Home Opener Excitement Includes Literal ‘Walk-Off’ Win

Wednesday, March 16

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

University of Northwestern Ohio

March 17, 2011 | Baseball

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Bowling Green opened its home slate at “The Stell” earlier today and generated much excitement in a 6-5, walk-off win over Northwestern Ohio University. The Falcons had to make up a five-run deficit but chipped away at the Racers' lead, waiting until there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to force home the winning run.

Final
	R	H	E
Northwestern Ohio	5	7	0
Bowling Green	6	9	1

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Though not done the way every child dreams of, the Falcons filled the bases by base hits from Matt Pitzulo (Poland, Ohio) and Patrick Martin (Oregon, Ohio). Martin's hit came with two outs when he squibbed a grounder to the right side of the infield. Racer first baseman Ben Schubert fielded the ball deep in the hole but had no one waiting at first to finish the play. Martin beat out the throw to extend the inning and place runners on first and second base.

Pitcher Dylan Brammer followed with a walk to freshman Jeremy Shay (Garden City, Mich.), loading the bases for BGSU. Matt Vannett (Bowling Green, Ohio) stepped to the plate with the winner run 90 feet away. Vannett took enough pitched to run the count the count full before watching ball four sail low of the strike zone, forcing Pitzulo home to score the winning run.

The mood was not always so cheery, especially after Northwestern Ohio University put five runs across the board in the second inning. All five runs were on the watch of starting pitcher Matt Malewitz (Grand Rapids, Mich.) but only four were earned. The Racers filled the bases after a base hit, walk and a catcher's interference called against #T.J. Losby# (Bryan, Ohio). Juan Espinosa drove home two runs with a single to center field and was followed up by a run scoring single from Phillip Donovan to give the Racers a 3-0 advantage. The visitors added two more runs following Malewitz's exit in exchange for Cody Apthorpe.

Bowling Green scored its first two runs on either a wild pitch or a passed ball in the second and fourth innings. The Falcons then scored runs in each of the final three innings to erase a three-run deficit. Andrew Kubuski (Elyria, Ohio) drilled his first collegiate home run over the right-center field fence, scoring two runs to bring the Falcons within a run of the Racers in the seventh inning.

The Brown and Orange scored a second run on a wild pitch in the eighth inning when Jeremy White tossed the ball through the wickets of Kail Campbell. Ryan Schlater (St. Paris, Ohio) scored the tying run from third to make it a 5-5 game before the final out of the eighth was recorded.

Kubuski led the Falcons offensively with a 2-for-3 day with a home run and two RBI while Frank Berry joined him with a two-hit day, going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

Ross Gerdeman (Fort Jennings, Ohio) earned the win, his second of the season, after shutting out the Racers in the ninth inning. He struck out two in his lone inning of relief.

Eight Falcon pitchers hit the mound on Wednesday. Mike Frank (Maumee, Ohio) had the longest outing, totaling two innings and retiring all six batters he faced. The Falcon bullpen combined for 7.2 scoreless innings of baseball and combined for seven strikeouts and four walks on the day. The combination of eight pitchers allowed only four hits through the remainder of the game.

Bowling Green improves to 5-8 on the season, overall. They will travel to Cleveland State University and play the Vikings of the Horizon League in a set of three nonconference games. The Falcons and Vikings will play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday at 12 noon at All Pro Frieght Stadium (Avon, Ohio).

Full coverage of Falcon baseball and all 18 varsity sports can be found on the official online home of BGSU athletics, www.BGSUFalcons.com. Be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook by searching “BG Warriors” or follow them on Twitter through www.twitter.com/WEAREBGBASEBALL.