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Bowling Green State University
MIAMI (OH)
Baseballl Earns Ninth-Inning, 6-5, Win Over Miami
April 27, 2008 | Baseball
April 27, 2008
OXFORD, Ohio - A ninth inning RBI sacrifice fly by Derek Spencer to deep left center brought home the eventual game-winning run on Saturday night, as the Bowling Green State University baseball team earned a 6-5 win over the Miami University RedHawks in game two of their three-game series at MU's McKie Field.
With the game tied up at 5-5 in the visiting half of the ninth and the bases loaded with one out, Spencer flew-out to MU left fielder Jon Edgington to bring in Ryan Shay from third as the Falcons grabbed a 6-5 lead. Senior left-hander Brett Browning then got the final three outs needed in the MU ninth to preserve the victory, as Brian Hangbers snagged a line drive with a RedHawk runner on second to end the game.
The victory brought to an end the Falcons' five-game Mid-American Conference losing streak, as they improved to 20-17 overall and 7-7 in the MAC, while MU fell to 14-27 and 5-12, respectively.
Earning the win on the hill was Browning (1-1), who went the final one and 2/3 innings, allowing a single hit for his first win of the season. The Cincinnati, Ohio native relieved fellow senior Nick Cantrell in the bottom of the eighth and got the Falcons out of a one-out bases loaded jam to keep the game tied at 5-5 entering the ninth inning.
After Cantrell got the inning's first out in relief of Dusty Hawk, Browning came on and got MU's Adam Eaton to strike out looking for out number two. He then made a great defensive play on RedHawk second baseman Evan Armitage, who was trying to come home on a pitch that got away from Falcon catcher Ryan Schlater. Schlater, however, was able to find the ball quickly and fired a strike to Browning by the plate, who applied a quick tag on Armitage just before he was able to score what would've been the go-ahead run.
Browning's teammates used the momentum generated from that big defensive stop to generate the game-winning run in the top half of the ninth. After a groundout to start the frame, a walk issued to Shay and a double by Andrew Foster to left center, put runners on second and third with a single out. Brian Hangbers was then intentionally walked, loading the bases for Spencer. The Oregon, Ohio native worked new RedHawk reliever Steve Antoniotti into a full count, before belting a high fly ball to left center that was just deep enough to get Shay across and take the lead.
Spencer was 1-of-4 BG hitters with two hits on the game, as he finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. He was just behind Hangbers in three-spot, who also went 2-for-4 at the dish, accounting for a game-high two RBI.
Taking the loss for the RedHawks was reliever Samuel Dawes, who went to 2-3 on the year, allowing one run on one hit in relief duty as he was 1-of-4 MU pitchers used in relief of right-handed starter Chris Niro. Niro finished his day going four and 2/3, as he surrendered three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts.
It took awhile though for the Falcons to get to Niro, as the RedHawks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first, which they held till the top half of the fourth.
The RedHawks forced Falcon starter Kevin Light to toss 29 first inning pitches as they collected three runs on five hits. Just when it looked like it may be another quick outing from the Mechanicsville, Va. southpaw, Light recovered from the rough first inning to allow just a single run on three hits the rest of the way. It took him just 76 pitches to make it through seven innings.
Light finished his night surrendering four runs on eight hits, as he recorded four strikeouts to just one walk.
With Light getting better and better on the mound, the Falcons battled back in the fourth inning,plating two runs on three hits. Mark Galvin recorded an RBI groundout, while Logan Meisler singled in a run with a hit to right field.
BG then tied the game in the top half of the fifth when Hangbers collected a one-out RBI single to right that brought home Shay to even things up.
Hangbers and Shay would give the Falcons a 5-3 lead in the seventh with RBI base hits, but MU tied the game up at 5-5 with two runs in the eighth, before Browning got the final big outs.
Aside from ending BG's five-game losing-streak in the MAC, the Falcon win also ended a streak of nine-straight losses to the RedHawks. The victory was the Falcons first in the series going back to May 6th of 2005 and their first in Oxford in seven games.
MU was paced at the plate in defeat by a three-hit effort from shortstop Jordan Petraitis, who went 3-for-5, accounting for a run scored and an RBI. First baseman Tommy Nurre then added two more base knocks as just two MU batters finished with multiple-hits.
A total of 17 runners were left on base as MU left nine runners stranded on base in the game, while BG stranded eight.
The Falcons and RedHawks will return to action on Sunday for the third and final game of the series with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. Taking the hill in the rubber match for BG will be junior right-hander Kevin Leady (2-3, 6.75 ERA), who will be opposite of left-hander Tyler Melling (0-2, 6.11 ERA) for the RedHawks. Audio will be available once again for the contest on www.MURedHawks.com, while live statistics can be found on www.bgsufalcons.com, via gametracker.
