Wednesday, March 11
Winter Haven, Fla.
4:00 p.m. ET
Bowling Green State University
5-7
7
vs
8
Illinois State
7-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Bowling Green
0
1
0
0
0
0
6
0
0
7
8
0
Illinois State
3
3
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
8
11
1
Falcons Battle Back, Lose Heartbreaker To Redbirds
March 11, 2015 | Baseball
BGSU overcomes six-run deficit before losing in bottom of the 9th
Final Statistics: HTML | PDF
WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—The Bowling Green State University baseball team overcame a six-run deficit with a six-run seventh inning Wednesday, before eventually losing 8-7 to Illinois State in the RussMatt Invitational. The Falcons fell behind 6-0 after two innings in the game, but battled back to take a tied game into the bottom of the ninth, where Illinois State eventually won it on an infield single. With the loss, the Falcons drop to 5-7 overall. BGSU will be back in action on Friday when they take on Maine at 1:30 p.m.
"I was proud of how our team battled back to tie the game in the seventh inning," head coach Danny Schmitz said. "To fall behind like we did and not give up speaks to the character of this team. The guys will have the day off tomorrow before we look to get back out on the field Friday and finish the spring break trip strong."
The Redbirds jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after just two innings in the game, hitting three home runs in the first two frames. Thrust into a starting role, senior Jason Link battled through four innings, striking out three during his outing.
Bowling Green scored a run in the top of the second, as Basalyga got things started with a single up the middle. Matt Smith then executed a perfect hit-and-run to put Falcons at the corners with nobody out. Randy Righter brought home Basalyga with a sacrifice fly to left field, getting the Falcons on the board.
The Redbirds extended the lead in the bottom of the sixth against Trevor Farrell, who was making his first career appearance in the game. Farrell did exactly what was asked of him in the game, pitching 2.1 innings in relief while allowing just one run.
Trailing 7-1 into the seventh inning, the Falcons got things started in the top of the seventh when Basalyga reached base on an error by the Redbird centerfielder. The error proved to be costly, as the seventh inning became a debacle for the Redbirds. Smith then walked and both runners moved into scoring position on a groundout.
Jesse Rait made it a 7-2 game with a single up the middle, but Schmitz would hold Smith at third to give the Falcons runners on the corners, still just with one out. With that, Illinois State turned to their bullpen for a reliever, after spot-starter Steve Heilenbach went 6.1 innings.
Cody Callaway put together a patient at-bat, walking to load the bases with just one out against new pitcher Jeffrey Barton. A Kory Brown sacrifice fly made it 7-3, but the Falcons had two outs for leadoff hitter Brandon Howard.
Howard quickly fell behind with an 0-2 count, but then was able to foul off four consecutive pitches to the right side to keep the at-bat alive. Howard broke through, winning the long battle with an RBI double down the right field line. Howard's double made the score 7-4 and forced the Redbirds to turn to reliever Mitch Vogrin out of the pen.
The first batter that Vogrin faced was Brian Bien, who walked on five pitches to load the bases for the Falcons best hitter to date—Trey Keegan. On a 1-0 delivery from Vogrin, Keegan drilled the pitch into the gap and past the center fielder, clearing the bases and tying the game at 7-7.
With new life, the Falcons turned to pitcher Trevor Blaylock out of the pen in the bottom of the seventh inning. Blaylock was able to escape both the seventh and eighth innings with no damage, but the Redbirds prevailed in the bottom of the ninth with a bases-loaded, infield single.
Bowling Green will now enjoy their off day, after playing six games in six days to begin their spring break trip. The Falcons will conclude the trip—and RussMatt Invitational play—with a game versus Maine on Friday and versus Cornell on Saturday.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—The Bowling Green State University baseball team overcame a six-run deficit with a six-run seventh inning Wednesday, before eventually losing 8-7 to Illinois State in the RussMatt Invitational. The Falcons fell behind 6-0 after two innings in the game, but battled back to take a tied game into the bottom of the ninth, where Illinois State eventually won it on an infield single. With the loss, the Falcons drop to 5-7 overall. BGSU will be back in action on Friday when they take on Maine at 1:30 p.m.
