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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
FINDLAY
Falcons Win 9-8 Over Findlay After a Wild Ninth-Inning
March 14, 2007 | Baseball
March 14, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University baseball team won their eighth consecutive home opener Wednesday afternoon in a bottom of the ninth thriller against the Findlay Oilers. After giving up five runs in the top of the ninth to surrender a four-run lead, the Falcons bounced back in the home-half of the inning with two runs to take the 9-8 victory.
Sophomore Ryan Shay lit the scoreboard right away for the Falcons with a two-RBI double in the bottom of the first inning. A hit-and-run call in the second stanza proved to make a difference when Sophomore Travis Owens advanced from first to third base on a single through the right side by Sophomore Marty Baird. Owens then scored on the next pitch which resulted in a passed ball, giving Bowling Green a 3-0 lead.
Findlay tied up the score with three runs of their own in the top of the third. An RBI-double by Sophomore Andrew Foster in the next half inning positioned the Falcons ahead once again with a 4-3 advantage.
Baird continued his hot performance, picking an RBI-single in a three-run Falcon fourth inning.
With a 7-3 lead heading into the top of the ninth, the Falcons went to their closer, Senior Kurt Wells. Wells allowed an early run but had two outs. However, a potential game-ending groundball to third base resulted in a fielding error and kept the Oilers alive. The fielding blunder eventually allowed a grand slam, and four unearned runs, to give UF a 8-7 lead.
Ironically, Wells had a chance to save the day in the bottom of the ninth and did that just that when he delivered a game-tying solo shot over the left field fence. The next two batters recorded singles, including a perfectly-placed bunt by Senior Mike Barnard. Senior Erc Lawson followed by drawing a walk to load the bases. In fitting fashion, the wild game was then ended by a wild pitch that allowed the runner from third sprinted home for the ninth and final run.
The Brown and Orange will play again this weekend in the Ball State Invitational. First up is a matchup with Lemoyne-Owens on Friday, March 16th.
