Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Falcons Score Early And Often Then Hold On For 15-9 Win Over Toledo
April 22, 2009 | Baseball
April 22, 2009
TOLEDO, OHIO - The Bowling Green State University baseball team banged out 19 hits and built a 13-4 lead after six innings on their way to a 15-9 victory over Toledo Wednesday afternoon at the Scott Park Complex on the UT campus. Five different BGSU players had three hits in the game, including senior shortstop Ryan Shay, who fell a single short of hitting for the cycle.
With the victory the Falcons improve to 18-16 this season while the Rockets are now 16-19.
Toledo actually got the early jump scoring a pair of runs in the first inning off BG starter and winner Kyle Atkinson on the two-run home run by shortstop Jared Hoying to right center with one out in the frame.
BG got on the scoreboard in the top half of the third inning against Toledo reliever Ryan France. Toledo used a different pitcher in every inning, 10 total.
Shay doubled to lead off the inning and senior first baseman Brian Hangbers followed with a single. Junior catcher Tyler Elkins then singled to right field to drive in Shay with the first BG run. Junior third baseman Derek Spencer made it four straight hits with a single through the left side to load the bases. Junior designated hitter Dennis Vaughn drove in the second run with a ground out, and after the second out of the inning, junior right fielder Mark Galvin had an infield single to drive in the third run of the frame, and the first of three RBI for him on the day. The final run of the inning scored on the third of three errors on the day by the Rockets.
The Falcons extended their lead with a single tally in the fourth inning as Shay walked to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a Hangbers single. Elkins drove him home with a ground out.
BG then broke the game open with a seven-run fifth inning, the second biggest inning of the season for the Falcons.
The Falcons batted around, 11 players went to the plate, and they had six hits in the inning as six of the runs scored after there were two outs. Senior second baseman Ryan Price had an RBI fielder's choice before Shay hit a two-out, two-run home run to right center. It was his team-leading sixth round tripper of the season. Sophomore designated hitter Clay Duncan and Galvin followed later in the frame with two-run singles to center field as six consecutive batters reached after there were two outs. That made the BG advantage 12-2.
Toledo plated a run in the bottom of the fifth, the first of four successive innings in which they would score, but the Falcons matched that with their own run in the sixth on a lead off triple by Shay and an RBI single to left field by Hangbers. The Falcons had the bases loaded with one out later in the inning, but a double play by Toledo ended the threat.
While the Toledo pitchers were holding the Falcons off the board over the next two innings, UT was making a late charge against the BG bullpen. Toledo scored one in the sixth and four more in the seventh to make it a 13-8 game. Another run in the bottom of the eighth moved the Rockets to within four runs entering the ninth inning.
But, Spencer took care of that with a with a home run off senior Jeff Cinadr, who came into the game with a 0.65 ERA in 27.2 innings of work in 18 relief appearances. Sophomore catcher Ryan Schlater led off the inning with a single up the middle that bounced off Cinadr before Spencer hit a 1-2 pitch over the left center field fence for some breathing room entering the final half inning. It was Spencer's fifth home run of the season.
Senior Dusty Hawk, who had started the eighth inning, retired the Rockets in the ninth on two fly outs and a strike out, the 10th of the game for the BG pitching staff.
Senior Marty Baird (2.0 innings) and freshman Ross Gerdeman (1.0 innings) also pitched for the Falcons. Atkinson, who was on a pitch count, went the first four innings allowing four hits and two runs while striking out six to collect his second win of the season. France fell to 0-2 with the loss.
Besides Shay (3-for-5), Hangbers (3-for-5), Elkins (3-for-5), Spencer (3-for-5) and Galvin (3-for-5) all had three hits in the game with Galvin driving in three runs and Shay, Elkins and Spencer all driving in a pair of tallies. BG came into the game leading the Mid-American Conference hitting .326 as a team and collected at least 10 hits for the 19th time in their last 23 games. The 19 hits was one shy of the season high set against Central Michigan on April 4.
BG, which has won 12 of its last 16 games, and 15 of its last 21, will return home to host Miami this weekend in a key East Division league series. Miami starts the weekend with a 10-5 league record while the Falcons are 1.5 games behind with an 8-6 slate. At the same time, the top two teams in the division, Ohio (12-3) and Kent State (11-3), will be battling it out in Athens.
The opening game of the Miami series will be played Friday with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at Steller Field. The Falcons are 7-3 at home this season, 4-1 in MAC play. BG sophomore Brennan Smith is the probable starter in the first game of the series with Miami. Smith, who is 6-3 on the season with a 2.50 ERA, the best in the MAC and the 33rd-best mark in the country, has won six of his last seven starts while holding the opposition to a .196 batting average, to lead the MAC.
