Falcons Drop Pair Of One Run Decisions Saturday At Ball State

Saturday, March 22

Muncie, IN

12:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

6-14, 0

Ball State University

15-8, 0

Bowling Green

Ball State

March 22, 2014 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Box Score Game One
Box Score Game Two

MUNCIE, Ind.—The Bowling Green State University baseball team dropped a pair of games on Saturday at Ball State, dropping to 0-3 in the Mid-American Conference in the process. In the first game of the day, the Falcons were defeated 3-2, while Ball State bested BGSU 4-3 in the nightcap. The Falcons are now 6-15 on the season, while Ball State improves to 16-8.

Game One—Ball State 3, Bowling Green 2
The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead, scoring a single run in the bottom of the first against Falcon starting pitcher Mike Frank. Frank was outstanding once again on Saturday, going 7.2 innings and striking out four. He was tagged as the tough-luck loser, as Ball State's Scott Baker stymied the Orange and Brown offense for eight-plus innings.

Frank's 7.2 innings were a season-high for the right-hander from Maumee, Ohio. He has now thrown 253.2 innings in his career, third-most in school history. He is just ahead of teammate Cody Apthorpe, who has pitched 249.2 innings. Frank's four strikeouts on Saturday bring him to a career total of 178, good for eighth in school history.

Ball State added single runs in both the fifth and eighth innings to increase their lead to 3-0 heading into the ninth inning.

Freshman Greg Baslayga, who went 2-for-3 in the game, began the ninth with a single through the right side to give the Falcons a base runner. Following two consecutive fly outs, shortstop Brian Bien would lay down a bunt single to extend the game. Jeremy Shay would double to right field to score both Basalyga and Bien, and the Falcons trailed just 3-2 with a runner in scoring position but two outs.

For the second consecutive game, however, Rich Maloney would turn to freshman right-hander Zach Plesac for the one-out save, as he would get T.J. Losby on a ground out to end the game.

Game Two—Ball State 4, Bowling Green 3
Bowling Green would jump out to a lead in the second game, scoring two runs in the top of the third against Ball State's Zach Plesac. Plesac, who was making his third appearance of the weekend, went 8.2 innings for the win. He pitched 9.1 innings, recording a win and two saves, on the weekend.

In that third inning, after two were out, Jesse Rait would walk to give the Falcons a base runner. Patrick Lancaster would double to move Rait to third, and both would score on Brian Bien's two-RBI double. Bien went just 1-for-4 in the second game, but that third-inning double extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games.

Ball State would score three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good, knocking Falcon starter Andrew Lacinak out of the game. Lacinak struggled with command in Saturday's contest, walking three and hitting two more batters. He struck out three in 4.2 innings of work.

The Cardinals would tack on another run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh, but Ethan McKenney would come into the game and induce an inning-ending double play to get out of a bases loaded jam.

The Falcons would tack on a run in the ninth, when Logan Walker's single scored T.J. Losby, but the Orange and Brown would not be able to push the tying run across, falling by a final of 4-3. It was the second one-run loss of the day.

The Falcons were led by Losby and Walker in the second game of the day. The duo combined to go 5-for-8.

With the 0-3 start, the Falcons have now been swept in three consecutive seasons to open Mid-American Conference play. Bowling Green will return to action on Tuesday (March 25) when they travel up the road for a nonconference game at Toledo. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at UT's Scott Park.