Falcons Strike Early but Lose Steam in 10-4 Loss to Kentucky

Sunday, February 28

Lexington, Ky.

1:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Kentucky

Derek Spencer (above) and his Falcons will look to rebound in Florida next week after their 10-4 loss to Kentucky (#19 NCBWA) Sunday.

February 28, 2010 | Baseball

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Box score

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Bowling Green has shown it has a knack for scoring early and often in their first six games of the 2010 season. Despite cashing in on that skill on Sunday afternoon in the series finale against Kentucky (No. 29, NCBWA), the Falcons were bitten by errors and three multi-run innings by the Wildcats in their 10-4 loss on Sunday afternoon.

Taking the hill for the Wildcats was southpaw Logan Darnell (1-0, 3.00) and the Falcons made the lefty and his defense work early. After Logan Meisler singled back to Darnell on the hill, he advanced to second on a Dennis Vaughn groundout. After Tyler Elkins singled up the middle, a throwing error by UK centerfielder Keenan Wiley allowed Meisler to score giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead. With the Falcons scoring the game's first run Sunday, it extends their streak to five consecutive games the Falcons have crossed the plate first in a game.

In the top of the second inning, Clay Duncan started off a three-run inning for the Falcons, extending their lead to 4-0. After Duncan singled through the left side, freshman Matthew Pitzulo doubled down the left field line. After #T.J. Blanton# drew a walk from Darnell, the bases were loaded for Jon Berti. The sophomore took a pitch the other way, driving home two runs on the base hit before advancing to second on the throw home. With runners at second and third, Meisler returned to the plate and knocked a single to right field, scoring Blanton.

Kevin Leady (0-1, 8.20) took the ball for the Falcons and after shutting down the Wildcats with a 1-2-3 first inning, he faced some trouble from the middle and latter part of the UK lineup. After a walk and a fielder's choice resulting from a Falcon error put men at first and second. With two outs Michael Williams doubled down the left field line to score Andy Burns. A dropped fly ball by right fielder Mark Galvin allowed two more runs to score as the Wildcats closed the gap to 4-3 after two innings.

After the three-run second inning, Leady settled down and allowed only three hits over the next three innings before running into a jam once again. Andy Burns hit a leadoff triple down the right field line and later scored on a sacrifice fly out. After Leady hit a UK batter and allowed a two-out single, head coach Danny Schmitz brought in sophomore lefty Patrick Martin to face Chris Bisson. On a 2-0 offering from Martin, the lefty Bisson turned on the next toss and hit a three-run homerun over the right field fence of Cliff Hagan Stadium, giving the Wildcats a 7-4 lead.

After Martin finished out the seventh inning without allowing another run, Bowling Green left three men on base in the top of the eighth inning before freshman Nick Bruns entered the game only to be welcomed by three more Kentucky runs.

After Luke Maile hit his first career homerun to lead off the bottom of the eighth, Bruns hit a batter and allowed an RBI triple to Bisson to extend the Wildcat lead to five runs. Bisson later crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly to give UK a 10-4 lead.

Between Kyle Jackson and Matt Little, the Kentucky bullpen shut down the Falcon offense, allowing only one hit over the last three innings of the game in their 10-4 win. The victory Sunday afternoon completes the sweep of the Falcons.

Bowling Green (0-6) will return back to northwest Ohio and prepare for its annual spring trip to Winter Haven, Flor. to participate in the annual RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Falcons will open the tournament with the Northeastern Huskies (2-0) who are already playing in Winter Haven. Both Husky wins have been by seven or more runs and NU has score more than ten runs in both of its games thus far. Follow the Falcons through BGSUFalcons.com for complete coverage of their trip to central Florida.