Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Kentucky
Despite Late Threat, Falcons Fall to Wildcats 6-4
February 26, 2010 | Baseball
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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Bowling Green baseball was back on the road in their second weekend of action and returned to the state of Kentucky for a three-game series with the Kentucky Wildcats (No. 16 NCBWA). Friday afternoon the action began despite temperatures never rising above 43 degrees past game time and hitting as low as 35 degrees by game's end.
Brennan Smith (Sandusky, Ohio) took the hill for the second series-opener this year and remained perfect through two innings against the Wildcats. He received some early support from the bottom of the lineup in the third inning.
Leading off the top of the third inning and entering the box against Kentucky ace Alex Meyer, T.J. Blanton (Sandusky, Ohio) wasted no time in lighting up the scoreboard, taking the first pitch in the top of the third inning and putting it over the left-center field fences of Cliff Hagan Stadium for the 1-0 lead. The homerun was Blanton's first of the season and came on his second hit of 2010.
Between the bottom of the third and fifth innings, the Wildcats took over the lead by scoring six runs in that time span against Falcon ace, Brennan Smith.
After allowing a leadoff single to Taylor Black and then picking him off on first base, Smith plunked Chris Bisson in the home half of the third inning. The scene was set for Chad Wright and the Wildcats as he hit a two-RBI homerun over Blanton's head in centerfield to gain the lead, 2-1 over the Falcons. After two walks sandwiched a single by Marcus Nidiffer, Keenan Wiley helped produce another run on a RBI sac fly to left field. After three innings, the Wildcats had the lead, 3-1.
Kentucky added two more runs in the fourth inning with Smith still on the mound and again by way of a two-run homerun. Navarro Hall singled up the middle and was sacrificed to second base preparing Bisson for his at-bat. Bisson took the offering from Smith and sent it out over the left-center field fence for the second two-run homerun of the game for the 'Cats and adding to their lead, now reading 5-1.
Leading off the top of the fifth inning with a double down the left field line, T.J. Blanton then advanced to third base on a wild pitch by Meyer. With Blanton on third, first year head coach Gary Henderson elected to bring in Matt Little to close out the inning. Little allowed an RBI single to Dennis Vaughn (Kirtland, Ohio) bringing the score to 5-2 before getting Derek Spencer (Oregon, Ohio) to ground out, ending the inning.
The Wildcats opened up their end of the fifth inning with back-to-back singles followed by a fielding error by Patrick Martin (Oregon, Ohio) allowed both runners to advance a base, putting men at second and third base. T. Black then flied out to center field, scoring another run on a sacrifice fly out. Going into sixth, the Wildcats led 6-2.
Green earned a run back in the with a two-out base hit from pinch-hitter David Borcherdt (Archbold, Ohio) in the top of the sixth inning. After Tyler Elkins flew out to center, Mark Galvin (Pickerington, Ohio) single down the left field line before Brandon McFarland struck out looking. Coming off the bench in place of Patrick Martin, Borcherdt stepped to the plate and worked the count, forcing a passed ball and Galvin trotting to second base on the play. Following the advancement, Borcherdt singled through the left side of the infield, scoring Galvin from second and trimming the lead to 6-3.
The Falcons threatened to tie the game at its most crucial point when down to its last three outs in the ninth. Borcherdt walked and Blanton was hit by a pitch, Matt Little struck out Jon Berti for the first out. His inaccuracy continued though when he walked Logan Meisler (Port Clinton, Ohio) to load the bases. With the tying run at first and Dennis Vaughn at the plate representing the go-ahead run, Vaughn popped out to left field, scoring Borcherdt and making the game 6-4 with runners still on first and second base and two down.
The Falcons next hitter would be their last, however, when Derek Spencer grounded out to second baseman Chris Bisson to end the game, 6-4, giving Little a three-plus inning save.
Brennan Smith earned his second loss of the season after throwing 3.2 innings, allowing four hits and five runs (four earned) while walking five Wildcats and hitting two. Ross Gerdeman pitched 4.1 innings and surrendered only a pair of hits during that time while striking out six hitters.
With the loss the Falcons start the year 0-4 while the Wildcats improve to a flawless 4-0. The two teams will meet again Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET at Cliff Hagan Field for the second of three games.
Follow the Falcons on BGSUFalcons.com, the online home for Bowling Green athletics.
