Bowling Green State University
LOUISVILLE
Baseball Team Loses 9-2 Decision On The Road At Louisville
March 01, 2009 | Baseball
March 1, 2009
LOUISVILLE, KY. - The Bowling Green State University baseball team had the same number of hits as the 26th-ranked Louisville Cardinals Sunday at Jim Patterson Stadium, but a five-run eighth inning decided the contest as the home team posted a 9-2 victory to sweep the three-game series.
The second inning was the key early inning as the Falcons loaded the bases with one out in their half of the frame and failed to score while Louisville scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning when a hit batter and a walk forced in the two UL tallies.
Bowling Green loaded the bases with one out in the second inning on singles by junior Logan Meisler and senior Brian Hangbers and a walk to sophomore Clay Duncan. But, juniors Dennis Vaughn and T.J. Blanton struck out to end the threat.
The Falcons had back-to-back singles by Meisler and Hangbers in the fourth inning with one out before Duncan grounded into an inning-ending double play.
And like the second inning, when the Falcons failed to get on the scoreboard after getting players in scoring position in the top half of the inning, the Cardinals came back in their half of the inning to score.
Louisville, winners of four straight to improve to 4-3, plated runs in the bottom of the fourth on an infield single and a ground out to take a 4-0 lead.
The Falcons broke through in the eighth inning cutting the deficit in half as with two outs juniors Clay Elkins and Derek Spencer singled. Meisler singled to center field to drive in Elkins, and when the center fielder misplayed the ball, Spencer came in to score and Meisler was standing on third with another potential run. But, Hangbers struck out to end BG's last threat.
Louisville put the game away scoring five runs on six hits in their last at-bat on three RBI singles and a two-run home run by Louisville junior third baseman Chris Dominguez, a pick by one baseball publication as the preseason national player of the year.
Sophomore Brennan Smith started his second game of the season and went 4.0 innings allowing four hits and four runs (two earned) while striking out two. Sophomore Kyle Atkinson made his third appearance of the season and tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. BG pitchers hit five Louisville batters in the game and now have hit 18 batters in the six games this season.
Meisler, who led the team hitting .583 (7-for-12) in the three games against Louisville, had three hits in four at-bats to lead the offense. Senior Ryan Shay, who hit .500 (6-for-12) over the weekend, had a pair of hits as did Spencer and Hangbers.
The Falcons were outscored 32-13, but had almost identical offensive numbers for the weekend as the defending Big East champions. BG had two fewer hits and had a .327 average in the three games, but they did strike out 23 times. UL hit .343 for the weekend and had 11 extra-base hits, to five for the Falcons, including six home runs.
BG, now 0-6 on the young season, returns to action, weather permitting, on Tuesday with a 2 p.m. game at Dayton. The BG squad will then depart Friday for their spring trip to Winter Haven, Fla. where they will play eight games in eight days.
