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Bowling Green State University
MIAMI (OH)
Late Scoring Flurry Pushes Falcons Past RedHawks, 15-6
May 22, 2002 | Baseball
May 22, 2002
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Andy Hudak's seventh-inning grand slam broke a 6-6 tie and lifted the Bowling Green State University baseball team to a 15-6 victory over Miami University Wednesday (May 22). The game was the teams' first, and was the second contest of the day, at the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
With the win, the top-seeded Falcons (32-20) will play Ball State on Thursday (May 23) in a 1:00 p.m. contest. The tournament is being held at BGSU's Steller Field. Miami (30-27) will play Thursday at 10:00 a.m. against the loser of Wednesday's Eastern Michigan-Central Michigan contest.
The RedHawks got on the board first, with a pair of second-inning runs. Paul Frietch, who had doubled with one out, came home on a wild pitch by BGSU's Kyle Knoblauch. An Andi Scheidt single scored Ryan Edginton to give MU a two-run lead.
The Falcons took the lead with three runs in the third. Kevin Longstreth doubled to the base of the wall in right-center, and scored on a David Barkholz single. One out later, Corey Loomis lofted a two-run homer to rightfield off MU starter and loser Russ Bayer.
The Falcons got another run in the fourth, on Nick Elrod's leadoff round-tripper, and BGSU took a 6-2 lead with a pair of runs in the fifth. Kelly Hunt, who was named the MAC Player of the Year earlier in the day, ripped a two-run double to center to plate Tim Newell and Loomis.
MU crept within a run with a three-spot in the sixth. Brian Canada and David Cook began the inning with back-to-back singles, and came home on Sam Sellery's three-run shot over the wall in left-center.
The RedHawks tied the score with an unearned run in the seventh. After Edginton's leadoff single, Scheidt reached when his fly ball was dropped for an error. Then, Zach Schmidt's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, and Canada's sacrifice fly brought Edginton home to knot things at 6-6. BGSU's Elrod prevented the RedHawks from taking the lead, however. With a runner on third, the Falcon shortstop made a diving stab of Cook's grounder up the middle, and his throw to first was in time to end the inning.
The Falcons took the lead for good with four runs in the seventh. Then, BGSU scored five times in the eighth, with BGSU's last nine runs coming on just three hits.
In the seventh, Barkholz drew a leadoff walk, and Newell was safe when his slow grounder to second was misplayed. Loomis' sac bunt was successful, and the RedHawks then issued an intentional walk to Hunt to load the bases. The next batter, Hudak, ripped a pitch to left for what proved to be the winning hit, putting the Falcons on top by four runs.
In the eighth, Hunt plated Barkholz with a bases-loaded sac fly, and Hudak followed with a two-run double. After Elrod drew a walk, Len Elias had another two-run double to complete the scoring.
Knoblauch went all the way for the win, improving to 7-1 on the year. He allowed eight hits and six runs (five earned), striking out seven without walking a batter.
Bayer, the first of five MU pitchers, took the loss to fall to 7-4. He surrendered 10 runs (nine earned) and nine hits, walking four and fanning eight.
Hudak, one of three Falcons with a pair of hits, led the way with six RBI in the game. Loomis and Elrod also had two-hit contests, while Hunt drove in three runs.
For the RedHawks, Canada and Edginton each had two-hit contests, while Sellery had three RBI.
