Hearts Break in Chillicothe; Falcons Eliminated in the Ninth

Saturday, May 29

Chillicothe, Ohio

11:30 a.m.

Bowling Green State University

Central Michigan University

May 29, 2010 | Baseball

After scoring five runs in the eighth, the Chippewas stole a win away in a come-from-behind victory.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

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CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – All the momentum had shifted from the third base dugout to the first base dugout after a five-run eighth inning gave Bowling Green a three-run lead going into the ninth frame of action. After struggling for much of the game, the Falcon offense had made its move to advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship game recording seven of their nine hits from the sixth inning on. However, a relentless Central Michigan Chippewa team amounted their own attack that included four-runs on five hits and instead of Bowling Green advancing to the next round, Central Michigan earned the chance to play for a tournament championship after handing the Falcons a 9-8 loss in the last inning of play.

After falling behind 5-1, BGSU made the first of their late pushes in the top half of the seventh inning scoring a pair of runs to close the gap to a two run deficit. Matthew Pitzulo led off with a seeing-eye single that skid its way into center field, followed by a walk to Ryan Schlater to turn the lineup over to the top. The always reliable #T.J. Blanton# hopped on a 0-1 delivery from Howard and hit his second double of the day, this time scoring a run and drawing the CMU lead to three runs. Immediately after the double, Dennis Vaughn smacked a line drive into deep left field. Making a leaping catch in front of the warning track, CMU leftfielder Scott Phillion made an extra-base-hit-saving catch, but it served a purpose by allowing Schlater to score from third on the sacrifice.

After a pitching change brought the 2010 MAC Freshman of the Year, Dietrich Enns, to the hill Derek Spencer made the entire stadium gasp with a deep shot to center field. Running across the warning track and approaching the wall, centerfielder Billy Anderson made the catch at the wall to end the Falcon threat.

A wild eighth inning tied the game at five when a throwing error on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Clay Duncan ended in failure for the Chips. With runners on first and second, Enns came off the mound to field Duncan's bunt and went to third to get the force out. His throw was wide right and caromed off of third base umpire Gene Klotz and down the left field wall. On the play, Jon Berti and Mark Galvin scored to tie the game at five runs apiece.

The inning fared worse for Central Michigan when the Falcons kept the runs coming with momentum on their side. Logan Meisler drew a walk and Blanton was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to load the bases for Vaughn. Vaughn then fell behind 0-2 in the count but found an inside fastball that he grounded through the right side and into right field. Coming up with the throw was right fielder, Matt Faiman, and his throw to the plate to get Meisler sailed high and into the netting behind the dish. With two runs across the plate, Blanton was rounding the bases at a blazing speed and had a mission to score. The throw back to the plate following the over-throw beat Blanton, but Cornstubble dropped the baseball and Blanton powered his way into the plate safely. As soon as Blanton scored, Cornstubble fired the ball to second and caught Vaughn leaning toward third. The tag beat Vaughn back at the second base bag and ended the inning, but Bowling Green had jumped in front of CMU, 8-5.

Ross Gerdeman came out in the top of the ninth in his third inning of relief but quickly allowed the first two hitters in the CMU order on base with back-to-back singles. With runners on the corners, the Falcons went deeper into the bullpen and asked Patrick O'Brien to come on in relief for the fourth time in as many days. James Teas singled in one run and left men on first and second with one run to give. After a four-pitch walk to Nate Theunissen loaded the bases, Cornstubble took his first pitch and hit a run-scoring single to center field to draw CMU within one of Bowling Green. Still with no outs, O'Brien registered a clutch strike out of Billy Anderson to allow for the opportunity of a double play. Instead of the double play, CMU leftfielder Scott Phillion flied out to centerfield serving as a sacrifice fly when Teas raced home to tie the game at eight. With runners now on second and third after everybody on base advanced, CMU second baseman Ricky Clark recorded his only hit of the game, but one that decided the contest. After falling behind 2-0, O'Brien dealt the right-hander an outside fastball and was hit off of the end of Clark's bat. What looked like it looping fly ball turned into a bloop single into right field that easily plated the game-winning run and gave the Chippewas a 9-8, walk-off victory.

The Falcons (31-23-1) endure their second loss of the tournament, both from Central Michigan (36-21), and thus have been eliminated from the MAC Tournament for the third consecutive year.

Central lit up the scoreboard first with three runs in the first inning, yet only recorded one hit to do the damage. Smith walked three hitters in the inning and threw two wild pitches to accompany the lone hit, a two-run triple hit by Bill Anderson. The Chippewas plated their first run on a sacrifice fly after Brendan Emmett was walked and advanced twice on wild tosses. Emmett scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Theunissen. After Smith registered his second and third walks of the inning, Anderson hit a two-run triple put the Chips up, 3-0, in the first inning.

CMU scored their fourth run after Smith put runners on second and third in the top of the second. After Bowling Green made an early call to the bullpen for Michael Frank's services, the freshman forced a ground out to Jon Berti at short, but scored the runner from third. At this point, all four runs the Chips scored were all runners that reached via a walk. Frank got the Falcons out of the jam by following with a weak pop out hit by Teas and forcing a line out to Mark Galvin in right.

The Falcons struggled from the plate for the first five innings, only getting two hits and three total base runners in that time. When the offense did come alive, the top of the order was responsible for most of the damage. The senior combination of Meisler, Blanton and Vaughn went 5-for-11 on the day, scored three runs and were responsible for four RBI. Vaughn knocked in three runs on his own on his base-clearing single in the eighth.

Freshman pitcher Michael Frank gave the Falcons the opportunity for the comeback after coming into the game as a reliever for Brennan Smith in the second inning. After Smith struggled with his command early, the Maumee, Ohio native allowed only one run and three hits in his five innings of work against Central Michigan. In three of those innings, Frank retired the side in order.

First Team All-MAC selection Jon Berti finishes an outstanding sophomore season with a 3-for-5 effort on the day with a run and a RBI. With the strong finish, he has become BGSU's single-season, all-time batting average record holder closing out the 2010 season with a .423 (93-220) mark. His 93 hits are also the most any Falcon in school history has strung together in a season. His triple in the sixth inning of Saturday's game also gave him six on the season, good for a tie with teammate Logan Meisler and Larry Arndt for most three-baggers in a season first set by Arndt in 1982. It also gives him 11 career triples, also tying Arndt for third-most all-time in a career.

Bowling Green closes out a remarkable season citing one of the biggest mid-season turnarounds in program history. After the third conference series of the season with Ball State University concluding on April 11, the Falcons sat at the bottom of the MAC East and an overall record of 9-17-1 and a 3-6 mark in conference play. From that point, the Brown and Orange rattled off an extraordinary 19-4 record against their opponents before entering the MAC Tournament. They closed out their season 22-6 in their last 28 games, also sporting the program's third longest winning streak in program history at 11 games. With their last regular season win over Buffalo on May 22, the Falcons also clinched their third consecutive MAC East title, the first time in program history they have taken at least a share of the crown in three consecutive seasons.