While the official home run derby is only a couple months away, BG and Mid-American Conference foe Ball State decided to play their own version over the weekend.
The Falcons (15-13, 6-3) won the derby, 13-10, and the series, taking 2-of-3 and ending the Cardinals’ (19-11, 7-2) 10-game winning streak.
With winds blowing out at 25-30 mph at BSU’s Ball Diamond, the Falcons hit 12 home runs and put 36 runs on the scoreboard to defeat the Cardinals in the first two games of the series – 18-12 on Friday and 18-16 on Saturday. BG lost the final game, 9-7, yesterday.
“The first two days, they were definitely hitters,” said coach Danny Schmitz about his team’s 41 hits in the first two games. “I thought our guys did a really nice job of being disciplined at the plate.”
“It was a great day to be a hitter.”
The Falcons hit a school-record eight homers and had a season-best 22 hits in the win on Friday.
Third baseman Derek Spencer led the way with three homers (5), while first baseman Brian Hangbers went yard twice (5) and had a game-high 5 RBIs.
Others rounding the bases for the Falcons included Marty Baird (2), Andrew Foster (2) and Mark Galvin (2).
Nick Cantrell (4-3) threw two scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win for the Falcons.
The Falcons added 19 hits and four more homeruns – all of which came in the second inning – in the win on Saturday.
Hangbers hit his third home run of the weekend and sixth of the year with a three-run shot in the second, in which BG scored nine runs on seven hits. Also hitting homers in the second were Galvin (3), Logan Meisler (1) and Ryan Schlater (1).
Starter Kevin Light (2-2) picked up the win for the Falcons, giving up seven runs on nine hits, while Kevin Leady picked up his first save of the season.
While the first two games in the series featured a combined 22 home runs from the two teams, the final game featured one.
With the weather less favorable for the hitters yesterday and good pitching by the Cardinals, BG posted only eight hits in its loss.
BSU’s Kolbrin Vitek (5-0) pitched 6.1 innings giving up six runs (one earned) on five hits, while striking out seven.
The Falcons did make it interesting, however, after they rallied in the seventh to get within one run after being down, 8-1. It wouldn’t be enough as the Cardinals held on for the win.
“They didn’t give up,” Schmitz said. “We fell a little bit short, but the one nice thing is that we kept battling and made a game out of it.”
BG added another homer to the derby total after Galvin hit his third of the weekend and fourth of the year.
Brett Browning (0-1) took the loss for the Falcons after giving up three runs on three hits in 2.1 innings.
BG will take a break from conference action as it plays Tiffin University on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Warren E. Steller Field.