Birchmeier Walks It Off For BGSU In Extras To Sweep CMU

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team walked it off on Sunday (April 14) in extra innings to complete the weekend sweep over Central Michigan for the first time since 2005. BGSU and CMU combined for 12 home runs over the course of the game, each team with six. The win moves BGSU to 15-0 in the MAC and 7-0 at home this season.

In the bottom of the ninth, DJ Newman hit a two-RBI single to center to tie the game and send it to extra innings. CMU scored in the 10th, but a solo home run by Caden Parker knotted it up once again to force an 11th inning. After Rigo Ramos held the Chippewas scoreless in the top half of the 11th, Brady Birchmeier ripped a bases loaded single to left, scoring the winning run to complete the sweep.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Central Michigan scored in the top of the first for the first run of the game and a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half, Garrett Wright stepped in as BGSU's second batter of the game and sent a long home run deep over the center field fence, just to the right of the batter's eye to tie the game at 1-1.
Tyler Ross followed Wright's home run with a single into right field. After an out, Jack Krause sent a ball sky-high with the wind carrying it over the fence and off the batter's eye for a two-run home run.
Leighton Banjoff followed Krause with a home run of his own, going to left field, for back-to-back blasts, three BGSU homers in the first inning and a 4-1 advantage through one played.
Central Michigan continued the home run derby in the top of the second with a solo shot to cut the lead down to 4-2.
In the top of the third, the Chippewas tallied another solo home run. A run crossed later in the inning to tie the game at 4-4.
Banjoff put the Falcons back on top with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, his second home run in as many at-bats.
Later in the inning, a fly ball out to center field bounced out of the glove of the CMU centerfielder, bringing TJ Takats home for a 6-4 advantage.
A three-run home run for Central Michigan in the top of the fifth put them in front 7-6. CMU added to their lead in the inning, carrying an 8-6 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
BGSU loaded the bases with Wright and Ross being hit by pitches. A walk to Landon Roque loaded them up before a walk to Banjoff scored one. Takats put a ball in play in the next at-bat to tie the game at 8-8.
In the bottom of the sixth, Wright hit a solo home run, his second of the day, to put the Falcons back on top 9-8.
A three-run home run for Central Michigan in the top of the seventh made it an 11-9 CMU lead and prompted a pitching change for the Falcons.
The Falcons answered in the bottom of the seventh. Three straight walks to Banjoff, Takats and Brady Birchmeier loaded the bases. Caden Parker took one for the team and was hit by a pitch to bring in a run. Nathan Archer then sent a sacrifice fly to left, tying the game at 11-11.
Wright was hit by a pitch to load the bases once again with a walk to Ross giving BGSU a 12-11 lead, prompting a CMU change on the bump.
BGSU added a run in the bottom of the eighth. Krause singled followed by a Banjoff walk. A wild pitch pushed both runners up with Birchmeier bringing Krause home with a sacrifice fly to make it a 13-11 BGSU advantage.
CMU hit a solo home run to begin the top of the ninth to cut the lead to 13-12 before tying it at 13-13 with a sacrifice fly to center.
Later in the inning, a three-run home run put Central Michigan in front 16-13.
The Falcons rallied in the ninth. Singles from Archer and Wright through the right side started the inning before Roque did the same to score Archer for a 16-14 tally.
Krause walked to load the bases for BGSU. The Falcons called on DJ Newman as a pinch hitter with Newman shooting a two-RBI single into center, scoring both Wright and Roque to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, a walk, steal and two wild pitches plated a run for CMU for a 17-16 score.
Parker took the first pitch of the bottom half to deep left field for his first BGSU home run of the day for a 17-17 tie.
In the top of the 11th with two outs, Rigo Ramos caught a runner trying to steal home, getting the ball to Wright in time to end the inning with a 17-17 score.
In the bottom half, Roque began the inning with a single followed by Krause doing the same to put two on. Banjoff moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt before David Silva was intentionally walked to load the bases. From there, Birchmeier laced a single deep down the left field line, scoring Roque for the 18-17 victory.

STAT LEADERS

Rigo Ramos: W (1-0), 0 H, 1 R/ER, 2 K
Garrett Wright: 3-for-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R
Jack Krause: 3-for-6, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
Leighton Banjoff: 2-for-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB
Caden Parker: 1-for-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
Landon Roque: 2-for-6, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
Brady Birchmeier: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB

FALCON STAT FACTS

The sweep marks the first for the Falcons over Central Michigan since 2005. BGSU is now a program-best 15-0 in the MAC.
The Falcons advanced to 7-0 at home, the best home start since 2006. This is the first time that BGSU has posted a record of 7-0 or better at home with all victories coming against Division-I opponents.
Scoring 18 runs, BGSU has now scored at least 10 runs in 13 of their 30 games this season and have tallied 7+ in 21 of their 30 games.
As a team, the Falcons hit six home runs, their second time this season with five or more in a game and one shy of the season-high.
The walk-off is the first for the Falcons this season with the last being on May 13, 2023 over Northern Illinois in 10 innings.
Everyone in BGSU's lineup that logged an official at-bat logged an RBI in the game.
With two home runs in the game, Leighton Banjoff has hit three home runs in the last two games, pushing his on-base streak to seven games. Banjoff now has six home runs this season.
Jack Krause belted a two-run home run in the first inning to continue his on-base streak to 20 games. Additionally, Krause has scored in eight-straight games for the Orange and Brown.
TJ Takats drew a walk in the bottom of the fourth to push his on-base streak to 19 games for the Falcons.
Tyler Ross singled in the first inning and came around to score. He's now logged a hit in three-straight and has scored in 10 of the last 11 games. Ross has reached in 23 of the 24 games he's appeared in this season.
With his home run in the first inning, Garrett Wright has now logged a hit in six of the last seven games. The two-home run day doubled his season home run total, now at four. Over the series, Wright logged eight hits and scored seven times.
DJ Newman's pinch hit single in the bottom of the ninth with two outs extended his hitting streak to a team-leading eight games.
Landon Roque logged a multiple-hit day to continue his hitting streak to six games for BGSU. During the stretch he has 11 base hits.
Caden Parker hit his first home run as a Falcon with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 10th to tie the game, sending it to the 11th.
Brady Birchmeier's walk-off hit was his first of the day. He's not logged a hit in three of his last four games.
Rigo Ramos pitched both innings of extras for the Falcons, picking up the win for his first win of the season, moving him to 1-0.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will remain home for their next five games on the schedule. BGSU will first host Youngstown State on Wednesday (April 17) for a 3 p.m. start. The Orange and Brown's next MAC series will be April 19-21 when they host the Ohio Bobcats for a three-game series. The homestand will wrap up on April 23 with Dayton coming to Steller Field.

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Garrett Wright

Jack Krause

Landon Roque

Leighton Banjoff

Players Mentioned

Nathan Archer

Leighton Banjoff

Brady Birchmeier

Jack Krause

DJ Newman

Caden Parker

Rigo Ramos

Landon Roque

Tyler Ross

David Silva

TJ Takats

Garrett Wright

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