The BGSU baseball team continued their dominance at Warren Steller Field, sweeping rival Toledo in a three game series over the weekend.
The Falcons (19-14) are now tied with Kent State (20-12) atop the Mid American Conference East Division at 8-4.
Freshman shortstop Ryan Shay earned MAC East Player of the Week after batting .417 with two doubles and four RBI against Toledo.
“I was really surprised when I heard about it,” Shay said. “I could feel myself getting more comfortable at the plate in practice. I knew I would have a good weekend but I didn’t know how good.”
Another Falcon freshman who had a strong outing over the weekend was pitcher Marty Baird.
Baird threw six innings of long relief and gave up only one unearned run on three hits while striking out four in a game the Falcons won 10-5.
“Marty Baird was just outstanding,” Falcon Coach Danny Schmitz said. “He came into the game in the fourth and we were down 4-1 at that point. He held the fort and allowed our hitters to win the game for us.”
Falcon ace Alan Brech (3-0) lowered his ERA to 1.93 after allowing four unearned runs in eight innings on Friday.
The Falcons won 13-7 on the wake of a seven-run third inning and a five-run seventh.
Designated hitter Jeff Telmanik led the Falcon offense, going 2-for-3 at the plate and driving in four RBI.
Schmitz has been impressed with Telamnik’s play of late.
“We always tell our guys to make it tough for us to keep you out of the lineup,” he said. “Jeff has done that, he’s been playing his butt off.”
First baseman Josh Dietz hit his second home run of the year and added three RBI. Left fielder Josh Stewart also had three RBI on two hits.
The Falcons followed up Friday’s pounding with a 5-4 nail-biter on Saturday.
They tied the game at four in the sixth inning when Shay doubled to centerfield scoring Dietz and Telmanik. Then in the seventh, third baseman Tyler Wasserman singled to left driving in center fielder Kurt Wells for the go ahead run.
Reliever Nick Cantrell got the win raising his record to 5-3.
Toledo had a chance to tie the game in the eighth when a sacrifice fly moved a runner to third. However, catcher Mike Barnard caught Toledo first baseman Dan Stong trying to steal second for the third out.
Closer Tyler Johnson got his fourth save of the year after being called in to record the last out with a runner on first.
The Falcons exploded at the plate again on Sunday taking the win 10-5.
Down 4-1 in the fourth, the Falcons put up four runs on RBI by Shay, second baseman Eric Lawson, first baseman Brandon McFarland and catcher Josh Stewart.
Toledo tied the score in the fifth but a three-run Falcon sixth would cement the win. The Falcons added two more runs in the seventh. Right fielder Andrew Foster and center fielder Kurt Wells each had two RBI.
Baird got his second win of the season after coming in for starter Brett Browning in the third and finishing the game.
BGSU is now 7-0 against rival Toledo in the last two seasons.
The Falcons will be in action again today when they travel to IPFW to take on the Mastodons (14-16) who they beat 16-3 earlier this season. They will be back at home tomorrow to take on Cleveland State (6-22) and then travel to Akron (7-24) for a three game series this weekend.
MAC Standings East Division (MAC; Overall) 1. Kent 8-4 ; Overall 20-12 Bowling Green 8-4 ; 19-14 3. Miami 6-6 ; 16-17 4. Ohio 5-7 ; 12-16 5. Akron 2-10 ; 7-24 Buffalo 2-10 ; 7-24
West Division 1. CMU 9-3 ; 21-15 2. WMU 7-5 ; 19-13 3. Ball St. 7-5 ; 19-16 4. EMU 7-5 ; 16-19 5. NIU 6-6 ; 15-19 6. Toledo 5-7 ; 16-15
BG Team Leaders AVG. – Eric Lawson .391 On Base Percentage – Lawson .507 RBI – Andrew Foster, Kurt Wells 23 Stolen Bases – Josh Stewart 10 ERA – Alan Brech 1.93 Wins – Nick Cantrell 5 Saves – Tyler Johnson 4
