Williams Homers In 7-4 Loss At Ball State

Friday, April 14

Muncie, IN

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-20, 4-6

Ball State

16-18, 4-6

Bowling Green

Ball State

April 14, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: PDF | HTML

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team opened up a three-game series at Ball State University on Friday (April 14) afternoon with a 7-4 loss. The ballgame was played at BSU's Ball Diamond. Ball State capitalized on two Bowling Green errors by scoring three unearned runs. Ball State out-hit the Falcons, 12-9.

Bowling Green falls to 9-20 on the season with the loss. The Falcons are now 4-6 in Mid-American Conference play. Ball State is an identical 4-6 in the MAC following the win. The Cardinals are 16-18 on the season.

"We did a really nice job battling out of a 2-0 deficit," said head coach Danny Schmitz. "I actually thought we saw the ball really well all game long, hit a lot of hard balls, and had some tough luck on a few. But we still didn't play well enough to win. You can't give a team like Ball State extra outs, and we certainly did that today."

"Good teams will make you pay for that. I thought we battled on the mound, but give Ball State some credit. They had a number of big two-out hits, and when we took the lead, they answered right back."

Junior right-hander Tyler Anderson took the loss, despite grinding out 5.1 innings, and allowing three earned runs. The righty also surrendered a pair of earned runs, allowed nine hits, and struck out four while not walking a batter. Fellow right-hander Brad Croy got out of a jam in the sixth when he entered the game, as he left two runners on by inducing an inning-double double play.

Croy yielded two runs in the eighth, which pushed Ball State's advantage to 7-3, but one of the runs was unearned. The sophomore pitcher struck out one, walked none, and gave up three hits. Sophomore R.J. Williams concluded the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the ninth.

Ball State tallied two runs in the third, but Greg Basalyga beat out an infield single in the fourth to put the Falcons on the board. Jake Wilson and Cam Daugherty plated one run apiece in the fifth as part of a two-run frame that saw Bowling Green take a 3-2 lead. Daugherty and Nick Glanzman registered two hits for the Falcons.

Justin Mott and Blake Jenkins recorded one hit, while also scoring a run. Ball State starter BJ Butler threw a remarkable 122 pitches before being knocked out of the ballgame with Williams' home run in the ninth. T.J. Baker finished off the game with two strikeouts in relief.

Bowling Green and Ball State will conclude the series tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader. The two schools were originally scheduled to play on Sunday, but expected weather changed the series schedule. First pitch tomorrow is slated for 12 p.m. The second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.