Falcons Fall In Friday Pitcher’s Duel At Campbell

Friday, March 6

Buies Creek, NC

4:00 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

3-4

Campbell

11-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Bowling Green	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
Campbell	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	X	4	6	1

March 06, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: HTML | PDF

BUIES CREEK, N.C.—The Bowling Green State University baseball team dropped a low-scoring pitcher's duel at Campbell University on Friday afternoon, falling to the Camels 4-2. The game, which lasted just one minute past two hours, was played at Jim Perry Stadium. With the win, Campbell extends their winning streak to eight games, improving their overall record to 11-2. The Falcons fell to 3-4 with the loss.

"I thought our pitching and defense played well enough to win the game this afternoon," head coach Danny Schmitz started. "But we did not have a good enough approach at the plate to win, and despite outhitting Campbell, did not take advantage of our opportunities like they did today."

Pitching was the story for most of the day, as Bowling Green's Andrew Lacinak and Devin Daugherty combined to allow just six hits to the potent Camels' offense. Lacinak was tabbed as the tough-luck loser, surrendering four runs over a season-high 6.1 innings pitched.

On the other side of the mound was Campbell's Heath Bowers, who went the distance for the complete-game win. The Falcons managed eight hits in the game against the Camels' ace, but were unable to muster much offense. Bowers struck out 15 Falcon hitters in the game, which set a new Campbell school record.

Both pitchers were nearly unhittable in the first three innings, as the lone base runner came on a Trey Keegan infield single in the first inning. Lacinak was perfect the first time through the batting order.

Both offenses came to life in the fourth inning, as the Falcons grabbed a lead with two runs in the top of the inning. Brian Bien started things off for the Falcons, serving a single over the shortstop's head for a leadoff single. Keegan, the very next batter, then would smash a double off the base of the wall in left field, scoring Bien from first and giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

The Falcons found themselves poised for a huge inning after Matt Smith reached base on a throwing error, and with Keegan advancing to third on the play, the Orange and Brown had runners on the corners with nobody out.

After a strikeout for the first out, Bowers and the CU defense picked off Smith, but it wasn't before Keegan came across to score and give the Falcons a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning.

The leadoff batter for Campbell in the bottom of the fourth got the Camels on the board, as Cedric Mullins began the frame with a solo home run over the wall in left field to cut the Falcons' lead in half, at 2-1. From there Lacinak bounced back nicely, retiring the next three Camel batters to get out of the inning and hold the Falcons' lead.

A Campbell run in the bottom of the fifth inning tied the score at 2-2, but once again Lacinak was able to limit the damage in the inning.

The sixth inning proved to be the difference on Friday night, as the Falcons missed an opportunity in the top half of the inning, while Campbell took advantage of their opportunity in the bottom half of the inning.

In the top half of the inning, Smith got to first on a walk and then moved into scoring position with a stolen base. But, the Orange and Brown were unable to get him in from there, ending the inning with a strikeout and flyout.

Campbell took the lead for good in the bottom half of the sixth, getting a solo home run from Steven Leonard with two outs in the inning. Following the home run, a Campbell single, stolen base, and double gave them a 4-2 lead after six full innings.

The top of the eighth inning saw Keegan hit his second double of the game, marking the first time in his career that the redshirt sophomore has doubled twice in the same game. He now leads the Falcons with four two-baggers and a .522 batting average following Friday's action.

With one last opportunity in the ninth, Bowling Green got two runners on base but could not bring the tying runs across, losing by a final score of 4-2.

The two teams will continue their series on Saturday afternoon from Jim Perry Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET. Trevor Blaylock will take the mound for the Falcons looking for his first win of the season.