Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, February 26
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
2:45 PM ET
Bowling Green State University
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Middle Tennessee
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Bowling Green
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11
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Middle Tennessee
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Falcons Drop Heartbreaker In Extra Innings On Opening Day
February 26, 2021 | Baseball
Box Score
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team opened its 2021 season with a 10-inning loss by a score of 5-4 to the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders. MTSU hit a two-run home run to earn the walk-off victory on Opening Day. The contest marked the first game for BGSU head coach Kyle Hallock. The non-conference baseball game was played at MTSU's Reese Smith Jr. Field.
The Falcons fell victim to the new rule across college baseball that sees a runner start on second base at the top half of every extra inning. MTSU needed just one at-bat to score two runs, as the Blue Raiders' Fausto Lopez hit a two-run home run to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning.
In the top half of the frame, Adam Furnas gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead with a single to right field. Bowling Green came out of the gates running, plating two in the first before MTSU tied the game with a two-run third. In the opening frame, Kyle Gurney doubled over the center fielder's head to give BGSU a 1-0 lead. Gurney came around to score on a Jared Johnson RBI ground out.
Gurney had a big afternoon for the Falcons. His fifth-inning single gave the visitors a 3-2 lead, but a solo shot in the seventh evened the score once more. On the day, Gurney threw out multiple would-be base stealers, and drove in two runs while going 2-for-5 at the plate.
Tyler Ross and Ryan Johnston each posted two hits for the Orange and Brown. Andy Gaytan went 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Nathan Rose hit a double and scored a run. Jack Krause notched in a single in the opener.
On the mound, the Falcons received a strong start from Andrew Abrahamowicz, who departed the game in line for the win. The right-hander allowed three hits over 5.0 innings. He struck out six, walked three, and allowed two earned runs. Jeremy Spezia took the tough-luck loss. The home run was the only hit he surrendered. Spezia logged 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. He stranded his only two walks by inducing an infield pop out to end the ninth.
The Falcons out-hit the Blue Raiders by an 11-6 margin. Both teams played a clean game defensively. MTSU scored all five of its runs via the long ball.
COACH HALLOCK QUOTE
"First off, it was great to be on the field today. I want to thank everyone who has supported this program. Our players showed what that support means to them with our energy and how we competed today.
With regard to the game; we competed for 10 innings today on both sides of the ball. Our team defense kept us right where we wanted to be all day. It was rock solid and who we want to be all year. On the mound we were four pitches away from a complete performance. Give MTSU credit, they put some good swings on mistakes but we were up to the challenge on the mound like we expected to be. At the plate, our offense did an outstanding job in the first inning executing situational hitting. Throughout the game we created more opportunities to score which is something we are looking to build on.
We have corrections to make all the way around and we look forward to the opportunity to make progress on those tomorrow. We expect to be in a lot of close games as the season progresses and if this is our starting point, which I believe it to be because of what our team is about, we will create more opportunities to be on the correct side of the scoreboard."
OPENING WEEKEND
Feb. 26 | MTSU 5, BGSU 4 (10 Innings)
Feb. 27 | 3 p.m. | Murfreesboro, Tenn. | Reese Smith Jr. Field
Feb. 28 | 2 p.m. | Murfreesboro, Tenn. | Reese Smith Jr. Field
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
TWITTER: @BGSU_Baseball
TWITTER: @BGathletics
INSTAGRAM: @bgfalcons
Website: BGSUFalcons.com
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team opened its 2021 season with a 10-inning loss by a score of 5-4 to the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders. MTSU hit a two-run home run to earn the walk-off victory on Opening Day. The contest marked the first game for BGSU head coach Kyle Hallock. The non-conference baseball game was played at MTSU's Reese Smith Jr. Field.
The Falcons fell victim to the new rule across college baseball that sees a runner start on second base at the top half of every extra inning. MTSU needed just one at-bat to score two runs, as the Blue Raiders' Fausto Lopez hit a two-run home run to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning.
In the top half of the frame, Adam Furnas gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead with a single to right field. Bowling Green came out of the gates running, plating two in the first before MTSU tied the game with a two-run third. In the opening frame, Kyle Gurney doubled over the center fielder's head to give BGSU a 1-0 lead. Gurney came around to score on a Jared Johnson RBI ground out.
Gurney had a big afternoon for the Falcons. His fifth-inning single gave the visitors a 3-2 lead, but a solo shot in the seventh evened the score once more. On the day, Gurney threw out multiple would-be base stealers, and drove in two runs while going 2-for-5 at the plate.
Tyler Ross and Ryan Johnston each posted two hits for the Orange and Brown. Andy Gaytan went 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Nathan Rose hit a double and scored a run. Jack Krause notched in a single in the opener.
On the mound, the Falcons received a strong start from Andrew Abrahamowicz, who departed the game in line for the win. The right-hander allowed three hits over 5.0 innings. He struck out six, walked three, and allowed two earned runs. Jeremy Spezia took the tough-luck loss. The home run was the only hit he surrendered. Spezia logged 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. He stranded his only two walks by inducing an infield pop out to end the ninth.
The Falcons out-hit the Blue Raiders by an 11-6 margin. Both teams played a clean game defensively. MTSU scored all five of its runs via the long ball.
COACH HALLOCK QUOTE
"First off, it was great to be on the field today. I want to thank everyone who has supported this program. Our players showed what that support means to them with our energy and how we competed today.
With regard to the game; we competed for 10 innings today on both sides of the ball. Our team defense kept us right where we wanted to be all day. It was rock solid and who we want to be all year. On the mound we were four pitches away from a complete performance. Give MTSU credit, they put some good swings on mistakes but we were up to the challenge on the mound like we expected to be. At the plate, our offense did an outstanding job in the first inning executing situational hitting. Throughout the game we created more opportunities to score which is something we are looking to build on.
We have corrections to make all the way around and we look forward to the opportunity to make progress on those tomorrow. We expect to be in a lot of close games as the season progresses and if this is our starting point, which I believe it to be because of what our team is about, we will create more opportunities to be on the correct side of the scoreboard."
OPENING WEEKEND
Feb. 26 | MTSU 5, BGSU 4 (10 Innings)
Feb. 27 | 3 p.m. | Murfreesboro, Tenn. | Reese Smith Jr. Field
Feb. 28 | 2 p.m. | Murfreesboro, Tenn. | Reese Smith Jr. Field
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
TWITTER: @BGSU_Baseball
TWITTER: @BGathletics
INSTAGRAM: @bgfalcons
Website: BGSUFalcons.com
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Zoz (1-0)
L: Spezia, Jeremy (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Gurney, Kyle 1 ; Rose, Nathan 1
RBI: Gurney, Kyle 2 ; Furnas, Adam 1 ; Johnson, Jared 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gaytan, Andy 2 ; Gurney, Kyle 1 ; Rose, Nathan 1
SB: Furnas, Adam 1 ; Ross, Tyler 1
HBP: Gaytan, Andy 1
Batting:
2B: Speirs 1
HR: Lopez 1 ; Engel 1 ; Thomas 1
RBI: Lopez 2 ; Engel 1 ; Thomas 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Lopez 1 ; Engel 2 ; Thomas 1 ; Sullivan 1
CS: D. Wright 1 ; Escher 1
HBP: Escher 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C/INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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