Falcons Improve To 4-0 On Spring-Break Trip By Defeating Alabama State

Tuesday, March 8

Emerson, GA

6:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

5-5

Alabama State

6-6

Bowling Green

Alabama State

Falcons Improve To 4-0 On Spring-Break Trip By Defeating Alabama State

March 09, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: HTML | PDF

EMERSON, Ga. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team opened up play at the Perfect Game Tournament by defeating Alabama State University, 7-4, Tuesday night at Lake Point fields. Bowling Green trailed, 2-1, but scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull away with the victory.

The Falcons are now on a four-game winning streak, and have climbed back to .500, currently sitting with a 5-5 record. Alabama State drops to 6-6 with the loss. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Hornets.

"We continue to get timely hitting, and we are playing solid defense right now," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "Our pitching really has been solid all year, and it kept us in the game today. We scored just one run through the first five innings, but our pitching gave us a chance, and then we had that big sixth inning."

Offensively, Bowling Green out-hit Alabama State, 9-6, and were led by several key contributors. The Falcons' leaders on offense all played a role in the team's five-run sixth.
Riley Minorik – who led off the frame with a double – went 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Randy Righter – who put BGSU on top, 3-2, with a two-RBI double that frame – went 1-for-4 with a run scored, to go along with his two RBI.

Dan Ferguson had the biggest hit in the inning, as his three-run double with the bases loaded gave the Falcons a 6-2 lead. Ferguson finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI and one run. Bowling Green's other hits in the game were recorded by Matt Smith, who singled after Minorik's sixth-inning double. And Greg Basalyga, who led off the third with a single into left field. Ferguson went on to score that frame to knot the game at 1-1.

Alabama State took their second lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth, when starter Zach Kendall was knocked out of the ballgame. Kendall, however, was filthy on the night, striking out seven of the 21 batters he faced. At one point, he had set down 13-conseutive batters, before the Hornets' two-out rally in the fifth. Kendall logged 4.2 innings, allowing the two runs on three hits, while walking three, as well.

Devin Daugherty – who picked up his second win on the season – entered the game with the bases loaded in the fifth. With the Falcons trailing, 2-1, Daugherty kept the game in reach, inducing a lineout to escape the jam. The momentum carried into the next frame, as the Falcons went on to score the five runs to take a 6-2 lead.

The Falcons scored again off an error in the seventh, before a two-run home run by Alabama State in the eighth cut BGSU's lead to 7-4. In the winning effort, Daugherty allowed his two runs on two hits, while striking out five and walking one.

Bowling Green turned things over to Tony Landi in the ninth, who registered his third save of the season. He allowed a leadoff single, but induced a pair of ground outs, which moved that runner to third, prior to getting a fly out to right to end the ballgame.

The Orange and Brown will take on Alabama State again tomorrow. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start, and the Falcons will play as the home team. The Falcons will then have an off day on Thursday, before returning to action at the Perfect Game Tournament with a ballgame against Presbyterian College.