BGSU Bats Bring Home Nine In High-Scoring Game Against Tennessee Tech

Saturday, February 18

Cookeville, Tenn.

3:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

0-2

Tennessee Tech

2-0

Bowling Green

Tennessee Tech

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

BGSU Bats Bring Home Nine In High-Scoring Game Against Tennessee Tech

February 18, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score BGSU-TTU Box Score Support Our Student-Athletes

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Bowling Green State University baseball program had a back-and-forth contest with the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on Saturday (Feb. 18). The Falcons jumped out early on with a five-run first inning, but Tennessee Tech chipped away until a six-run seventh inning pushed them out in front 9-5. The two teams continued to trade runs, but it was the Golden Eagles on top of the 11-9 final, moving BGSU to 0-2 on the young season.

The Falcons were paced by a hot start at the plate. Nathan Archer began the game with a leadoff triple that sparked a two-RBI double by Kyle Gurney. A base hit by Justin Fugitt put two on for the Falcons, setting up another two-RBI double, this time off the bat of Nathan Rose. Rose scored on a balk to complete the five-run BGSU first.

The Falcons struck again in the top of the eighth. A Leighton Banjoff double bookended by a pair of walks loaded the bases for the Falcons. A wild pitch scored one run and an RBI scored a second to narrow the score to 9-7. Bowling Green attempted a two-out rally in the ninth, scoring two, but the effort fell short. BGSU and Tennessee Tech will conclude their series on Sunday (Feb. 19) with a 2 p.m. EST first pitch.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons started the game out hot. Nathan Archer ripped a full count pitch to center for a leadoff triple to get the game started. Tyler Ross followed with a walk to put runners on the corners before a Kyle Gurney double brought them both home, jumping the Falcons to a quick 2-0 lead.
The rally continued with a single by Justin Fugitt, advancing Gurney to third. Fugitt stole second, putting two runners in scoring position to set up a two-RBI double to left center by Nathan Rose, extending the BGSU advantage to 4-0 with no outs in the top of the first.
Leighton Banjoff moved Rose to third with a fly out to center. Rose was able to advance home on a balk, giving the Falcons a 5-0 lead in the top of the first.
Tennessee Tech responded with a solo home run in the bottom half of the first to cut the score to 5-1 BGSU.
In the fourth, Rigo Ramos came on for the Falcons and worked out of a two-on, no-out situation to keep the 5-1 score intact.
The Golden Eagles added to their tally in the bottom of the fifth. A walk followed by a single with errors plated a run for Tennessee Tech to move the score to 5-2 Falcons.
A sacrifice fly for Tennessee Tech in the sixth inning added another run for the Golden Eagles, making it a 5-3 ball game.
The Golden Eagles added six runs in the seventh inning to take a 9-5 lead.
The Falcons answered back in the top of the eighth with a pair of runs. Rose and Jack Krause drew walks with a Banjoff double in-between to load the bases for the Falcons. A wild pitch brought Rose home before an RBI groundout by Adam Fallon scored Banjoff to make it 9-7.
Tennessee Tech added their two runs back with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth.
In the top of the ninth, the Falcons put together a two-out rally. Fugitt singled before Rose walked to put two on. A single by Banjoff plus a fielding error brought two home for Bowling Green, but the rally stopped there with the Golden Eagles taking an 11-9 final.

STAT LEADERS

Tyler Hays: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 5 K
Rigo Ramos: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 K
Leighton Banjoff: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B
Nathan Rose: 1-for-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 2 BB
Kyle Gurney: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 SB
Justin Fugitt: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 SB

FALCON STAT FACTS

Leighton Banjoff knocked three base hits for the Falcons, a team-high through the first two games of the season. Justin Fugitt added a pair of hits as well to join Banjoff in the multiple-hit column.
Tyler Hays and Rigo Ramos made returns to the mound for the Falcons. For Hays, the appearance marked just his second since 2021 after tossing one inning a season ago. As for Ramos, his relief appearance was his first time toeing the rubber since May 29, 2021.
Nathan Archer led off the game with a triple, his first leadoff triple at the collegiate level despite having five triples during the 2022 campaign.
Nathan Rose touched the plate three times for the Falcons, tying his career-high for runs in a game. The other time he scored three times in one game was on April 2, 2022 against Akron.

QUOTE FROM COACH HALLOCK
"We learned some things about ourselves today that will serve us better for tomorrow and beyond. To get it done on the road it takes a certain level of execution and focus and we are close to making it happen.

Tyler Hays and Rigo Ramos battled their tails off. They made big time pitch after big time pitch and didn't give in. Their return is going to be big for us as we move through the season. Leighton Banjoff led the way offensively with three hard hits and made a great play at first base by putting his body on the line in the eighth inning to get us an out. He played both sides of the ball at a high level."

UP NEXT
The Falcons and Golden Eagles will conclude their opening weekend series on Sunday (Feb. 19) with a 2 p.m. first pitch. Bowling Green will then shift attention to a series against Louisville next weekend.

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