The Falcons secured the eighth and final seed in the Mid-American Conference tournament Saturday after splitting games with the University of Buffalo.
The Falcons’ win shut the door on an ambitious Ohio University: After the Bobcats took two of three games against Miami, the Falcons needed one win or they would not be going to Chillicothe.
The Falcons clinched the birth in game two rolling the Bulls 11-3: 18 Falcons hits and an 11-strikeout performance from Charles Wooten, along with six Bulls errors, resulted in a landslide victory for the Falcons.
“[Before] the second game the captains and coaches brought everybody up and said ‘hey, we have to win this game or our season is over,”‘ said team co-captain Clay Duncan.
Wooten had an answer for the plea.
Wooten, a senior, went out and earned the win fashionably. His 11 punch-outs (all swinging) were a career high.
“I basically pounded the outside corner, and they couldn’t really do much with it … I was able to get strikeouts (on high fastballs) which helped me in big situations,” Wooten said.
Wooten went 6 1/3 giving up two runs on six hits.
The Bulls’ Cameron Copping was finding Falcons’ barrels continuously throughout his 3 1/3 innings of work. He gave up three hits in the first, two in the second, four in the third and one more in the fourth before being yanked by skipper Ron Torgalski.
The Falcons’ 2-4 hitters were a combined 10-for-16 at the dish, producing four of the team’s seven RBIs.
Buffalo took the first game in stylistic fashion when designated hitter Eric Bryce hit a walk-off dinger in the bottom of the 12th inning trumping the Falcons 3-2.
“When someone hits a homerun like that, sometimes you got to tip your cap and say it’s just meant to be,” said second baseman Matt Pitzulo.
The teams played follow-the-leader through three, each registering no runs in the first, one in the second and another in the third.
Falcons righty Cody Apthorpe escaped a jam in the third, getting Buffalo’s Daniel Scahill to flyout with two outs and the bases full.
The third was proceeded by 8 1/2 innings of scoreless ball highlighted by productive pitching from each starter and their relief.
Apthorpe went 5 1/3 allowing two runs on eight hits while recording seven strikeouts.
He was pulled in the sixth after walking Buffalo’s Jason Kanzler, leaving a mess for reliever Ross Gerdeman with one out and runners on first and third. Gerdeman cleaned it up by fanning the next two Bulls.
Gerdeman went four innings giving up no runs on three hits and striking out four. Gerdeman has not surrendered a run in his last 9 1/3 innings of relief.
Nick Bruns replaced Gerdeman in the 10th and struck out three Bulls before serving the homerun ball to Bryce in the 12th.
Both teams had chances to end the game in regulation leaving a combined 14 runners on base in the 8 1/2 scoreless innings.
Falcons’ Andrew Kubuski, Jon Berti and Clay Duncan each had multiple hits going a combined 7-for-14 at the plate.
The Falcons are set to play Kent State Wednesday at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe.
The Falcons struggled against Kent last weekend, but Berti feels the team can do it:
“They have the best [MAC] pitching staff and we scored 10 runs against them the first game,” said the shortstop. “We’ve done it once before, so we can do it again. That’s our mindset.”
Matt Malewitz will start for the Falcons. He has been effective in his last three starts giving up five runs in 16 innings while collecting two wins (Wright State, OSU) and a no decision.