BGSU Baseball falls in series finale against Central Michigan

Reese Lannon, Sports Reporter, Falcon Media Sports Network

The BGSU baseball team finished their series in Mount Pleasant against Central Michigan on Sunday, falling 4-3 in the series finale.

The Falcons won both of the first two games of the series, winning the series overall 2-1.

Bowling Green (11-14) kept it close throughout the afternoon.

However, the orange and brown never led, and a two-run rally in the eighth inning by the Chippewas to break a 2-2 tie doomed the Falcons.

Central Michigan (14-12) got the scoring going early, as they scratched across a run on a sacrifice fly-off BGSU starting pitcher Tyler Hays.

Just a half inning later, the Falcons got that run back.

Center fielder Nathan Archer whacked a leadoff triple to the right field corner in the second inning.

Then, third baseman Tyler Ross brought him home on a sacrifice fly.

After a scoreless third inning, Central Michigan retook the lead in the fourth on a bunt single to plate a run.

However, Hays rolled up a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and prevent any additional runs from scoring.

Hays proved worthy of the start on the day, allowing just a run in the first and fourth innings.

Overall the senior pitched a season-high six innings, allowing three hits, and one earned run while walking two and striking out four batters.

The BG offense struggled throughout the early part of the game before finally getting the bats going in the sixth inning.

Second baseman Nathan Rose came up with a big knock, plating freshman Sam Siedel and tying the game at two.

Freshman DJ Newman came on to pitch for BGSU in the seventh to replace Hays.

He showcased his skills, striking out three straight Chips after a leadoff single.

In the eighth inning, he ran into some trouble, allowing a 3-2 CMU lead.

Junior Owen Recker came on the mound, and the Chippewas grabbed an additional insurance run.

BGSU strung together a rally in the ninth inning.

Senior Kyle Gurney led off the inning with a single

Two batters later, pinch-hitter Adam Fallon singled to advance Gurney onto third, giving the Falcons runners on the corners with one out.

Archer came to the plate and lifted a flyball to score Gurney on a sacrifice fly, making it a 4-3 game.

After a new pitcher came on for Central Michigan, they were able to get senior Tyler Ross to ground out to end the game and salvage the third game of the series.

Despite the loss, BGSU played CMU well on the day.

The Falcons had five players record a hit and three record an RBI while the pitching staff allowed just three runs in total.

Overall, it was a very successful weekend for BGSU, who took their first series from the Chippewas since 2015 and improved to .500 in the Mid-American Conference.

Next week is an important one for the orange and brown, as they will travel to Michigan State on Wednesday to take on the Spartans, who have won 11 of their last 13 games.

Then, they will welcome in MAC foe Kent State for a three-game series starting Friday.

For more information about the team, visit the athletics webpage.