Fast Start Propels Falcons To Doubleheader Split

Friday, February 27

Emerson, GA

2:00 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

2-2

Eastern Kentucky

3-5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Bowling Green	4	5	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	13	18	1
Eastern Kentucky	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	0	10	13	2

February 27, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Falcons split Friday doubleheader vs. EKU

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: Game One (HTML | PDF)
Final Statistics: Game Two (HTML | PDF)

EMERSON, Georgia—The Bowling Green State University baseball team got off to a fast start on Friday, scoring 10 runs in the first three innings of the day to earn a split against Eastern Kentucky. The doubleheader was played at LakePoint Sports Complex in Emerson, Ga. due to poor weather and field conditions at Eastern Kentucky. With the split, the Falcons are now 2-3 on the season. Eastern Kentucky is 4-5.

"We did some good things early on in the first game, but missed opportunities in the second game today," head coach Danny Schmitz started. "We need to come out tomorrow and play well in all three phases to give us a chance to win a series."

Game One – BGSU 13, EKU 10
Bowling Green got off to a fast start in Friday's first game, scoring 10 runs in their first three at-bats against EKU starter Logan Hershenow. The Falcons led 13-2 after the top of the eighth in the game, before holding on for the 13-10 victory.

In the top of the first inning, both Brandon Howard and Brian Bien singled to start things off. Catcher Trey Keegan would single home Howard with a base knock to left field, while Bien advanced to third on the play. Leading 1-0, left fielder Matt Smith flew out to center field, but it was deep enough to score Bien from third and give the Orange and Brown a 2-0 lead.

Following the second out of the inning, true freshman Randy Righter came up and smacked his third home run of the season over the left field wall, scoring Keegan and giving the Falcons a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. Righter was 3-for-5 in the game with three RBI and his third home run of the season in just the fourth game. BGSU's leader in home runs during the 2014 season hit two, but Righter has already surpassed that in the first five games of this season.

Redshirt sophomore Andrew Lacinak took to the mound in the bottom of the first and took a while to find his groove, surrendering two hits and a walk in the bottom of the first, leading to an Eastern Kentucky run.

The Falcons' bats continued to be hot in the top of the second, scoring five more runs to take a 9-1 lead. The inning would start with Kory Brown reaching base and advancing into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt by Howard. Bien would single to score Brown, and then score himself on a double by Keegan. RBI hits by Greg Basalyga, Righter, and Jesse Rait gave the Falcons an eight-run lead after just 1.5 innings.

Lacinak would settle in from there, finding the strikeout pitch and ground ball to help him escape a few jams. In back-to-back innings, Lacinak would get ground ball double plays to escape trouble. He also struck out six—tying his career high—in his six innings of work to earn his first win of the season, improving to 1-0 on the young campaign.

The Orange and Brown would produce a run in the top of the third to extend their lead to 10-1. Howard singled with one out in the inning and stole second base to move into scoring position. He was brought home on a single to left by Bien for the Falcons' run.

EKU would add a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth against Lacinak, but he left the game with BGSU leading 10-2 after six innings of play. Lacinak would give way to Devin Daugherty out of the bullpen. Both Tony Landi and Jason Link also made appearances for the Falcons on the mound.

The Falcons were able to increase the lead in the top of the eighth, tacking on three insurance runs. But, Bowling Green found some trouble in the bottom of the eighth, as EKU was helped with some defensive blunders by the Falcons. Two misplays in the outfield and an error led to an eight run frame by the Colonels, as they narrowed the gap to 13-10 as the game moved to the ninth.

With the lead down to 13-10, the Falcons would turn to their closer and Link delivered with an easy one, two, three inning to give the Falcons the win. With the victory, the Falcons improved to 2-2 on the young season, while EKU dropped to 3-5 with the loss.

Game Two – EKU 5, BGSU 4
The Falcons found some two-out magic in the first inning of Friday's double-dip, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Keegan got things started with a single to left field and came around to score on Matt Smith's RBI double into the right-centerfield gap. Greg Basalyga gave the Orange and Brown a 2-0 lead in the first, scoring Smith with his base hit to left field.

The Colonels tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the second inning, taking advantage of two free passes by Falcons' starting pitcher Trevor Blaylock in the inning. The inning began with a walk and was followed up with a hit batter to put two EKU runners on with nobody out. A wild pitch would advance both runners into scoring position, and a ground out and single later in the inning tied the game at two runs apiece.

EKU took their first lead of the day in the bottom of the third, stealing home for a 3-2 lead. With two outs and runners on the corners, EKU head coach Jason Stein put on the steal sign. The Colonels were able to execute the play perfectly, as the runner from first got caught in a rundown which allowed the runner from third to swipe home and give EKU a 3-2 lead.

The Orange and Brown retook the lead in the top of the fourth with two runs of their own, both of them unearned. Jesse Rait reached base to start the inning and moved to second on Kory Brown's walk. A Howard single brought Rait home to tie the game at three. Bien was able to sacrifice both Brown and Howard into scoring position with a bunt, and a Keegan single scored Brown to give the Falcons a 4-3 lead.

The Falcons held that lead until the bottom of the fifth, when EKU took advantage of a few Falcon mistakes. The Colonels had a runner on second with one out when an EKU batter hit a hard one-hopper back to the mound. Blaylock was able to knock it down, but could not corral the deflection to make a play. With runners on the corners, a single past first baseman Randy Righter tied the game, and a one-out balk brought a run home – a huge run for EKU to give them a 5-4 lead – which would eventually prove to be the game-winner.

Despite outhitting EKU 7-6 in the game, the Colonels' bullpen was outstanding over the final four innings. Matt Lynch and Aaron Ochsenbien held BGSU hitless over the game's final four innings, striking out six Falcons to hang onto the victory.

The two teams will conclude their three-game weekend series on Saturday at LakePoint Sports Complex in Emerson, Ga. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm ET, but fans are encouraged to stay tuned to @WEAREBGBaseball on Twitter for updates, as first pitch could be moved back due to long games earlier in the day.