Falcons Open 2010 with No. 12 Louisville and 13-1 Loss

Friday, February 19

Louisville, Ky.

2:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Louisville

Logan Meisler (above) and the Falcons will prepare for a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon ET.

February 19, 2010 | Baseball

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Box score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Ignore the snow and the just-above-freezing temperatures, it was time to play ball in Louisville, Ky. Friday afternoon when the two-time defending MAC regular season champion Bowling Green Falcons opened up their season with the Louisville Cardinals (No. 12 Rivals.com). As the Cardinals have a history of doing, they defending their home diamond with a seven-run fourth inning, leading to a 13-1 final BGSU falling to Louisville.

Brennan Smith (Jr., RHP) got the call to throw out the first pitch of 2010 for the Falcons and all seemed to be going smoothly for the junior as he flew through the first two innings with no runs allowed.

Bowling Green took an early lead after centerfield T.J. Blanton was plucked by opposing pitcher, Thomas Royse. After stealing second base, Royse committed a throwing error allowing Blanton to take third setting Jon Berti (So., SS) up for the go-ahead RBI. A ground out to the Cardinal third baseman was enough for Blanton to take the plate and get the Falcons out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

The lead did not last long. After the nine-hole hitter lined out for the first out of the inning, the top of the order came around. Josh Richmond and Adam Duvall hit back-to-back base knocks to set up a fielder's choice hit by Andrew Clark to put them at second and third base. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Ryan Wright took Smith's pitch up the middle for a two-run single, giving the Cardinals the lead back, 2-1. Phil Wunderlich hit a double down the right field line to score Wright to make the score 3-1 before Smith got Stallings out on a swinging strike three pitch to end the inning.

The Cardinals were now done, however. A six-run fourth inning extended the lead to 9-1 in the bottom half of the inning. After Richmond walked and stole second base, Duvall singled scoring Richmond. Bowling Green turned to the bullpen for freshman Nick Bruns to make his Falcon debut on the hill.
Bruns walked his opening hitter, loading the bases for Louisville. Two consecutive singles lead to two runs scored before Stewart Ijames hit a base clearing double.

After putting another run on the Falcons in the fifth inning, the Cardinals continued to show their offensive skills with three additional runs after the seventh inning stretch.

After a single, fielder's choice and a double by Duvall, Clark added another double down the right field line leading to a pair of Cardinal runs scoring. After Wright reached on an error putting runners at first and second base, a ground off Wunderlich's bat led to a potential 6-4-3 double play opportunity. Jon Berti recorded a throwing error leading to an unearned run and a 13-1 lead for Louisville.

Eight Falcons led to nine total strikeouts after three Cardinal pitchers limited the Falcons to only six hits on the day. Smith was credited the loss after throwing 3.1 innings allowing five runs (all earned) on seven hits and striking out a pair.

Dennis Vaughn led the Falcons offensively on the day, going two-for-four in the opener. The one-through-five hitters in the Falcons lineup collected all six of the Falcons base hits and went a combined 6-for-19 on the day.

Bowling Green begins the season with a loss but will have two opportunities to make up for it Saturday afternoon. What was originally scheduled for a three game series to be played in three days has been rescheduled to conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at noon Eastern Time.

Follow Bowling Green baseball on BGSUFalcons.com where you can track the Falcons through Gametracker or watch the Brown and Orange on CardsTV (subscription rates apply).