Ninth Inning Rally Not Enough in MAC Home Opener Loss

Friday, April 1

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:00 pm

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Michigan University

April 01, 2011 | Baseball

Jon Berti led the Falcons with three extra-base hits and RBI in the loss.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Bowling Green trailed by a large margin for much of Friday's contest against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The Falcons scored six times in the bottom of the ninth inning to close the gap but could not overcome the deficit set by EMU. The Brown and Orange came up just short with the final out representing the tying run. The final score of the Falcons' MAC home opener was 13-11 in favor of the visiting Eagles.

April 1, 2001 -- Final
	R	H	E
Eastern Michigan	13	19	0
Bowling Green	11	15	0

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Eastern Michigan took a 13-5 lead into the last of the ninth inning before the bats awoke for BGSU and the team batted around the order. Patrick Lancaster (Woodhaven, Mich.) came off the bench to pinch hit to lead off the Falcons' last stand. He reached base on a perfectly placed bunt down the third base side before stealing second base on the following batter. Jon Berti (Troy, Mich.) drove Lancaster in on one of his three extra-base hits on the day, doubling to right field.

Freshman Jeremy Shay (Garden City, Mich.) entered as a pinch hitter and drove in Berti with a single through the middle of the infield. Alex Davison (Grand Ledge, Mich.) added the Falcons' third run of the inning on a RBI single, scoring Shay and leaving runners on first and second for Matt Vannett (Bowling Green, Ohio). The junior belted a high fly ball deep to center field that hit off the wall. With runners on the move, Vannett cleared the bases with a double and brought the Falcons within five.

Following a pitching change and #T.J. Losby# (Bryan, Ohio) grounding to short for the second out, Andrew Kubuski (Elyria, Ohio) drove in Vannett with a single to center to cut the Eagle lead to two. Lancaster returned to the plate but a hit a sharp liner to short, resulting in the final out of the game and a 13-11 decision.

Berti was a single away from hitting for the cycle. He finished the day going 3-for-5 with a double, triple and a home run. He scored three times and had three runs batted in. Ryan Schlater (St. Paris, Ohio) went a perfect 4-for-4 with three singles, two runs scored and a RBI on his fourth inning solo home run.

The Eagles scored the first six runs of the contest, all within the first three innings of the game. Eastern scored four runs in the third inning, their first of two four-run innings on the day. Bowling Green halved the lead by scoring twice in the fourth inning and once in the sixth, cutting the lead to 6-3. Jon Berti and Ryan Schlater each hit solo home runs to right field in the fourth, their second home runs for both Falcons. Eagle reliever Tim Combs loaded the bases in the sixth and then hit Matt Vannett in the arm to drive home a run.

The visitors responded with another four-run inning in the seventh when EMU catcher Matt Hitt drove in two on a double to left center field, leaving runners on second and third for Wally Gerbus. The Eagles put on the squeeze play when Gerbus put a bunt down to the right side. Tucker Rubino scored from third easily on the play but Hitt was on his hustle and scored from second base and the Falcon defense got the out at first.

Bowling Green (8-12, 2-2 MAC) scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh, once on a Jon Berti RBI triple to right center field and then again when the junior co-captain crossed home when Clay Duncan (Norfolk, Ohio) grounded out to EMU Rubino at shortstop. Eastern Michigan added three more runs in the top of the ninth before BGSU's near comeback in the last half of the ninth. The triple was Berti's fourth of the season, two shy of a career-high and BGSU single season record.

Fifteen runs were score in the last three innings of play of Friday's game, nine of them in the ninth inning. Bowling Green finished scoring 11 runs on 15 hits while EMU scored 13 times on 19 hits. Neither team committed an error in the game.

Cody Apthorpe (2-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits in his 2.1 innings of work. Michael Frank (Maumee, Ohio) relieved Apthorpe and lasted 4.2 innings, giving up four runs during his stint. Freshmen Chris Miller (Batesville, Ind.) and Levi Fisher (Bryan, Ohio) cleaned up the final two innings of the game, allowing three runs between the two of them.

The Falcons and the Eagles will meet for game two of their three game set on Saturday with a first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. A special guest is scheduled to throw out tomorrow honorary first pitch, in conjunction with the ongoing Dance Marathon event held by the University.

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.