Bruns Tosses Complete Game Gem in Shutout Win

Saturday, March 26

DeKalb, Illinois

1:00 pm CT

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois University

March 26, 2011 | Baseball

Nick Bruns tossed the first complete game, shutout in a conference game since 2007.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

DEKALB, Ill. -- Led by the cannon attached to sophomore pitcher Nick Bruns' right arm and the success at the plate by the middle of the Falcon, Bowling Green baseball kept the host Northern Illinois Huskies scoreless in their 8-0 win Saturday afternoon. Bruns held the Huskies to five base runners all game long, none of which made it past second base.

March 26, 2011 -- Final
	R	H	E
Bowling Green	8	11	0
Northern Illinois	0	3	4

Box score (.html) | Box score (.pdf) | Play by play (.pdf) | Updated statistics (.html)

In just the ninth start of his college career, Nick Bruns (Saint Henry, Ohio) went the distance and shutout the Huskies while only allowing three hits on the day. He walked two NIU batters but of the five Huskies that reached base only two made it past first base and none passed second. He finished with a career-high 12 strikeouts, more than any Falcon has amassed in a single outing yet this season. At one point, Bruns (1-1) sat down 12 straight hitters, striking out six in that time. He allowed only one baserunner on a ninth inning base hit from the sixth inning on.

Bruns' complete game shutout was the first tossed by a Falcon pitched since teammate Matt Malewitz did so on March 13, 2009 against Northern Iowa. It was the first complete game shutout in a conference game since Tyler Johnson's five-hit, five-strikeout performance on April 20, 2007 in a 3-0 win at home against Akron.

Run support was no issue of the Falcons, who scored eight runs on 11 hits. Clay Duncan (Norwalk, Ohio) turned in a 2-for-4 day with RBI singles in back-to-back at bats in the fifth and seventh innings. #T.J. Losby# (Bryan, Ohio) also had a day knocking in the game's first run with a RBI single through the left side, scoring Ryan Schlater (St. Paris, Ohio) and in the ninth inning hitting a three-RBI, base clearing triple to right field. After legging out the three-bagger, a throwing error by Northern Illinois right fielder Trey Lang allowed Losby to complete the 360-foot roundtrip and score, giving the Falcons an 8-0 lead going into the last half of the ninth inning.

The middle of the order banged out six hits between the 3-4-5 combination of Jon Berti (Troy, Mich.), Clay Duncan and Ryan Schlater. Berti hit his third triple of the season, half as many as he had all of last season, and scored later in the second inning. The six through nine hitters each had at least one hit a piece while freshman catcher T.J. Losby contributed two hits and four RBI.

The Falcons (8-10) have won the series against Northern Illinois (5-13) but still have one game yet to play before the end of the weekend. Bowling Green will throw right-handed senior Charles Wooten (1-2) in Sunday's finale, just one week after he set career highs in innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (9) in a game. First pitch is set for 1:00 CST on Sunday.

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.