Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Falcons Overcome Early Deficit, Two Rain Delays to Defeat NIU, 10-4
April 19, 2003 | Baseball
April 19, 2003
DeKalb, Ill. - Bowling Green withstood a four-run first inning by Northern Illinois and over two hours of rain delays to defeat host NIU 10-4 on Saturday afternoon in DeKalb, Ill. The Falcons used scoring in just three innings to post the victory.
The first four batters that Falcon starter Keith Laughlin faced reached on hits. The Huskies finished the first inning with four runs on six hits and one walk. The left-hander settled down after that, however.
BGSU cut into the NIU lead with three runs in the top of the third inning before a 48-minute rain delay postponed the rally. With two outs and Jimmy Lipari on first base, freshman Nolan Reimold was hit by a pitch that put runners on first and second for Kelly Hunt. The first baseman responded with a single to center field, scoring Lipari and moving Reimold to second base. As the rains and lightning started to come, Kevin Longstreth promptly doubled to center field to score both Reimold and Hunt, cutting BGSU's deficit 4-3.
The Falcons kept the offense coming in the fourth inning when they plated four runs on five singles. Again, all the runs came with two outs for BGSU. Hunt brought home two runs with a single to left field while Longstreth drove in a run and Hunt later scored on a wild pitch for a 7-4 BGSU lead.
Meanwhile, Laughlin found his touch and struck out seven from the second through the sixth inning. The left-hander had a career-high nine strikeouts in his last outing last week at Central Michigan.
A second rain delay came at the end of the fourth inning, lasting one hour and 14 minutes. The delay may have had a slight affect on the Falcons since they did not score in the top of the fifth frame, but they made up for it with three insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Lipari began the inning by being hit by NIU reliever Jim Caine. David Barkholz then reached base on a throwing error by Caine and put runners on second and third with no outs. Reimold followed with a single to center field, scoring both Lipari and Barkholz, and Jeff Warnock later singled home Reimold for a 10-4 BGSU lead.
Neil Schmitz pitched a scoreless seventh inning in a non-save situation to seal the Falcon win.
Laughlin walked just three and gave up 10 hits in six innings of work to improve his overall record to 4-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 in league play. Hunt finished 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored. His three singles extended his career-high hitting streak to 18 games. Longstreth also finished with three RBI by going 2-for-4. Lipari scored three runs.
BGSU improved to 12-14 overall and 5-5 in the Mid-American Conference. NIU fell to 19-13 overall and 6-4 in the MAC. The two teams will make up for missing a game on Saturday by playing a doubleheader on Sunday, April 20, beginning at 12 noon (CST).
