
Pitcher's Dual Turns Into Slugfest, Falcons Win 13-9
May 06, 2005 | Baseball
May 6, 2005
Oxford, Ohio - In what was supposed to be a pitching dual, Bowling Green won a slugfest in Oxford, Ohio, on Friday afternoon, downing Miami 13-9. BGSU pounded out 15 hits while the Redhawks had 12 hits. There were five lead changes in the span of three innings, including when the Falcons plated seven runs in the top of the fifth inning.
Jon Franzese began the scoring parade with a two-run home run in the second inning off of Falcon starter Alan Brech for a 2-0 Miami lead. It was Franzese's third homer of the season and marked the first time in six appearances that Brech had allowed multiple runs.
BGSU cut its deficit to one run, 2-1, with an RBI-single from Josh Stewart in the top of the third inning, scoring Kevin Longstreth from second base. However, Miami responded with three runs in the bottom of the third frame, two coming off a home run by Paul Frietch, his Redhawk leading ninth of the season, to make it 5-1.
That's when things got crazy.
BGSU's seven-run fifth inning began with back-to-back singles by Kevin Longstreth and Eric Lawson. Then Josh Stewart brought them home with his sixth home run of the season to cut Miami's lead to 6-4. After two groundouts by Andy Hudak and Nolan Reimold, Kurt Wells was hit by a Keith Weiser pitch. That started another rally for the Falcons. Jimmy Lipari walked and Tyler Wasserman hit a two-run double down the left-field line, knotting the game at 6-6. Then Jeff Warnock followed with an RBI-double down the left-field line and Longstreth had an RBI-single for a 8-6 Falcon lead.
Miami answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, chasing Falcon pitcher Alan Brech and tying the game, 8-8. Senior Burke Badenhop entered in relief of Brech.
BGSU went up 9-8 in the top of the sixth inning when Hudak scored via a Miami error. Again, the Redhawks answered with a run in the bottom of the frame, making it 9-9.
Then a two-run single by Hudak to centerfield scored Warnock and Stewart, giving the Falcons a 11-9 lead. For the first time since the opening frame, MU was held scoreless over the final three innings after plating runs in six straight innings.
Hudak pushed the BGSU lead to 13-9 with a two-run blast in the top of the ninth inning, his eighth of the season. Both Hudak and Stewart finished with three hits, four RBIs and a home run. Badenhop ended with the win, improving to 8-2. He allowed just one run on five hits over the final 4.2 IPP. He struck out three and walked none. Jeff Day (2-4) suffered the loss for Miami.
BGSU improves to 27-12 overall and 8-5 in the MAC. Miami drops to 29-13 overall and 10-3 in the MAC. The two teams continue their three-game series on Saturday, May 7, beginning at 1 p.m. at McKie Field.
BGSU Notes...
SO Josh Stewart improved his career-high hitting streak to 10 games by going 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games.
SR Burke Badenhop (8-2) became the first Falcon since Tony Fontana in 2000 to record eight victories. Jason Kelley has the school record with 12 in 1999.