief and struck out a career-high five batters in three and two-third innings while allowing two runs.
BGSU (26-20 overall, 14-7 in the MAC) has its last non-conference game on Wednesday, May 15, at Michigan State. The nine-inning contest is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Falcons wrap up their regular season next weekend (May 17-19) with a four-game series vs. Akron at Warren Steller Field.
KSU Series Notes:
*The 3-1 series win over Kent State was the first for BGSU since taking three of four games from the Flashes in 1988.
*SO Andy Hudak finished the four-game series 10-for-16 (.625 avg.) with three doubles, two home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.188 slugging percentage. The third baseman is currently on an eight-game hitting streak and batting a team-high .486 in league play.
* BGSU is now one and one-half games behind Kent State for first place in the MAC East Division. The Falcons are also in the hunt to host the MAC Tournament since Kent State and BGSU now have the two-best winning percentages in the MAC. THE TEAM WITH THE BEST OVERALL WINNING PERCENTAGE IN LEAGUE PLAY EARNS THE RIGHT TO HOST THE POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT.
