Shay's Early Home Run Not Enough As Falcons Fall In Game Two

Saturday, March 1

Atlanta, GA

2:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

2-6

Georgia Tech

6-4

Bowling Green

Georgia Tech

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

March 01, 2014 | Baseball

Box Score

Georiga Tech scores four runs in the third and eighth to pull away from BGSU

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Box Score (Georgia Tech 8, Bowling Green 3)

ATLANTA, Ga.—Georgia Tech scored four runs in two separate innings on Saturday afternoon, as Bowling Green State University dropped game two of the series to the Yellow Jackets by an 8-3 final. The game was played at Russ Chandler Stadium. With the loss, the Falcons drop to 2-6 on the season, having lost the last four. The Yellow Jackets improve to 6-4 with the win.

For the second straight day, the Falcons jumped out to an early lead with a pair of runs. On Saturday, those two runs came in the first inning. Brian Bien singled to extend his hitting streak to seven games with one out in the top of the first. With two outs, he would steal second base to move into scoring position for Jeremy Shay. Shay would capitalize, jumping on a pitch and knocking it over the wall in left field for a two-run home run. The home run was Shay's first of the season and gave the Falcons an early lead.

With a 2-0 lead, starter Mike Frank went to work on the mound. Frank cruised through the first two innings, but a third-inning error would lead to trouble from Frank, with the Falcons still holding onto a two-run lead. With the bases loaded and one out, Georgia Tech's Mike Gonzalez would hit a deep fly ball to right field. BGSU right fielder Jake Thomas would make a leaping catch, crashing into the wall to prevent a bases-clearing hit. One run would score on the play, but the Falcons still led 2-1 with two outs in the inning. The next two batters would single to left field, however, and Georgia Tech led 4-2 after three innings. All four runs charged to Frank in the inning were unearned.

Frank pitched 4.0 innings on Saturday, moving into seventh all-time with 237.2 career innings pitched. He allowed just four hits while striking out two, but was charged with the loss.

Devin Daugherty would relieve Frank in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Falcons' bats a chance to wake up. Daugherty would go two innings, allowing just one hit.

The Falcons would score a run on a Greg Basalyga single in the top of the eighth, which scored Logan Walker. At the time, Bowling Green trailed just 4-3. However, as was the story for much of the afternoon, the Falcons would leave runners on base. BGSU stranded 11 runners on Saturday afternoon.

Georgia Tech would capitalize on the runners left on base in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs to break open the game. In the inning, GT would hit two doubles, a triple, and a back-breaking two-run home run which made it 8-3.

Bowling Green could not make a comeback in the ninth, falling to the Yellow Jackets by that 8-3 margin. The Falcons will look to salvage the series tomorrow afternoon, when they square off with Georgia Tech at 1:00 p.m. inside of Russ Chandler Stadium.

Notes
*T.J. Losby extended his streak to 117 consecutive games played on Saturday.

*Brian Bien extended both his hitting streak (seven games) and his on-base streak (11 games) with his first inning single on Saturday.

*Patrick Lancaster extended his on-base streak to 12 games with a walk on Saturday.

*Jeremy Shay went 2-for-4 with a home run and single in Saturday's game. It was his first home run of the season and his third multi-RBI game.