Falcons Buck Broncos From MAC Tournament With 5-3 Victory

Friday, May 22

Avon, Ohio

1:00 p.m. ET

Bowling Green State University

25-28

No. 7 Western Michigan

22-30

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

May 22, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by Scott Swegan, BGSU Athletic Communications

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Photo Gallery
Schmitz Postgame Interview
Lacinak Postgame Interview

AVON, Ohio—The Bowling Green State University baseball team overcame an early 3-0 deficit, defeating Western Michigan 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference Tournament to keep its season alive on Friday afternoon. With the win, Bowling Green advances to play Ohio at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. The No. 6-seeded Falcons will need to defeat the No. 3-seeded Bobcats twice on Saturday to continue their season.

"This was a great team victory, and what can you say about Andrew Lacinak's performance?" head coach Danny Schmitz said. "He gave us exactly what we needed, following up Zac Carey's great performance yesterday. We had a rough second inning defensively, but he pitched over it and got stronger as the game went on."

Bowling Green got an unbelievable performance on the mound by redshirt sophomore Andrew Lacinak. The left-handed pitcher from Reading, Ohio, tossed his second career complete-game to earn the win over the Broncos, who defeated BGSU to knock them out of the 2014 MAC Tournament. Lacinak struck out a career-high eight batters and retired the final 23 batters he faced, after WMU got three unearned runs with one out in the second.

"I knew it was do-or-die today and that I had to bring my best stuff," Lacinak began. "I knew that I had to make pitches and let my defense work behind me. We wanted to get these guys back after they ended our season last year, and my teammates had my back. It felt really good to get the win."

Western Michigan got on the board first, scoring three runs in the second inning on the power of two Bowling Green errors. Lacinak plunked the first batter of the inning, but then came back with a strikeout to record the first out. After a single put runners on first and second, Lacinak got a ground ball which looked as if it could turn into a double play. But, the flip from second was wide and went into left field, allowing a run to score and leaving the Broncos with runners on second and third.

The defensive woes continued, as the next batter laid down a suicide squeeze. Nobody covered first base, though, and Lacinak's throw sailed down the right field line allowing two more runs to score. Lacinak kept his composure, however, inducing back-to-back groundouts to escape the inning.

The Falcons struggled in the early going to figure out WMU's Chad Mayle, who they had faced earlier this season in a game at Steller Field. Bowling Green managed just one hit through the first 3.2 innings, but broke through with a two-out solo homer off the bat of Greg Basalyga in the bottom of the fourth inning to get on the scoreboard.

The home run – just Bowling Green's second hit of the day – jumpstarted the offense into the bottom of the fifth. Tyler Greiner got things rolling with a one-out single into right-centerfield, and then advanced to third as Brian Bien slapped a double down the right field line.

Kory Brown followed as he hit a ground ball towards short, scoring Greiner and reaching on a fielder's choice. But, Bien was put out on the play, as WMU caught him in between second and third for the second out of the inning.

Using his speed, Brown stole second to move into scoring position. It paid off, as Brandon Howard—who had been hit by a pitch in the head earlier in the game but was able to stay in—ripped an RBI single through the left side of the infield to tie the game.

The Falcons' speed continued to create problems for Western Michigan, as Howard forced a quick-pitch balk with the threat of his NCAA-leading 42nd stolen base looming to move to second. Trey Keegan then ripped his team-leading 13th double of the year into left field, scoring Howard to give the Falcons a 4-3 lead. Keegan scored from second on an error, as WMU's Nick Vogelmeier's errant throw extended the home-half of the fifth.

Leading 5-3 into the sixth, Lacinak continued to pitch in a groove. He would retire the next six batters in order to give the Falcons a two-run advantage into the eighth.

Vogelmeier got revenge for his earlier error, laying down a leadoff bunt single in the eighth to snap Lacinak's streak of 17 straight retired. However, Lacinak got a strikeout and 1-6-3 double play to escape the inning. In the ninth, the southpaw got three straight groundouts to send the Falcons to Saturday and a date with the Ohio Bobcats.

Bowling Green, who was sent to the loser's bracket with a 6-2 loss to Ohio on Wednesday, will now have to beat the Bobcats twice on Saturday. The first game will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, while the second game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio. Bowling Green must win the first game to force a second game.