Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
SACRED HEART
Smith Allows Just One Hit As Falcons Post 1-0 Win Over Sacred Heart
March 12, 2009 | Baseball
March 12, 2009
WINTER HAVEN, FLA. - The Bowling Green State University baseball team got back on the winning track Wednesday morning behind the one-hit pitching of sophomore Brennan Smith as the Falcons posted a 1-0 victory over Sacred Heart at Chain Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla. The Falcons are now 3-2 on their spring trip, with three games remaining, and 3-8 on the season. Sacred Heart fell to 4-4 this season with the loss.
Smith won his second game on the spring trip with the best effort of his young career. The Sandusky, Ohio native went eight complete innings allowing only a clean single to left field by Pioneer shortstop Phil Tantillo in the third inning. Smith had a career-high 10 strikeouts and faced only 25 batters, one over the minimum for eight innings. Besides his 10 strikeouts, he got four groundouts and eight fly outs, a batter he walked in the eighth inning was thrown out at second trying to steal, and the BG infield turned a double play in the third inning.
Smith allowed only two hits in five innings of work to pick up the win in BG's first game of their spring trip Saturday (March 7), an 11-3 victory over Fairfield. He faced only three batters over the minimum in his five innings against Fairfield.
For the season, Smith has now started four games and has a 2-2 mark with a 2.61 ERA in 20.2 innings. He has 20 strikeouts and has yielded only 13 hits.
Smith retired the side in order in the first two innings collecting three strikeouts, a ground out, a pop out to the first baseman and a fly out to center field.
In the third, he had his only inning when a Pioneer player reached second base. He struck out the first batter before center fielder Mike Drowne reached on an error by the shortstop. Tantillo then had the only hit in his eight innings of work to put runners on first and second with one out. Smith then got lead off hitter Steve Tedesco to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
After Smith retired the side in the top of the fourth, the Falcons struck for the only run of the game in the bottom of the frame.
Junior second baseman Logan Meisler singled to left field with one out to get the rally started. Junior catcher Tyler Elkins then stroked a double to left field moving Meisler to third. Junior right fielder David Borcherdt then collected his sixth RBI of the season with a fly ball to center field that drove home Meisler with the only run of the game.
With the Falcons on the board, Smith retired the Pioneers in order in each of the next three innings before designated hitter Jeff Heppner drew a walk to lead off the eighth inning. But, Smith quickly put an end to his final inning of work getting a fly out and a strike out before the inning ended with Heppner being thrown out by Elkins trying to steal second. Smith threw 102 pitches in his eight innings of work.
Sophomore right-hander Charles Wooten came in to pitch the ninth earning his second save of the season, but he had to work to get it. Drowne led off with a single to left field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Tedesco then drew a walk to put runners on first and second before Wooten struck out both right fielder Ryan Lynch and first baseman Jeff Hanson looking on two ball-two strike pitches.
BG had one shutout last season, also on their spring trip, when Kevin Leady and Wooten combined on a six-hitter in an 8-0 win over Fairfield. Wooten pitched four innings in that game to get the save.
Two Sacred Heart pitchers allowed only nine hits and the one run as the Falcons had one runner thrown out at home in the first inning and they left eight runners stranded in the game. BG had eight runners in scoring position in the contest and left runners on second and third in the seventh inning after a two-out double by junior outfielder T.J. Blanton.
Red-shirt freshman Patrick Martin and Blanton had two hits apiece for the Falcons.
Bowling Green will play Northern Iowa Friday at 10 a.m. at Henley Field in Lakeland, Fla. That is the only game of their eight on the trip that is not played at the Chain O'Lakes complex in Winter Haven. BG will complete their schedule with games at 9 a.m., against Indiana, and 12:30 p.m., against Bradley, Saturday.
