Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHEASTERN
Falcons Split in First Two Games in Florida
March 07, 2010 | Baseball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Bowling Green kicked off the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with their first win of the 2010 season by defeating the Northeastern Huskies, 13-9, on Saturday afternoon. They followed that performance on Sunday with a 9-8 loss after relinquishing three runs in the top of the ninth inning against Rhode Island.
Saturday, March 6 – BGSU (13) vs. Northeastern (9)
Box score
Leading the way for the Falcons in their 13-9 win over the Huskies was Logan Meisler, who finished the day going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks, four runs scored and two RBI on the day. Bowling Green and Northeastern played cat-and-mouse through six and a half innings before a seven-run seventh inning created the distance needed for BGSU to pull away with the victory.
In their first at-bats, Bowling Green took advantage of three consecutive walks after a Dennis Vaughn single to take a quick 1-0 lead. With the bases loaded and two out following a fielder's choice, Ryan Schlater knocked two more Falcons home with a two-RBI single, giving the Falcons a three run cushion to begin the game.
Falcon ace Brennan Smith surrendered three first-inning singles after putting runners on the corners resulting in Northeastern earning back two runs, ending the first inning with a score of 3-2, Falcons up.
Northeastern took the lead in the bottom of the third inning when a lead off walk and follow up single put two runners on the bases for Huskie left fielders Jason Roth. Roth's single to left scored both runs, giving UN a 4-3 lead.
The Falcons regained a one-run lead after spotting two runs in the top of the fourth after back-to-back singles by #T.J. Blanton and Jon Berti# set runners at the corners for Dennis Vaughn. Vaughn scored Blanton from third on a sacrifice fly to right field before Tyler Elkins brought Berti home on a single of his own.
Northeastern tied the contest at five in Smith's last inning of work. After missing outside on a 3-2 fastball to Alan Pastyrnak, Frank Compagnone's RBI double to right field scored the runner from first base.
Bowling Green added a run in the top of the fifth for a temporary lead before the Huskies again rallied for another lead. Sophomore Ross Gerdeman entered the game and took the hill but committed an error in the field only to be followed by an error committed by first baseman Dennis Vaughn. Pastyrnak returned to the plate and gave UN the lead on a two-RBI single, scoring both Huskie baserunners and giving them a 7-6 lead.
After a scoreless seventh inning, Bowling Green exploded for four runs to take a lead they would not give back. To begin the inning, senior Logan Meisler hit a lead off single and was advanced to second base by David Borcherdt's sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Matthew Pitzulo was hit by a pitch setting the table for T.J. Blanton's RBI double, scoring Meisler for the third time in the game. With runners on second and third, the two-out rally continued with Jon Berti anchoring the top of the order with a two-run single, scoring both Pitzulo and Blanton. Tyler Elkins singled home Berti after Vaughn reached on an error, completing the four-run inning and giving the Falcons a 10-7 lead.
After the seventh inning stretch, Gerdeman struck out John Puttress looking before allowing his only earned run of the contest. Jason Roth hit a single to the right side before Ryan Maguire double to right put runners on second and third. The damage was limited after Gerdeman allowed Matt Miller to hit into a sacrifice fly, scoring Roth, but forcing Pastyrnak to ground out, ending the inning with only one run crossing the plate.
The Brown and Orange extended their lead by three runs over the eighth and ninth innings. Meisler again was the catalyst in the eighth after leading off the inning with a triple, later scoring on a sacrifice fly hit by Ryan Schlater.
In the ninth, nine-hitter T.J. Blanton doubled to lead off the final frame. Jon Berti brought him home on an RBI single, his third single of the contest. After Vaughn was hit by a pitch and Elkins advanced both runners ahead to second and third, Meisler scored Berti from third on a sacrifice fly to right field, giving the Falcons a 13-8 lead.
Junior reliever Charles Wooten entered the game for the two-inning save and after a scoreless eighth inning allowed one run in the ninth, but closed the door on the Huskies and guiding the Falcons to their first victory of 2010.
Seven of the eleven Falcons that saw action crossed the plate on Saturday, including Meisler who did so four times during the game. T.J. Blanton lead the team with three hits on the day, scoring each time he reached base. Four Falcons had a pair of RBI on the day in the win.
