Bowling Green State University
MICHIGAN STATE
Falcons Comeback Results in 7-6 Win over Michigan State
May 15, 2002 | Baseball
May 15, 2002
East Lansing, Mich. - Bowling Green won its final non-conference game of the 2002 season on Wednesday with a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over host Michigan State University. The Falcons used seven different pitchers and 13 different position players to improve to 27-20 overall.
Senior reliever Keith Williams retired the Spartans in order in the bottom of the ninth inning to capture his first career save. Sophomore Ryan Lindquist (3-2) earned the win, retiring the side in order in the seventh inning.
Down 6-2 in the seventh inning, Spencer Schmitz led off with a single to center field and David Barkholz followed with a bunt single down the third-base line, putting runners on first and second base. After the next two Falcons were retired, junior Kelly Hunt smacked his 17th home run of the season, a three-run blast over the left-field wall, to bring the visitors to within one, 6-5. Then senior Len Elias followed with a solo shot to right field, his seventh homer of the year, to knot the game up at 6-6.
In the eighth inning, with two outs, Schmitz again began the Falcon rally with another single to center field. Barkholz followed with a single past a diving second baseman into center field, moving Schmitz to third base. Freshman Kevin Longstreth then hit a dribbler to the third baseman and beat out the throw to plate Schmitz and the game-winning run, 7-6.
Sophomore Neil Schmitz got the first two batters out that he faced in the eighth inning and then gave up a triple to Charlie Braun. He got Bob Malek to hit a weak grounder back to the mound for the third out of the inning. Williams then entered in the ninth to put the game away.
Four different Falcon relievers over the final four innings of the game allowed just one hit (Braun's triple), including a hitless sixth inning by senior Kevin Stock.
MSU (32-17) scored the first four runs of the game with one in the second and three in the third. Elias then led off the top of the fourth inning with a double to left field and scored on an Andy Hudak single to center field to cut into the Spartan lead, 4-1. Hudak's RBI-single extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games.
After Nate Henschen walked, Jayson Selgo and Jimmy Lipari flew out, and Elias moved to third base. A passed ball then scored Elias to put BGSU behind by two, 4-2.
MSU scored a run in the fourth and fifth innings to extend its lead back to four runs, 6-2, to set up BGSU's comeback victory.
Barkholz finished 3-for-4 with a run scored while Elias and Spencer Schmitz each had two hits apiece.
BGSU now comes home for a crucial four-game series against the University of Akron this weekend (May 17-19) at Warren Steller Field. The Falcons are one and a half games behind Kent State for the Mid-American Conference East Division crown and a chance to host theMAC postseason tournament (May 22-25).
