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Bowling Green State University
MIAMI (OH)
BASEBALL TEAM FALLS OUT OF MAC TOURNAMENT WITH 17-4 LOSS TO MIAMI
May 21, 2009 | Baseball
May 21, 2009
CHILLICOTHE, OHIO - One of the oldest adages in baseball is good pitching will beat good hitting. It is one of the three phases of the game that Bowling Green State University head coach Danny Schmitz preaches to his team that you must win to be on the winning side of the ledger.
Like all coaches he also believes that you win with pitching and defense.
Bowling Green lost two games on Thursday to fall out of the Mid-American Conference Tournament as they had two well-pitched games against them. And despite the fact the Falcons came into the tournament the #1 seed and were ninth in the country in batting average (.348) and 14th in runs scored per game (9.1 per game), pitching was the difference as Miami eliminated the Falcons with a 17-4 victory Thursday at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
The Falcons lost their opening game of the tournament earlier in the day as they managed just two runs, their fewest in a game since March 12, on nine hits in a 6-2 loss to #8-seed Central Michigan. Two CMU pitchers recorded 10 strike outs in the suspended game that was completed Thursday morning.
In the Miami game, the Falcons had an early opportunity against Miami starter Tyler Mellling when senior first baseman Brian Hangbers drew a one-out walk, but junior second baseman Logan Meisler hit a shot up the middle that, with the infield played around a little to the right side, Miami shortstop Brad Gschwind turned into a 6-4-3 double play.
Miami, the #5 seed, got on the board first as first baseman Tommy Nuree led off the second inning with a home run on the first pitch from Falcon starter Matt Malewitz, a first team All-MAC selection,. It was Nurre's 16th home run of the season and third this season against the Falcons.
The Falcons got on the board in the top of the third as sophomore catcher Ryan Schlater led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice. Senior shortstop Ryan Shay then doubled to right center to score Schlater. It was Shay's 52nd RBI of the season while Schlater's single extended his hitting streak to a career best nine games. Schlater was the MAC's East Division Player of the Week for his performance last week in BG's four games.
Bowling Green made it 2-1 in the fourth on a lead off home run by Meisler, his fourth of the season.
But, that would be the last lead of the season for the Falcons as Miami came right back in the bottom half to score eight runs on six hits. Third baseman Jordan Petraitis got the first of two hits in the inning when he led off with a single through second base. A hit batter and a Nuree single loaded the bases. Designated hitter Eric Darlage then singled to center field driving in two runs. A sacrifice moved the runners to second and third and a BG error allowed two runs to score. After a fly out, a single and a hit by pitch loaded the bases, that brought Petraitis to the plate and ended the day for Malewitz. The RedHawk senior then deposited BG reliever Dusty Hawk's first pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam home run. It was his seventh homer of the season. That gave Miami a 9-2 advantage.
The Falcons got two of those runs back in the top of the sixth to make it 9-4 as Meisler reached to lead off the inning on an error and junior third baseman Derek Spencer followed with his 15th home run of the season, a shot over the right center field fence. That was also the end of the scoring for Bowling Green.
The RedHawks came right back with three runs in the bottom half to make it 12-4 with Petraitis doubling in one run while Darlage adding a two-run single.
Miami added five runs in the seventh frame, three coming on Nurre's second home run of the game. Schmitz then emptied the bench giving many reserves a chance to play in the league tournament.
Malewitz was the losing pitcher going 3.2 innings allowing five hits and seven earned runs. Freshmen Kacy Dwornik (1.1 innings), Ross Gerdeman (1.2 innings) and Steven Barrett (1.0 innings) also saw action in the game on the mound.
As much as the Miami offense was the story, the complete game from Mellling was just as important. Melling allowed just seven hits and three earned runs in his 124-pitch gem. It was the first complete game for the Miami pitching staff this season.
Schlater was the only player with a pair of hits while Spencer had the two-run homer and Meisler had the other RBI. For Miami, Petraitis went 3-for-4 with five RBI and four runs scored while Nurre was 3-for-4 with four RBI. Darlage had a pair of hits for the RedHawks, now 29-24 on the season, and four RBI.
In the two games of the tournament, the Falcons, who finish the 2009 campaign with a 28-21 record, hit .254 as team and the pitching staff had an 11.64 ERA. Not a winning combination.
The 2009 edition of Falcon baseball certainly has a lot to be proud of. The Falcons won their second successive Mid-American Conference East Division title while also claiming the regular season title, for having the best regular season league record, for a second successive time, a first in the history of the program. They earned the #1 seed for the league tournament for a third time while qualifying for the tournament for a ninth time. Their 28 wins was the ninth time in the last 12 years they have won at least that many contests. Schmitz also became only the fifth coach in MAC history to reach the 500 career win plateau with BG's win over Michigan on March 31.
The 2009 team also boasts six all-conference players, five of whom are returning next season, along with the coach of the year and the pitcher of the year.