"I was proud of how our team battled back to tie the game in the seventh inning," head coach Danny Schmitz said. "To fall behind like we did and not give up speaks to the character of this team. The guys will have the day off tomorrow before we look to get back out on the field Friday and finish the spring break trip strong."
The Redbirds jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after just two innings in the game, hitting three home runs in the first two frames. Thrust into a starting role, senior Jason Link battled through four innings, striking out three during his outing.
Bowling Green scored a run in the top of the second, as Basalyga got things started with a single up the middle. Matt Smith then executed a perfect hit-and-run to put Falcons at the corners with nobody out. Randy Righter brought home Basalyga with a sacrifice fly to left field, getting the Falcons on the board.
The Redbirds extended the lead in the bottom of the sixth against Trevor Farrell, who was making his first career appearance in the game. Farrell did exactly what was asked of him in the game, pitching 2.1 innings in relief while allowing just one run.
Trailing 7-1 into the seventh inning, the Falcons got things started in the top of the seventh when Basalyga reached base on an error by the Redbird centerfielder. The error proved to be costly, as the seventh inning became a debacle for the Redbirds. Smith then walked and both runners moved into scoring position on a groundout.
Jesse Rait made it a 7-2 game with a single up the middle, but Schmitz would hold Smith at third to give the Falcons runners on the corners, still just with one out. With that, Illinois State turned to their bullpen for a reliever, after spot-starter Steve Heilenbach went 6.1 innings.
Cody Callaway put together a patient at-bat, walking to load the bases with just one out against new pitcher Jeffrey Barton. A Kory Brown sacrifice fly made it 7-3, but the Falcons had two outs for leadoff hitter Brandon Howard.
Howard quickly fell behind with an 0-2 count, but then was able to foul off four consecutive pitches to the right side to keep the at-bat alive. Howard broke through, winning the long battle with an RBI double down the right field line. Howard's double made the score 7-4 and forced the Redbirds to turn to reliever Mitch Vogrin out of the pen.
The first batter that Vogrin faced was Brian Bien, who walked on five pitches to load the bases for the Falcons best hitter to date—Trey Keegan. On a 1-0 delivery from Vogrin, Keegan drilled the pitch into the gap and past the center fielder, clearing the bases and tying the game at 7-7.
With new life, the Falcons turned to pitcher Trevor Blaylock out of the pen in the bottom of the seventh inning. Blaylock was able to escape both the seventh and eighth innings with no damage, but the Redbirds prevailed in the bottom of the ninth with a bases-loaded, infield single.
Bowling Green will now enjoy their off day, after playing six games in six days to begin their spring break trip. The Falcons will conclude the trip—and RussMatt Invitational play—with a game versus Maine on Friday and versus Cornell on Saturday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Landwehr, Jack (2-2)
L: Blaylock, Trevor (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Howard, Brandon 1 ; Keegan, Trey 1
RBI: Howard, Brandon 1 ; Keegan, Trey 3 ; Righter, Randy 1 ; Rait, Jesse 1 ; Brown, Kory 1
SH: Howard, Brandon 1
SF: Righter, Randy 1 ; Brown, Kory 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Howard, Brandon 1 ; Bien, Brian 1 ; Basalyga, Greg 2 ; Smith, Matt 1 ; Rait, Jesse 1 ; Callaway, Cody 1
Batting:
2B: Snyder, Mason 1
HR: DeJong, Paul 1 ; Snyder, Mason 1 ; Jackson, Danny 1
RBI: DeJong, Paul 1 ; Snyder, Mason 3 ; Beesley, Sean 1 ; Leverett, Logan 1 ; Jackson, Danny 2
SH: Hendren, Jared 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dwyer, Daniel 1 ; DeJong, Paul 2 ; Hendren, Jared 1 ; Snyder, Mason 1 ; Kelch, Joe 1 ; Leverett, Logan 1 ; Jackson, Danny 1
SB: Beesley, Sean 1
HBP: Beesley, Sean 1 ; Leverett, Logan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
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