Salvione Logs Three-Hit Day In Saturday Showdown With Samford

Saturday, February 28

Birmingham, Ala.

12 p.m. EST

Bowling Green State University

2-7

Samford

4-6

Bowling Green

Samford

Photo by: Georgia Tech Athletics

February 28, 2026 | Baseball

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

Horky Knocks Second Home Run Of Season

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team came up short against Samford on Saturday (Feb. 28), 7-4. The Falcons jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the first, but Samford continued to fight back before a three-run third pushed them in front, 5-3. The teams played through four scoreless frames before a two-run eighth extended Samford's lead. BGSU attempted a comeback with a run in the ninth, but the lone run was all that was produced for the 7-4 final, setting up a rubber match on Sunday (March 1) for the series.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Vinny Salvione tallied the first hit of the day, ripping a double to left center. Anthony Mitta followed with a single to put runners at the corners before stealing second to have two in scoring position. Andrew DiLodovico put a ball in play to bring home Salvione for the first run of the day.
Brady Birchmeier stepped into the box and kept the rally going with a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Mitta for a 2-0 advantage.
Samford answered in the bottom of the first with a tally to close the gap to 2-1.
Zack Horky brought the Bowling Green response in the second, leading off the inning with a home run to left for a 3-1 score.
The back-and-forth continued in the bottom half of the second with Samford adding another run for a 3-2 score. In the third, the Bulldogs registered three runs to push ahead, 5-3.
The game remained scoreless until the eighth with Samford adding a pair for a 7-3 score.
In the ninth, the Falcons attempted to chip away. Pauly Mancino began with a single. He moved up to second on a grounder before a Salvione single brought him home for the 7-4 final score.

STAT LEADERS

Vinny Salvione: 3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HBP
Brady Birchmeier: 2-for-4, 1 RBI
Zack Horky: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI
Anthony Mitta: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 SB
Pauly Mancino: 1-for-4, 1 R
Griffin Scheiderer: 1-for-3, 1 BB
Nate Kress: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 3 K

FALCON STAT FACTS

Logging a base hit in his first at-bat, Anthony Mitta extended his team-leading hitting streak to six games for the Falcons.
With his single in the ninth, Pauly Mancino continued his on-base streak to a team-best eight games and his hitting streak to four, second on the team.
Zack Horky knocked his second home run in the game, joining Sam Seidel as Falcons with multiple home runs this season. As a team, BGSU has six home runs this year with Seidel and Horky combining for four of them.
Vinny Salvione tallied a three-hit day for the Falcons, a new season-high, while logging his third multi-hit game of the season. During the series against Samford, Salvione now has four hits, three RBI, two runs scored, a home run and a double.
Brady Birchmeier is starting to find his swing for the Orange and Brown, now with back-to-back multi-hit games on top of a three-game hitting streak.
Nate Kress produced his second extended relief appearance of the season. After going five innings in relief last weekend against Western Carolina, Kress maintained the mound for 5.1 innings against Samford.

UP NEXT
Bowling Green and Samford will conclude the weekend series on Sunday (March 1) to open March with a 12 p.m. EST first pitch. Any schedule changes will be announced on BGSUFalcons.com as well as Twitter/X (@BGSU_Baseball).

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