Sunday, March 7 – Rhode Island (9) vs. Bowling Green (8)
Box score
On Sunday, the Bowling Green Falcons took an 8-6 lead into the ninth inning, but the Rhode Island Ram bats heated up with a ninth inning rally that sparked a late comeback lead to a 9-8 Falcon loss.
The Falcons were held scoreless through four innings though they did have their chances after leaving four runners on base, three in scoring position, during that time. This did not stop the Rhode Island bats from being active as they hopped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings of work.
Freshman righty Michael Frank took to the hill and fell behind early after hitting Oliver Palmer with an inside fastball before surrendering back-to-back singles, resulting in the first run to cross the plate. After striking out two batters and Falcon catcher Tyler Elkins tossing out Sean Caron at second base on an attempted steal in a scoreless second inning, Frank struggled with the top of the Ram lineup. Mike LeBel hit a leadoff double to right field and scored on an error by Frank two batters later. After Adam Derner doubled to right scoring Jeff Cammans who had reached on a fielder's choice, Evan Laude hit a run-scoring single to left, giving the Rams a 4-0 lead after three innings.
After the Rams added one more run in the top of the fifth inning, the Bowling Green bats came alive and belted five runs to instantly erase the Rhode Island lead.
T.J. Blanton led the inning off with a single up the middle before RIU pitched Ken Graveline struggled with his command allowing a walk to Jon Berti and hitting Dennis Vaughn with a pitch. With the bases loaded and one out, Derek Spencer singled to the third base side plating BGSU's first run. Logan Meisler cleared the bases with a triple down the right field line before he evened the score later crossing the plate on a Ryan Schlater single to center field.
Bowling Green took the lead the next inning after Blanton singled through the middle of the infield before Jon Berti got in one the triple party, notching three bases on a liner down the right field side that scored Blanton. Berti scored when Dennis Vaughn grounded out to the second base side, giving the Falcons their first lead of the game, 7-5.
To begin a much-anticipated comeback after sitting out the 2009 season due to an injury, Frank Berry took to the hill for the first time since 2008 in the sixth inning. After inducing a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the sixth inning, he allowed a run on a Milan Adams home run to left field before handing the ball over to Patrick O'Brien after the end of the seventh inning.
Bowling Green added a run following the Rhode Island home run with a round-tripper of their own. David Borcherdt cranked a solo shot over the right field fence to extend the Falcon lead back to two. The home run was Borcherdt's first of the season and only the second Falcon homer of the 2010 season.
After O'Brien got through eighth inning flawlessly, the ninth inning featured the Rhode Island offense that was present in the games first three innings. With one out in the ninth, nine-hole hitter Milan Adams hit a single to right after Rob DeVeney reached on an error by shortstop Jon Berti. After lead off hitter Mike LeBel grounded into a fielder's choice leaving runners at second and third, Oliver Palmer cleared the bases with a double hit to deep left field and advanced to third on the throw to the plate.
With a tie ball game and a runner on third, Patrick Martin was called to close out the inning. Coming off of the bench for Rhode Island in a pinch-hit effort was Zoey Angulo. On the first pitch of the at-bat, Angulo took a high fastball and put it deep enough into left field to score Palmer from third on the sacrifice fly, putting RIU up by a run, 9-8. Martin closed out the rest of the inning but the Falcons entered the last half of the ninth down by one.
After Borcherdt and Blanton grounded out to the left side, the Falcons caught a break when Jon Berti reached on a error by Ram third baseman Evan Laude, advancing Berti to second base. With the tying run in scoring position, Dennis Vaughn was called up to even the score, but the senior ended the game with a pop out to short.
Highlighting himself in the Falcon loss was freshman starter Michael Frank, who owned the bottom half of the Rhode Island lineup, striking out RIU eight and nine hitters four times in the game and allowing only one hit to the Rams' 6-7-8-9 hitters. He finished with five strikeouts and gave up three earned runs over five innings.
With the loss the Falcons now drop to 1-7 on the season and are 1-1 after two days at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Falcons are currently playing Butler University and will have five more games before Saturday's finale with Indiana University before returning to Bowling Green.
