Falcons Frozen By Penguins, 5-1

Tuesday, April 21

Youngstown, OH

5:30 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

14-21

Youngstown State

11-24

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

April 21, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: HTML | PDF

NILES, Ohio—The Bowling Green State University baseball team led early on Tuesday evening against Youngstown State, but eventually lost to the Penguins, 5-1. For the 15th time this season the Falcons scored in the first inning and have now outscored opponents 35-14 in the opening frame of games in 2015. With the loss, the Falcons drop to 14-21 on the season. YSU improves to 11-24 with the win, sweeping the season series with the Falcons.

"I thought we missed some opportunities early on to score some runs and maybe put some pressure on Youngstown State," head coach Danny Schmitz said. "However, we must bounce back, put this behind us, and focus on this weekend's important series at CMU."

Youngstown State starting pitcher Josh North threw six straight balls to begin the game, walking leadoff hitter Kory Brown on four pitches to open the game. Brian Bien then singled into right-centerfield on a hit-and-run, advancing Brown to third. The junior centerfielder, who last night earned the BGSU Male Junior Scholar Athlete award at the 2015 Ziggy Awards, scored on a double play later in the inning to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

YSU took the lead in the bottom of the second inning, as the first two Penguins reached in the inning. A sacrifice bunt advanced both runners into scoring position, giving the Falcons the first out. But, a double just inside the third base line scored both YSU runners to give them a 2-1 advantage.

In the third inning, the Falcons had the first two runners on base. After a walk to Tyler Greiner, freshman Hunter Clanin singled into left field. A fly out to right field, however, turned into a double play and the Falcons could not bring the equalizer across the dish in the inning.

The Falcons got a base runner on in each of the next two innings, but still found themselves behind 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs in the fifth, Youngstown State got a triple off the bat of Frank Califano, followed by a double by Jason Shirley to extend the lead to 3-1. With the next batter at the dish, the Penguins extended the lead to 4-1 as they were the beneficiaries of a wild pitch and passed ball to bring the run home.

YSU added a run to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, but junior reliever Devin Daugherty minimized the damage. Daugherty entered with just one out and the bases loaded, and got a strikeout and fly out to get out of the jam.

Bowling Green will return to the diamond this weekend when they travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich. for a three-game series against the Central Michigan Chippewas. CMU, who enters the weekend in first place in the MAC standings, is currently 12-3 in league play. First pitch on Friday afternoon will be at 3:00 p.m. at CMU's Theunissen Stadium.