BGSU Claims Battle Of I-75 Series By Sweeping Toledo In Doubleheader Action

Sunday, April 3

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:15 PM EST

Bowling Green State University

10-17, 0

Toledo

5-22-1, 0

Toledo

Bowling Green

BGSU Claims Battle Of I-75 Series By Sweeping Toledo In Doubleheader Action

April 03, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics
Game 1: HTML | PDF
Game 2: HTML | PDF

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team earned the Battle Of I-75 series victory over the University of Toledo by sweeping a doubleheader at Steller Field on Sunday (April 3) afternoon. Bowling Green won the first game, 5-3, before taking the second game by a score of 7-3.

For the Orange and Brown, the two wins allowed the Falcons to claim their first Mid-American Conference series win on the season. Bowling Green now owns a record of 11-17 (2-4 MAC), while Toledo falls to 5-23-1 (2-4 MAC).

"This was huge for us," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "After last weekend, we really felt like we needed to win this series. And we always place an emphasis on playing well against Toledo. We got timely hits in the first game, and Andrew Lacinak was great on the mound in the second game."

Bowling Green fell behind, 2-0, in the first game, but rallied to score five of the game's final six runs for the come-from-behind victory. Cody Callaway sparked the comeback with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second, which tied the score at 2-2. For Callaway, it was his second home run of the season, and the second home run of his career. Callaway has now hit a home run, and thrown a touchdown pass against the Rockets, as the sophomore threw a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter during the 2014 football game at the Glass Bowl in Toledo.

Toledo answered Bowling Green's two-run second by tying the game at three apiece with a one-run fourth, but the Orange and Brown took the lead for good by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Callaway was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and moved into scoring position when Justin Mott laid down a sacrifice bunt. After a Nick Glanzman walk and a Riley Minorik ground out, Kory Brown singled up the middle. Brown's two-out single plated both Callaway and Glanzman. Brown later moved to second on a balk, and scored on a great hustle play. Matt Smith beat out an infield single to third base, and Brown was able to take two bases. Once he saw the third basemen throw over to first, he rounded third and scored on a head-first slide, giving the Falcons a 5-3 advantage.

No more runs were scored throughout the rest of the ballgame, as Bowling Green was able to hold on for their first MAC win of the season. Zac Carey picked up the victory, throwing six innings of three-run ball. He scattered eight hits, struck out four and walked one. He gave way to Devin Daugherty, who threw 2.1 shutout innings. Kody Brown threw one pitch to get the second out of the ninth, and then Tony Landi entered and picked up his fifth save of the season.

The second game was highlighted by a seven-run fourth inning, and a tremendous outing from senior Andrew Lacinak. Lacinak threw eight innings, and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out three batters. The southpaw had thrown just 88 pitches after eight innings, and attempted to complete the game, but Toledo scored two runs off Lacinak in the ninth, before Tony Landi secured the 7-3 victory with a hitless frame.

After three scoreless innings to open up the ballgame, Bowling Green registered six hits, hit two home runs, and scored seven times in the bottom of the fourth.

After a Greg Basalyga leadoff double, Nick Glanzman put BGSU on the board with an RBI single into center field. Glanzman then stole second, and scored when Derek Drewes hit a double off the right-centerfield wall. Cody Callaway was hit by a pitch following Drewes' double. And Bowling Green's next batter, Tyler Greiner, crushed a three-run home run to left field, giving the Falcons a 5-0 lead. With Kory Brown on base later in the inning, Matt Smith capped the seven-run frame with a two-run home run to left.

Toledo scored once in the sixth, before their two-run ninth, but the seven-run fourth inning was too much for the Rockets to overcome.

Bowling Green went 3-1 on the week, as the Falcons defeated Findlay on Tuesday. The Orange and Brown will now play four-straight games on the road next week, beginning with a Wednesday (April 6) game in Ann Arbor versus the University of Michigan. The Falcons will then return to MAC play with a three-game series at Miami University over April 8-10.