Falcons Falter In Home Opener, Lose 6-2 To Youngstown State

Wednesday, March 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:05 pm ET

Bowling Green State University

5-10

Youngstown State

4-8

Youngstown State

Bowling Green

March 18, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

BGSU will now turn attention to MAC play as they host Ball State this weekend in three-game series

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: HTML | PDF

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio—The Bowling Green State University baseball team was defeated by Youngstown State 6-2 in the home opener. After playing their first 14 games of the season on the road, the Falcons were finally back at the friendly confines of Steller Field on a sunny afternoon in front of their home fans on Wednesday afternoon.

"That wasn't the type of performance I was expecting today, but the good thing was that we were able to get a lot of people in," stated head coach Danny Schmitz. "I expected more with it being the home opener, but hopefully we learn from it because we have a great challenge this weekend with Ball State coming to town. We are definitely going to need to improve in all three phases."

The Falcons struggled defensively in the game, committing four errors which led to three unearned runs for the Penguins. Bowling Green was, however, able to get nine pitchers onto the mound as they prepare for Mid-American Conference action to begin this weekend.

For the ninth time this season, the Orange and Brown took an early lead, scoring first in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore Greg Basalyga led off the inning with a double to the wall in right-centerfield. After a Matt Smith sacrifice bunt moved Basalyga to third, he would score on a wild pitch to give BGSU a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins came back in the top of the third to even the ballgame at one run apiece, as Devin Daugherty allowed an unearned run. After an error to the leadoff batter, YSU singled to put two runners on with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt and ground out tied the game, but Daugherty worked out of it without any further trouble.

YSU did most of their damage in the middle innings, scoring four runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to take a commanding 5-1 lead into the seventh. Just two runs were charged as earned, as the Falcons committed three errors to aid the Penguins attack.

Bowling Green had a chance to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the seventh, as Jesse Rait started a two-out rally with a single through the right side. After a Tyler Greiner single, centerfielder Kory Brown dropped down a perfect bunt to reach base with a single. With the bases loaded and the top of the order up, the Falcons had a chance to turn a two-out, bases empty situation into a big inning.

Brandon Howard stepped into the batter's box and was able to put together a patient at-bat, watching four straight balls to bring a run home and make the score 5-2. Unfortunately for the Falcons, that would be all they could muster in the inning, as a pop out ended the frame and left the bases loaded.

Bowling Green will continue their four-game home stand this weekend when they welcome the Ball State Cardinals to town for a three-game series to begin Mid-American Conference play. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3:05 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday are slated to begin at 1:05 p.m.