Ball State Downs Bowling Green To Even Up Weekend Series

Saturday, April 23

Muncie, IN

1:00 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

15-24, 5-9

Ball State

24-16, 10-4

Bowling Green

Ball State

April 23, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: HTML | PDF

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team lost to the Ball State University Cardinals, 3-1, Saturday (April 23) afternoon at Ball Diamond. The ballgame remained tied for most of the afternoon, but Ball State broke the tie and took the lead for good with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

"I'm proud of the way that our guys competed," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "We just were not able to get clutch hits with runners in scoring position. We had the opportunities to take the lead in the later stages, but we just never were able to get the big hit. But we need to quickly refocus, and understand that we still have a great chance to win this series tomorrow."

Bowling Green drops to 15-24 (5-9 MAC) with the loss, while Ball State improves to 24-16 (10-4 MAC) with the victory.

Unlike yesterday, the Falcons scored the first run, allowing themselves to play from ahead. R.J. Williams – who threw out a runner at second base from right field in the bottom of the first – started the second-inning rally with a leadoff single. After moving over to third on consecutive outs, he scored on a Justin Mott RBI single into center.

In the fourth, Ball State would respond with a one-run inning of their own to tie the ballgame. After setting down the first two batters of the inning, Carey issued consecutive walks. Matt Eppers promptly singled into the center field to plate the game-tying run. Carey limited the damage, however, striking out the next batter to leave a pair of runners on base.

The Falcons had two quality opportunities to reclaim the lead in the sixth and seventh, putting a runner in scoring position in both frames, but Ball State kept the Falcons off the board. In the sixth, Kory Brown led off the inning with a bunt single, and later moved to second with no outs. In the seventh, Justin Mott kept the inning alive with a two-out single. Cam Daugherty then walked, but a ground out ended the threat.

Ball State then took the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and a runner on second, Alex Call hit a two-run home run, giving the Cardinals the lead for good. The home run also knocked Carey out of the game.

Carey, who pitched admirably, took the tough-luck loss. The right-hander logged 6.2 innings, allowing the three runs on six hits. Carey struck out five batters, and walked three.
Tony Landi continued his remarkable stretch of play, throwing a perfect eighth inning to give the Falcons a chance, but Bowling Green couldn't score again after the second inning. Over his last 12.2 innings of work, Landi has allowed just two hits. In 10 of his last 11 outings, Landi has not allowed a single hit.

Mott had a career day at the plate in the loss. Mott went 3-for-4 at the dish, including the RBI single in the second. The three hits established a new career high for the sophomore catcher.

Bowling Green and Ball State will conclude the three-game series tomorrow afternoon at Ball Diamond. The ballgame is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch. After tomorrow's game, the Falcons will play an April 27 game at Youngstown State to wrap up a five-game road swing.