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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
UNI
Malewitz Pitches Falcons Past Northern Iowa
March 13, 2009 | Baseball
March 13, 2009
LAKELAND, FLA. - The Bowling Green State University baseball team got another strong pitching performance, this time a complete-game one-hitter from sophomore left-hander Matt Malewitz, and the Falcons collected nine hits on their way to a 3-0 win over Northern Iowa at Henley Field in Lakeland, Fla. Friday morning.
With the victory, BG improved to 4-2 on their spring trip and 4-8 overall. Northern Iowa is now 7-7 on the season.
Malewitz, a transfer from Grand Rapids Community College, yielded only a clean single to lead off hitter Levi Ferguson, a sophomore right fielder, to start the bottom of the fourth inning. Malewitz quickly ended that Panthers rally when he picked off Ferguson, then got the next two batters on a line out and a fly out.
Malewitz faced the minimum 27 batters in going the distance as two batters reached base in the third inning but one was retired on a fielder's choice and the other was thrown out trying to steal second and he got the third batter of the inning on a ground out.
Besides the third and the fourth innings, the only other times UNI had runners on was the seventh and the ninth innings. In the seventh, Malewitz issued his first walk of the game with one out, but that runner was wiped off the bases trying to steal second base. In the final frame, a second walk by Malewitz saw that runner eliminated when, for the third time on their spring trip, the Falcons ended the game with a double play. The Falcons have turned nine twin-killings in their six games in Florida.
Malewitz struck out one and had 13 fly outs and eight ground outs in his 95-pitch gem. It was the first win of the season for the Grand Rapids, Mich. native who has now started four games covering 22.2 innings with a 2.38 ERA.
The last complete game shutout by a BG pitcher was a five-hitter tossed by senior Tyler Johnson on April 20, 2007 in a 3-0 victory at home against Akron.
Malewitz retired the side in order in first, second, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.
BG got eight innings of one-hit pitching from sophomore Brennan Smith on Thursday in their 1-0 win over Sacred Heart. The pitching staff has yielded just three hits in their last 19 innings of work and no runs. The last time Bowling Green posted back-to-back shutouts was the 2007 season on their spring trip to Bradenton, Fla. when they whitewashed Georgetown (5-0) and IPFW (11-0) in their first two games in the Sunshine State.
Bowling Green had one hit in the second and third innings but could not punch across a run before they broke through in the top of the fourth.
Senior first baseman Brian Hangbers led off with a double to left center. Junior third baseman Derek Spencer then singled to center moving Hangbers to third. Hangbers then scored what turned out to be the only run the Falcons would need when junior second baseman Logan Meisler grounded into a double play.
The Falcons padded their lead with a pair of runs on three hits in the sixth. Senior shortstop Ryan Shay reached on an error to lead off the inning. Then consecutive singles by freshman left fielder Patrick Martin and Hangbers loaded the bases with no outs. A Spencer single to right field drove in Shay and Meisler picked up his fifth RBI of the season with a ground out to the second baseman that plated Martin. BG had a chance to score another run in the inning, but Hangbers was thrown out at the plate trying to score after junior designated hitter Tyler Elkins lined out to center field. Spencer leads the team with 13 RBI, nine of those on the spring trip.
Hangbers had three hits to lead the BG offense while Spencer collected a pair hits. Spencer extended his hitting streak to nine games, tying his career best while Hangbers and Elkins, who had a single in the game, extended their hitting streaks to seven games, both career highs. Spencer has hit .478 on the spring trip to lead the team while Hangbers is second at .455 and Elkins and Martin are hitting .429. As a team, BG is hitting .329 in their six games in Florida.
The Falcons will play a pair of games Saturday to conclude their trip before flying back home early Sunday morning. BG will play Big Ten foe Indiana at 9 a.m. on Saturday and conclude their trip with a 12:30 p.m. contest against Bradley. Both those games will be played at Chain Lakes Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla.
The Falcons are scheduled to play their home opener Tuesday (March 17) when they host Big Ten Foe Michigan State at 3 p.m. at Steller Field. After a road game at Cleveland State on Wednesday, Bowling will open Mid-American Conference play next weekend (March 20-22) hosting preseason West Division favorite Western Michigan for single games each day.
