Sunday, May 9
Bowling Green, Ohio
12:00 p.m.
Bowling Green State University
10
vs
3
University of Akron
Falcons Sit Atop MAC East After Mother’s Day Sweep of Akron
May 09, 2010 | Baseball
Box score - Game 1 | Game 2
Updated statistics
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Falcons' rescheduled doubleheader with the Akron Zips could not have ended better. The Falcons led seventeen of the 18 total innings the two teams played on Sunday and earned two wins over the Zips to take the lead in the Mid-American Conference East division following the Kent State Golden Flashes losing two of three this weekend. Relief pitching and offense led the way in the Falcons' successful twin bill and guided the Brown and Orange to 10-3 and 6-4 wins.
The Falcons as a team batted .357 on the day, led by Derek Spencer who led the team in hits (5), RBI (4) and total bases. He finished the doubleheader with two singles, a double, triple and a home run. Both Dennis Vaughn and Clay Duncan went 4-for-7 Sunday and combined for five RBI, eight hits and five runs scored. They both posted the highest on-base percentage reaching base 62.5 percent of the time.
The Bowling Green bullpen tossed a combined 7.2 innings in the pair of games and did not allow any runs to the Zips all day. Between game winners Charles Wooten and Patrick O'Brien plus appearances from Ross Gerdeman and Patrick Martin, the group allowed only five hits and struck out seven Akron hitters.
Bowling Green received the good news that Kent State University had lost its weekend capper to Miami in the middle of their second game. The Flashes' 5-4 loss to Miami opened the door for the Falcons to take over sole possession of the number one spot in the MAC East. The Falcons did the rest win a pair of wins and now place first in the division with six more conference contests remaining in the season.
GAME ONE - Akron 3, Bowling Green 10
Bowling Green drew first blood Sunday in game one in the bottom of the first inning with two outs. Logan Meisler was hit on a full count offering from Akron starter Alex Loftin. With runners on first and second after a single by Spencer, Jon Berti brought one run home for the Falcons on a fly ball that dropped into shallow center field. Berti stretched the hit into a RBI double while Meisler touched home for the first run of the game.
After the teams swapped runs in the third inning and took a 2-1 game into the fifth inning, Akron posted a pair of runs that BGSU starter Michael Frank was responsible for. After taking a temporary 3-2 lead, the Falcons scored three runs in the bottom half of the fifth. Ryan Schlater led the home half of the inning off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Loftin. Meisler plated his fellow senior with a sacrifice fly to center field to tie the game at three.
The Falcons strung together four straight hits and scored twice as a result. After back-to-back singles from Vaughn and T.J. Blanton, Spencer doubled down the right field line to score Blanton. Berti then recorded his second RBI of the day on a solid single to left field that scored Vaughn from third. From that point with a 5-3 lead, the Falcons did not look back.
Two innings after taking the lead Bowling Green added five runs to its total to ensure victory in game one. Vaughn added a fourth hit to complete a perfect 4-for-4 game at the plate and it accounted for four bases and two additional Falcon runs. Meisler walked to lead off the frame and joined Vaughn on a trot around the bases after the Kirtland, Ohio native lofted a two-run shot of the scoreboard in right-center field.
Akron reliever Kevin Kumazec fared no better after Loftin was taken out of the game after 6.1 innings. Spencer and Berti welcomed Kumazec to the ball game with singles. Clay Duncan and Matthew Pitzulo hit two-out, RBI singles adding to the Falcon lead and giving them a seven run advantage going into the eighth inning.
After Wooten entered the game in the fifth inning in relief of Frank, he allowed only two hits over five innings of work to earn his second win of the season. He allowed a single to the first hitter he faced, then retired eight straight hitters before allowing another Zip runner. Wooten retired 15 of the 18 hitters he faced, including five strikeouts. A 1-2-3 ninth inning clinched the 10-3 Falcon win in game one and set the tone for game two.
GAME TWO - Akron 4, Bowling Green 6
The finale of the series turn out to be the closer of the two contests between the Falcons and Zips, though Bowling Green's offense and bullpen once again came through to pull out the “W” and complete the three-game sweep of Akron.
Once again Bowling Green scored first placing three runs on the board in their first at-bat. Meisler and Blanton tagged Akron's Scott Foster with singles to lead the inning off and were advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt. The bunt certainly wasn't necessary after Derek Spencer hit his tenth home run of the season. After the victory lap, the Falcons led the Zips, 3-0.
Akron chipped at the BGSU lead with a run in the fourth inning on three Zip singles. The teams then swapped runs in the sixth to take a 4-2 score into the seventh.
In Kevin Leady's seventh inning of work he left the game in the hands of Patrick Martin with runners on second and third after a walk and a double. With one out the left-handed sophomore forced Jake Plata to fly out to center field. The fly out was deep enough to score a run from third and advance the runner from second to third on the throw in the infield. Ross Gerdeman then entered the game and was called for a balk, allowing the second run to score.
With the game tied at four runs, the Falcons delivered the final blow scoring the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Done with two outs, Mark Galvin began the rally with his first hit of the day on a single to right field. Duncan followed by skiing a 1-2 pitch to the deepest part of the right field line that Akron outfielder Jared Turocy did not catch up to. The ball fell inside the line and rolled to the wall allowing Galvin to score and Duncan to trot into second with a double. The Falcon first baseman finished his round-trip around the bases when Andrew Kuns drilled a single into left-center field and gave the Falcons a two-run advantage.
Patrick O'Brien finished the game for Bowling Green after entering in the eighth. Taking the two-run lead, the freshman earned his third win of the season and completed the sweep of the Zips in three games.
Bowling Green (24-19-1, 14-7) has now swept their opponents in three of their last four weekend series after winning all three games against the Zips (20-28, 3-18) this weekend. The Falcons also won all three games against the Toledo Rockets and Ohio Bobcats earlier this season, both on the road.
The new MAC East leaders will play the University of Notre Dame on Tuesday, May 11 with a 6:05 p.m. ET first pitch. Bowling Green will then head to Kent, Ohio to play the Flashes in a heated battle for the top spot in the East. Continue to follow the Falcons through BGSUFalcons.com as the race for first place continues.
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