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Bowling Green State University
Ball State
BSU Barrage Sinks Falcons, 20-11
May 23, 2002 | Baseball
May 23, 2002
Final Stats | 2002 MAC Tournament Page
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Ball State University pounded out 26 hits, just one shy of the Mid-American Conference Tournament single-game record, en route to a 20-11 victory over the Bowling Green State University baseball team Thursday afternoon (May 23). The MAC Tournament is being held at BGSU's Steller Field.
With the win, BSU stayed alive in the tourney. The Cardinals, now 32-22 on the year, lost a 13-4 decision to Kent State on Wednesday in the tournament's opening game. BSU will meet Miami in an elimination-round game Friday (May 24) at 1:00 p.m.
BGSU, now 32-21, will meet the loser of Thursday's KSU-Central Michigan contest, with the Falcons' next game scheduled for Friday at 10:00 a.m.
Every member of the Cardinals' batting order had a multiple-hit game Thursday, led by four-hit contests from Ben Schroeder and Matt Deckman. Scott French, Adam Metzler, Kiel Holman and Jason Bucholtz had three hits apiece.
The Cardinals, designated as the game's home team, scored three times in the first inning. BSU batted around in the frame.
The Falcons responded by batting around in the top of the second, scoring five times. All five runs came with two outs, as Spencer Schmitz drew a walk to load the bases, and Kevin Longstreth was hit by a Luke Hagerty pitch to load the bases. Then, David Barkholz deposited a pitch into the trees in right-center for a grand slam. For Barkholz, the homer was his third of the year, and his second grand slam.
The Brown and Orange scored three more times in the third frame. After both Kelly Hunt and Nick Elrod were hit by pitches, Len Elias lofted a three-run homer to center.
BSU responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the third. French led off with a homer, the first of six BSU round-trippers in the game. After Doug Boone drew a two-out walk, Bucholtz hit a two-run homer to narrow the BGSU lead to 8-6.
The Cards took the lead for good with an eight-run fourth inning. All eight runs came after two men were retired. Metzler hit a three-run homer, and Holman reached on a double that the BG outfielders lost in the sun. That hit proved to be costly, as the next batter, Boone, greeted reliever Ryan Lindquist with a two-run homer. After the next two hitters singled, Paul Henry hit a three-run blast to center to complete the eight-run frame.
BGSU crept to within 14-11 with a three-run fifth. Andy Hudak and Elrod each singled, and Schmitz had a one-out single to plate Hudak. Then, Longstreth's infield single loaded the bases, and Barkholz followed with a two-run single up the middle. But, the Falcons could get no closer.
The Cardinals scored a run in the sixth, and broke the game wide open with a five-run outburst in the eighth. The big hit in that eighth frame was a two-run round-tripper by Holman.
BSU's Kory Bucklew earned the victory with six-and-two-thirds innings of relief. He allowed three runs and seven hits in improving to 3-0 on the year.
Saneholtz, the first of four Falcon pitchers, took the loss to fall to 6-2. He surrendered 10 runs and 10 hits in three-and-two-thirds innings.
Barkholz led BGSU with three hits and a game-high six RBI. For the Cardinals, Schroeder scored four runs, while both Henry and Metzler had four RBI.
