Bowling Green State University
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WESTERN MICHIGAN
Falcon Baseball Does It Again, 6-5 Win
April 01, 2006 | Baseball
April 1, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After holding on for a 6-5 win over Western Michigan (11-10, 1-4 MAC) Friday afternoon, Bowling Green (12-11, 3-2 MAC) came from behind on Saturday to secure another 6-5 win. A two-run rally in the eighth inning put the Falcons ahead for good.
Junior Eric Lawson began the bottom of the first with his first of two doubles on the day. Bowling Green struck first after back-to-back groundballs advanced Lawson across home plate to take an early 1-0 lead.
Western Michigan counterpunched the following inning with their fourth homerun of the series, this one a bomb to straight center field by Joe McDonald. With a runner on base for the homerun, the Broncos took a 2-1 lead.
Bowling Green answered right back in the home-half of the inning, knotting the score at 2-2. Junior Kurt Wells stroked an RBI-single into right field for his 14th RBI of the season. Wells later hit RBI number 15, tied for the team lead.
The scoring continued to go back and forth in the top of the third as WMU regained the lead with a lone run. The Broncos then managed to put two more runs on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth to take a 5-2 edge. With two Bronco runners on base, Redshirt Freshman Brian Hangbers took over the mound for the Falcons, relieving starter Greg Becker after 4.1 innings. Hangbers not only ended the inning, but retired the first ten batters he faced.
The Falcons began their comeback with a two-run sixth inning. Wells highlighted the inning with the aforementioned 15th RBI of the season, produced by a single to right which scored Lawson.
With Hangbers steamrolling through the Bronco lineup, Bowling Green just needed a few more runs to finalize the comeback. They got just that in the bottom of the eighth with the help of a trio of freshman and clutch swinging by Junior Josh Stewart.
Junior Josh Dietz drew a walk to open the eighth. Freshman Ryan Shay then advanced the pinch-running Freshman Kevin Leady to second with a sacrficie bunt. Next, Head Coach Danny Schmitz called on another freshman to contribute as Brandon McFarland snuck a pinch-hit single through the right side of the infield, scoring Leady from second. Later in inning with two outs and the score tied at 5-5, Stewart stepped into the batter's box. The Dayton, Ohio native hit a floater over the middle infiedlers' heads that landed safely in center field, bringing home the leading run.
Despite allowing his only two hits of the game in the ninth, Hangbers held on for the win, his second of the season. Bowling Green's first five batters in the lineup had at least two hits, including Lawson's second three-hit game in a row.
Bowling Green (12-11, 3-2 MAC) looks for the series sweep Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM. Remember to set your clocks ahead tonight so you don't miss an hour of the Falcon action at Steller Field.
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