Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Falcons Fall To NIU, 9-7
April 17, 2004 | Baseball
NIU plated four runs in the first inning off of Falcon starter Tyler Johnson and another in each the second and third innings for a 6-0 advantage. Junior Keith Laughlin entered in relief of Johnson with two outs in the first inning.
The Falcons began to chip away with a run in the third inning and another in the fourth inning for a 6-2 deficit. David Barkholz brought home Tyler Wasserman from third base with a groundout in the third inning and Kevin Longstreth hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Josh Stewart from third in the fourth inning.
BGSU pulled to within one run, 6-5, with three runs plated in the sixth frame. Two runs came home after Longstreth singled to the shortstop, who then threw the ball away to plate Jimmy Lipari and Stewart. Then Wasserman hit an infield single to score Longstreth, who was on third base.
The Falcons then knotted the game at 6-6 in the seventh inning with a run via Longstreth's RBI-single which brought home Stewart.
NIU responded with two runs in the eighth inning for a 8-6 edge before BGSU cut it to within one run thanks to an RBI-single by Stewart, scoring Eric Lawson.
Laughlin threw 6.1 strong innings of relief, surrendering only five hits and two runs with nine strikeouts, allowing BGSU to climb back into the game. The nine strikeouts tied a career-high for the lefty.
On offense, Longstreth finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Stewart went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored.
With the loss the Falcons fall to 18-9 overall at 5-6 in league action, while NIU sits at 18-16 overall and 5-3 in MAC play. BGSU and NIU return to action tomorrow afternoon for game three of the series. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
