Big-time players play big when it counts the most. Or something like that.
With each Mid-American Conference game the BG baseball team plays becoming more important, the Falcons’ veteran leaders made this weekend’s games count, as BG swept four games from Marshall at Steller Field.
BG’s 3-7 hitters – juniors Corey Loomis and Kelly Hunt, senior co-captains Nick Elrod and Len Elias and Andy Hudak – did what they were supposed to do this weekend against the Herd: produce. The quintet went a combined 22-54 in the three games, driving in 24 of the Falcons’ 34 runs. They also scored 21 runs.
“We were just anxious to get back out onto the field after last weekend (three cancellations at Buffalo),” Hunt said. “Our job is to hit, and when the bullpen comes in and shuts the team down, that makes our job that much easier.”
After Friday’s 19-10 slugfest, Saturday’s doubleheader featured big play after big play made by these five Falcons. In Saturday’s opener, Hunt and Elrod both homered to give the Falcons a 4-0 lead. After Marshall rallied for eight runs in the fifth, Hunt delivered once again with a two-run single, and Elrod added a two-run double in the rally.
After Marshall jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the nightcap, BG rallied in the fourth. Elias led off with a single, and Elrod followed with another. Hudak then took MU starter Grant Harper’s delivery out to left field, his sixth homer of the year, for a 4-3 Falcon lead.
“I got the bunt sign on the first pitch, and then it was taken off,” Hudak said. “I just looked for something I could put the barrel of the bat on. … We back each other up. When one of us isn’t hitting, the other guys step up, and these three games were perfect examples of that. We play well together as a team.”
Hudak followed up Saturday’s clutch performance with three doubles on Sunday as BG completed the sweep, 6-3.
Coach Danny Schmitz has gotten used to this kind of production from his veterans.
“We all know what these guys can do for us, and we’ve come to expect it,” Schmitz said. “Kelly has been on a tear, he’s been hitting it great, and so has Corey. Everyone knows what Len has done for us during his career, and Andy’s home run today was a big one. It’s been a big weekend for our lineup.”
The Falcon hitters now face one of their tougher tests of the season, as Notre Dame awaits them today. The Irish have eight pitchers with at least nine appearances whose earned run average is under four. Notre Dame enters the game at 25-12 and 12-2 at home.
“Notre Dame is always tough, every year, on both sides of the ball,” Schmitz said. “They’ve won nine in a row and 11 of their last 12, so they are on a roll coming into this game. … We will just try to carry over the momentum from the weekend and try and get a big win over there.”
Notes: Hunt was named MAC player of the week for the second time in three weeks Monday. Hunt batted .619 last week for BG and leads the MAC in hits (57) and RBIs (52).
