BGSU Beats Toledo To Begin Midweek Battle Of I-75 Series

Tuesday, April 28

Bowling Green, Ohio

3:05 pm ET

Bowling Green State University

17-22

Toledo

17-27

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

April 28, 2015 | Baseball, The Battle Of I-75

Box Score

Falcons have won four straight over arch-rival Rockets

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio—The Bowling Green State University baseball team got seven shutout innings from senior Trevor Blaylock on the mound, turning it into a 5-1 win over arch-rival Toledo on Tuesday afternoon. The game was played in front of a season-high 501 fans at Warren E. Steller Field. For the Falcons, in the Battle of I-75 series, it was their fourth straight win and eighth in the last nine games over their rival. The win improved the Orange and Brown to 17-22 on the season, while Toledo dropped to 17-27 with the loss.

"We preach about the three phases and I thought we played pretty darn well again today," head coach Danny Schmitz stated to the local media following the win. "Anytime you play Toledo you like to come out and play a good game, especially when it is in front of a big crowd like today's was. Obviously it started with Trevor Blaylock who set the tone with seven strong innings."

Blaylock, a native of Bryan, Ohio, started his first game since March 7 at Campbell. He went seven innings in the win, matching his career high. It was just the second time in his career—and first since an April 2012 start at Michigan—in which the right-hander has gone seven innings. Blaylock allowed just four hits in the effort, picking up his first win of the season.

"Coming out of the bullpen the last few times out, I knew I just had to come out and compete today," Blaylock said. "I went out there, even though I wasn't comfortable with all my pitches early on, and knew that my defense would make plays behind me, which they did today."

The Falcons jumped on Toledo starting pitcher Alec Schmenk for four runs in the bottom of the second inning, taking early command of the game. Nick Glanzman got things started with a single up the middle, as the Falcons had their leadoff guy on base in each of the first three innings, and six of the first seven, in the ballgame.

Following the single by Glanzman, both Randy Righter and Derek Drewes walked to load the bases with nobody out. Then, on a single by Tyler Greiner, the Falcons were able to bring home all three runners on the play, taking advantage of two Toledo throwing errors.

After Greiner's single through the left side scored Glanzman from third, an errant throw from the outfield past the cutoff man allowed Righter to scamper home. On the same play, the Rockets overthrew the catcher at home attempting to nab Righter at the dish, allowing Drewes to come all the way around—originally from first—to score and give BGSU a 3-0 lead.

The next two Falcons were retired, but Brian Bien's two-out single down the line in left allowed Greiner to come around from second to give the hosts a 4-0 lead after just two innings.

After allowing four base runners through the first two innings, Blaylock found his groove with the lead, retiring eight straight Rockets from the third through fifth innings. Blaylock issued a walk in the fifth, but worked around it to retire the UT lineup. Then, after a leadoff single in the sixth, the hard-throwing righty had no problem getting out of the inning to keep the Rockets off the scoreboard.

The Falcons extended their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Kory Brown led things off with a single up the middle. A passed ball allowed him to advance all the way to third, before he scored on a single off the bat of Bien.

Both Devin Daugherty and Tony Landi worked an inning of relief in the game, continuing an impressive streak for Falcon pitchers which has seen them allow just 26 earned runs in the last 13 games, good for an earned run average of 2.20 during that stretch.

Blaylock's impressive start on Tuesday continued a 13-game stretch which has seen Falcon starters allow just 13 earned runs in 85.1 innings pitched (1.07 ERA). The Falcons have gone 8-5 during that stretch of play, getting an average of 6.56 innings per game from their starting pitchers.

The two teams will continue their rivalry on Wednesday afternoon at Toledo's Scott Park. The Falcons have won nine consecutive games at UT, with their last loss coming in 2007. Jevon Boyd (BGSU) will oppose Alex Wagner (UT) on the mound. First pitch is slated for 3:05 p.m. and will be televised live on BCSN.