Falcons' Ninth-Inning Rally Comes Up Short In MAC Opener At Eastern Michigan

Friday, March 25

Ypsilanti, MI

3:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

8-14, 0

Eastern Michigan

7-13, 0

Bowling Green

Eastern Michigan

Falcons' Ninth-Inning Rally Comes Up Short In MAC Opener At Eastern Michigan

March 25, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: HTML | PDF

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team dropped its Mid-American Conference opener to the Eastern Michigan University Eagles, 5-4, Friday (March 25) afternoon at Oestrike Stadium. The Falcons rallied to score three runs in the top of the ninth, but left the tying run on second base.

After a one-run opening frame for the Falcons, Eastern Michigan scored the next five runs of the ballgame to jump out to a 5-1 lead – a lead that they would never surrender. With the win, the Eagles improve to 7-13 (1-0 MAC), while Bowling Green falls to 8-14 (0-1 MAC).

"We came here to win a series, and we still have a chance to do that," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "With that being said, I like the way we didn't give up in the ninth, but we didn't do enough in the middle innings to get the win."

The Falcons made it interesting in the top of the ninth, loading the bases with no outs, and eventually scoring three runs, but a Kory Brown ground out to first base with runners on first and second ended the contest. Bowling Green received RBI singles from Greg Basalyga and Dan Ferguson, and got a sacrifice fly from Randy Righter in the three-run ninth.

Bowling Green's skipper, who led Eastern Michigan to a pair of College World Series appearances in 1975 and 1976, faced off against his son, Spencer Schmitz. Spencer played at BGSU from 2001-04, before serving as an assistant coach under his father from 2008-13. The Falcons were also going up against Mike Frank, who is in his first year as the Eagles' volunteer assistant. Frank graduated from BGSU in 2014, and is the program's all-time innings pitched leader, having thrown 313 innings across his career in the Orange and Brown.

The Falcons got off to a quick start, plating one in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Brown led off the frame with a single up the middle. He advanced to second on a ground out, and moved over to third on an error. It appeared that the inning was over, as Matt Smith struck out with two outs, but catcher Jeremy Stidham couldn't corral the ball. He then fired over to first, but Mitchell McGeein couldn't make the play. With runners on the corners, a passed ball allowed Brown to score.

Eastern Michigan would knot the score in the second, however. The Eagles got back-to-back hits – a double, then a single – to start the frame, tying the score at 1-1. Bowling Green starter C.J. Schildt then recorded three-straight outs to keep the score tied. EMU threatened to take the lead again in the third, as they put a runner on third with only one out, but the southpaw induced two-consecutive grounders to keep the ballgame tied heading into the fourth.

The Eagles would tack on another run in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead, but Schildt buckled down again to keep BGSU's deficit at one run. With runners on second and third and only one out, Schildt got a strikeout. After loading the bases with a walk, the lefty induced a ground out to short to leave three base runners stranded.

However, after an RBI ground out inched Eastern Michigan's lead up to 3-1 in the fifth, a two-out RBI single in the sixth knocked Schildt out of the game. Schildt lasted 5.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out five batters and walking two.

Zach Kendall came on to pitch in relief for the Falcons, and blanked the Eagles over 2.1 innings. The right-hander allowed just two hits. Kendall struck out one, and walked one. He gave the Falcons a chance, but Bowling Green's ninth-inning rally fell just short.

The Falcons and Eagles will resume the three-game series tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow's game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch. The series will then conclude on Sunday with a 1 p.m. start time.