Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Falcon Baseball Defeats Central Michigan, 11-10
April 03, 2004 | Baseball
April 3, 2004
Mt. Pleasant, Mich. - Bowling Green freshman Eric Lawson drove in his fourth RBI of the game with a double in the top of the ninth inning to give the Falcons a 11-10 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
The Milford, Ohio native lined a double to right field, scoring senior David Barkholz from second base to put the Falcon up by one run. Left-hander Neil Schmitz entered in the bottom of the ninth inning and picked up his school-record 12th career save and second of this season.
Lawson's key hit in the ninth inning was far from his only hit of the game. In fact, the second baseman smacked a career-high two home runs to go along with his game-winning double. He finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBIs.
The 21-run affair was a wild one with both teams combining for 25 hits, 15 walks, and nine extra-base hits. Seven of those nine extra-base hits came via Falcon bats, including five doubles.
Lawson gave BGSU an early 1-0 lead with a one-out, solo home run in the top of the first inning, his second of the season. However, CMU responded with two runs in the bottom of the first inning and one each in the second and third for a 4-1 lead.
The only scoreless inning came in the fourth frame. Scoring began again in the fifth inning, though, with BGSU cutting its deficit to 4-3 thanks to Lawson's two-run blast to left field with Barkholz on base. CMU would push its lead back to three runs with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning (6-3).
However, BGSU broke out with one of its biggest innings of the season when it scored six runs in the sixth inning to stake a 9-6 lead. A two-run single by Nolan Reimold, along with RBI-doubles by Jeff Warnock and Jimmy Lipari, aided the cause in the inning.
The Chippewas regained the lead with four runs over the next two innings before BGSU knotted the score at 10-10 in the eighth inning thanks to an RBI double from Spencer Schmitz and Lawson's game-winner in the ninth inning.
RS-junior Andy Hudak received four bases-on-balls, one short of the BGSU record for a game, while Barkholz had three walks.
Junior Matt Hundley (1-0) picked up his first victory of the season by pitching 2.2 innings of relief, allowing just one run on two hits with three walks and one strikeout.
BGSU improves to 12-5 overall and 3-2 in the MAC while CMU drops to 11-13 overall and 1-1 in the MAC. The two teams conclude its three-game series on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. start.
