Bowling Green Earns Series Victory At Ball State With Dramatic Sunday Win

Sunday, April 24

Muncie, IN

1:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

16-24, 6-9

Ball State

24-17, 10-5

Bowling Green

Ball State

Bowling Green Earns Series Victory At Ball State With Dramatic Sunday Win

April 24, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: HTML | PDF

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team defeated Ball State University, 8-7, Sunday (April 24) afternoon at Ball Diamond to claim the weekend series. The Falcons jumped out to an 8-0 lead, and held on for the win in dramatic fashion.

With one out and runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth, Bowling Green elected to intentionally load the bases, setting up a double-play possibility, as well as setting up a force at any bag. Tony Landi, who left the game-tying run on third in the eighth, then induced a 4-6-3 game-ending double play. Landi pitched in all three games on the weekend. He earned the save in both victories – running his total to eight on the season – and logged a total of 3.2 scoreless innings.

"What a great college baseball game," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "This is such a great offensive team, and just a great overall team. We knew that we still needed to continue to play, even when we took a big lead. I can't say enough about how hard we played this weekend, and how well Tony Landi pitched. Heading into the weekend, we had not won a road conference game, and to come here and get a series win – it's just great, and very important for our team."

Ball State entered play this weekend having won its first four MAC weekends. Furthermore, with today's victory, Bowling Green handed the Cardinals their first Sunday loss of the conference season, as Ball State owned a perfect 5-0 record on Sundays heading into today's contest. The Falcons also handed Ball State its first conference series loss in nearly a year. Central Michigan defeated the Cardinals, two-games-to-one, over May 8-10 of 2015.

Heading into the weekend, Ball State had scored 121 runs in 12 MAC games, which was good enough for an average of over 10 runs per game. Across the three-game series, Bowling Green held Ball State to just 11 total runs.

Bowling Green scored six runs in the first inning. The Falcons sent 12 batters to the plate, coaxed three walks with the bases loaded, and knocked starter Brendan Burns out of the ballgame after he recorded just two outs. Bowling Green's leadoff batter, Riley Minorik, went 2-for-2 in the frame with two RBI.

The Falcons put their first three batters on base. Minorik singled through the left side, Nick Glanzman worked a walk, and then Matt Smith singled with a perfect bunt down the third-base line. Greg Basalyga followed by lifting a sacrifice fly into center field to put BGSU on the board. R.J. Williams was then hit by a pitch, before Kory Brown worked a walk with the bases loaded.

After a Logan Giddings strikeout, Tyler Greiner and Cam Daugherty drew back-to-back walks with the bases loaded. Minorik wrapped up the six-run inning with his second hit of the inning. With two strikes and two outs, Minorik shot a two-RBI single through the box to give the Falcons a 6-0 lead.

Bowling Green inched its lead up to 8-0 with a two-run fifth, but Ball State answered with four of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Tyler Greiner scored Brown with a one-out single, before Minorik beat out a double play for his third RBI of the afternoon. But in the bottom of the frame, Ball State's Jarett Rindfleisch capped a four-run frame with a three-run home run.

Bowling Green starter Andrew Lacinak departed the game after the home run, but Devin Daugherty entered and limited the damage, getting Bowling Green into the sixth with an 8-4 lead.

The Cardinals continued to pull closer, as Caleb Stayton hit a two-run home run in the sixth, which wrapped up a three-run frame. And just like that, Ball State had scored seven-straight runs, trimming Bowling Green's lead to a single run at 8-7.

Ball State nearly tied the game in the seventh, but Tyler Anderson entered and recorded a massive out. With two outs, and the game-tying run on second base, Anderson induced a pop out to first base, stranding runners on first and second.

Anderson registered two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Ball State put runners on the corners, forcing Bowling Green to turn to Landi. Landi quickly induced a weak ground out to short, leaving the game-tying run on third. Landi went on to earn the dramatic save in the ninth.

With the victory, Bowling Green improves to 16-24 (6-9 MAC). Ball State drops to 24-17 (10-5 MAC) with the loss.

The Falcons will conclude a five-game road swing on Wednesday, April 27, at Youngstown State. Bowling Green will then return to Steller Field over the weekend to take on the Northern Illinois University Huskies. After the NIU series, the Falcons will head to Tallahassee, Florida for a weekend series versus national-power Florida State over May 6-8.