Falcons Rebound and Eliminate Ball State

Friday, May 28

Chillicothe, Ohio

9:00 a.m.

Bowling Green State University

Ball State University

May 28, 2010 | Baseball

Bowling Green eliminated Ball State with a 7-4 win and advances to play CMU today at 4pm.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – A day after being limited to four hits and one run against Central Michigan, Bowling Green looked elimination in the eye and rejected it vehemently. The Falcons played all three phases of the game well with a quality start on the hill by Cody Apthorpe backed up by seven BGSU doubles and solid defense all around in a 7-4 victory over Ball State University. The Brown and Orange eliminate Ball State after defeating them for the second time this tournament and survive to play CMU again today at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Apthorpe pitched in his second Mid-American Conference game of the season and made it count with six innings of excellence against the Cardinals. He finished with the win, his third of the season, on a day where he allowed only four hits and two runs on a 99 pitch effort.

Bowling Green did their damage beginning as early as the second inning when they posted a pair of runs in the top of the second inning and again in the top of the third. Led by a single to deep short by Jon Berti, the sophomore swiped his first of two bases on the day and then advanced to third on a wild pitch by Ball State starting pitcher Brad Piatt. After Mark Galvin walked to put runners on the corners for the Falcons, Matthew Pitzulo belted the first of the Falcons' seven doubles. His liner down the left field line scored Berti easily and Galvin motored around the diamond beating the high throw at the plate to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.

The Brown and Orange doubled their lead the next inning all with two outs. Derek Spencer started a chain of two-out doubles then followed by teammates Berti and Galvin for back-to-back-to-back doubles that scored two more runs. In the process, Berti stole third base, his 29^th steal of the season.

Both teams exchanged a run in the next two at-bats. Ball State put a run on the board in the bottom of the third inning on a solo home run by T.J. Baumet. Bowling Green answered with run number five on new BSU pitcher, Heath Riley. Ryan Schlater poked a double into the left field corner and was brought around by a Logan Meisler single to the opposite field.

Not settling for five, BGSU posted their third two-spot in the top of the sixth. Again with one out, Schlater hit his second double of the day to the same spot of the field. This time #T.J. Blanton brought Schlater around to score on his single to left field. The Falcons added to their scoreboard total with the team's seventh double of the game hit by Dennis Vaughn#. His two-bagger to right field plated Blanton to take a 7-2 lead at the time.

Ball State made it interesting scoring two runs against Falcon reliever Ross Gerdeman in the bottom of the eighth, but Nick Bruns came into clean up the Cardinals for the final two outs, both by groundout, to end the inning without allowing any more runners to advance.

Patrick O'Brien earned his sixth save with a flawless ninth inning, forcing two ground outs and striking out Zach Dygert to end Ball State's season with a 7-4 Falcon win.

The Bowling Green pitching staff stranded ten Ball State runners, including seven of those from innings three to five. Bowling Green only left five runners left on base, two of those in scoring position. The Falcons' seven doubles now serves as second-most doubles in a MAC Tournament game, next only to Kent State who belted eight in a game against Miami the previous night.

The Falcons (30-22-1) earn their 30^th win of the season, the fifth time a BGSU team has done so in the last ten years. They last did so in 2008 after finishing 32-20 overall, however took an early exit in the MAC Tournament that year.

Bowling Green now readies itself for a return to VA Memorial Stadium (Chillicothe, Ohio) later today for a 4:00 p.m. rematch with the Central Michigan Chippewas. If Bowling Green defeats CMU this afternoon, they would have to beat Central Michigan a second time on Saturday morning to advance to the championship game.

Coverage of Bowling Green's next game will be provided through BGSUFalcons.com and MACsports.com.