Inconsistent hitting has plagued the Bowling Green baseball team this year and it proved troublesome once again on Wednesday night.
The Falcons (22-12) managed only two hits in an 8-1 loss to Ohio State (20-17), with their only run scored in the final inning.
The Buckeyes held a 1-0 lead after four innings, but were able to tack on runs in each of the next four innings to pull away from BG.
“I thought it was a lot closer game than (the final score),” said BG head coach Danny Schmitz. “(The game) boiled down to the fact that we didn’t swing the bats well.”
Falcons starting pitcher Tyler Johnson (4-2) took the loss. He was cruising along well until the fifth, when OSU leftfielder Steve Caravati hit a two out, two-run home run to build the lead to 3-0. Johnson went 5 and 2/3 innings allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits, with one walk and one strikeout.
Matt Hundley, Neil Schmitz, and Alan Brech pitched the final 2 and 1/3 innings for the Falcons, allowing the Buckeyes final four runs of the game.
BG’s only run came in the ninth when Jimmy Lipari was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Nolan Reimold.
BG will play double headers against IPFW (18-25, 10-5 at home) on Saturday and Sunday in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The two teams were scheduled to play last Wednesday at Warren Stellar Field, but heavy rain forced the game to be canceled after play had just begun in the top of the first. The Mastodons were up 3-0 with the bases loaded and no one out before the downpour halted play.
“(IPFW) is going to swing the bats pretty well and they have three guys with 11 or more stolen bases (Dustin Freeman and Ryan Keen lead with 14 and Each Walloon has 11) so they like to run,” said coach Schmitz. “They’re going to try to put pressure on the defense, so it’s something that we’re going to have to concentrate on and we are going to have control their running game.”
The Mastodons are led at the plate by Ryan Steinbach, batting .355, and Fremion, .350. Keena has driven in a team-high 25 runs, while Brandon Armstrong and Tyler Fowler are tied for the team home run lead with four apiece.
IPFW will send out their top four starting pitchers this weekend against BG. Casey Rohan (4-4, 3.73 ERA) will pitch game one, while David Zachary (5-2, 5.05) will get the nod for game two Saturday. On Sunday, the Falcons will face Eric Lambert (1-4. 3.83) and Jason Horvath (3-8, 4.16).
The Falcons will send out Keith Laughlin (2-1, 4.83) and Burke Badenhop (2-2, 5.56) on Saturday. Brech (1-0, 2.35) will pitch the first game Sunday, with the other starter to be determined this weekend.
