Long Ball Lifts Falcons To Weekend Sweep Over Ball State

Sunday, March 17

Muncie, Ind.

1 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

8-8, 6-0

Ball State

11-9, 1-5

Bowling Green

Ball State

Photo by: Bailey Wilson, BGSU Athletics

March 17, 2024 | Baseball

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BGSU Advances To 6-0 In MAC Play For First Time Since 1995

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team completed the weekend sweep over Ball State on Sunday (March 17) with a 15-8 victory over the Cardinals. The win moves Bowling Green to 6-0 in the MAC for the first time since 1995. It also places the Falcons atop the Mid-American Conference standings as the only team remaining undefeated in conference contests.

The Falcons were held scoreless in the first inning, but that would be the only time, scoring at least one run in each inning from the second on. Bowling Green never trailed in the game and saw Jack Krause, DJ Newman and Tyler Ross all post multiple-home run days for the Orange and Brown. Leighton Banjoff added a trip around the bases of his own, giving the Falcons seven home runs in the game to complete the sweep.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a scoreless first, Jack Krause logged a two-out single in the top of the second for the first base hit. TJ Takats followed with another single to put runners at the corners. Ball State attempted a pickoff move to third, but an errant throw allowed Krause to score for a 1-0 BGSU lead.
Ball State answered with a two-out home run in the bottom half of the second to tie the game at 1-1.
In the third inning, Garrett Wright led off with a single up the middle. Sam Seidel singled later in the inning to put runners at the corners. DJ Newman delivered a triple to right field, scoring both Wright and Seidel, for a 3-1 BGSU advantage.
The Cardinals added a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 3-3.
The answer for the Falcons quickly came with Krause hitting a solo home run to begin the top of the fourth giving BGSU a 4-3 lead.
Following the home run by Krause, Takats drew a walk and took second on a wild pitch. Gavin Ganun put a ball in play with an error placing runners at the corners. Wright sent a sacrifice fly out to center, scoring Takats for a 5-3 score.
Tyler Ross added another tally for the Falcons in the top of the fifth with a solo home run to right center, extending the lead to 6-3.
Ball State added two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-5.
Ganun began the sixth inning with a single up the middle. He tagged and took second on a flyout. Nathan Archer followed with a single up the middle to score Ganun and extend the lead to 7-5.
In the seventh, Newman, Ross and Leighton Banjoff went back-to-back-to-back with home runs to push the BGSU lead to 10-5.
Newman began the eighth inning with a single before Ross knocked a double to score Newman. Later in the inning, Krause hit his second home run of the day, scoring Ross, for a 13-5 score and a Ball State change on the mound.
Ball State hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to cut into the lead and added another run for a 13-8 score.
In the ninth inning, Seidel doubled before Newman hit his second home run of the game to push the lead to 15-8 for the Falcons.

STAT LEADERS

Connar Penrod: W, 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R/ER, 1 K
Jacob Turner: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER
DJ Newman: 4-for-6, 2 HR, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 3 R
Tyler Ross: 3-for-5, 2 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R
Jack Krause: 3-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
Leighton Banjoff: 1-for-6, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
Sam Seidel: 2-for-6, 1 2B, 2 R
Garrett Wright: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R

FALCON STAT FACTS

The series win marks the first for BGSU in Muncie since 2016 and the first sweep since 1998.
Sam Seidel has now reached base in every game he's played this season, totaling 15 in the streak. Going back to last season, Seidel has reached in 26 consecutive games.
DJ Newman hit his fourth and fifth home runs of the season to now have a team-leading five home runs on the season.
Tyler Ross, Jack Krause and Newman all had multiple home runs in the game, giving the Falcons five players with a multiple-home run games this weekend.
Krause logged the first hit of the game with a single in the second inning, continuing his hitting streak to five games and his on-base streak to seven games.
Nathan Archer's sixth inning single extended his hitting streak to seven games with an on-base streak of eight games.
TJ Takats singled in the second inning to push his on-base streak to seven games. Takats has now reached in 11 of the 14 games he has appeared in this season.
Garrett Wright singled in his first at-bat, leading off the third inning, to push his hitting streak to four games and his on-base streak to five games.
Gavin Ganun singled in the sixth inning, giving him a hit in each game of the series for a three-game hitting streak.
Landon Roque had a pinch hit single in the ninth inning, his first hit with the Falcons.

QUOTE FROM COACH HALLOCK
"This was a big weekend for us. We played our brand of baseball for all three games. Our guys on offense did an outstanding job grinding out at-bats all weekend. The defense was solid. We made the plays we were supposed to make and then a couple exceptional ones that gave us momentum. On the pitching side, our bullpen stepped up and held leads in each of the three games. They're going to be a big part of our success and it was good to get those guys rolling. All-in-all it's our most complete three-game weekend so far this year and while we are happy with the result, we aren't satisfied. We want more."

UP NEXT
The Falcons will take on Youngstown State on Tuesday (March 19) for the team's final road game before opening up the home portion of the schedule on Friday (March 22) with a three-game weekend series against Akron at Steller Field.

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