The Bowling Green baseball team (2-3) fell to the Memphis Tigers (3-4) in the second game of a three game series on Saturday 14-13 on a walk-off single that washed away the Falcons’ hopes of a three-game winning streak.
BG went down 10-0 early after a rough outing from BGSU starting pitcher Nic Good, but came storming back to take the lead in the sixth inning before eventually losing in heartbreaking fashion.
Good got into early trouble in the bottom of the first, giving up back to back walks before second baseman Duante Stuart put the Tigers’ first run on the board with an RBI infield single.
The Tigers scored again on an errant throw attempt to catch Stuart stealing second base, which led to a run coming around to score.
Before the inning was over, Memphis first baseman Jacob Compton scored Stuart on an RBI single, putting the Falcons down 3-0 early on.
The Memphis squad continued to bother Good in the bottom half of the second, loading up the bases with two singles and a hit by pitch.
Memphis center fielder Will Marcy grounded into a double play that allowed a run to score, and catcher Brennan DuBose stole home, bringing the Tiger lead to 5-0.
After the Falcons went down in order in the top of the inning, Good was replaced with one out in the bottom of the third by sophomore right-hander Kade Arn, who was making his season debut.
The Tigers didn’t give him a break however, as left fielder Seth Cox doubled into left-center field, allowing another run to score.
In the next at-bat, senior designated hitter Riley Davis smashed a three-run home run over the right-center field fence, putting Memphis up 9-0 only three innings into the game.
Bowling Green had a promising start to the fourth inning with an error and a walk that put runners on first and second with nobody out, but leftfielder Jack Krause grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, immediately deflating the scoring chance.
Memphis tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI groundout by Stuart that scored Marcy from third.
The Falcons got four back in the bottom of the fifth inning with a grand slam from center fielder Nathan Archer that cut the Tiger lead to 10-4 and gave Archer his second home run of the year.
The sophomore pitcher Perry Miller came in to make his season debut, replacing Arn in the bottom of the fifth and throwing a scoreless inning.
In a remarkable top of the sixth inning, Bowling Green took advantage of Memphis removing starting pitcher Luke Ellis and put up seven runs on three hits, two walks, two errors, and a hit by pitch, including a double by Archer to give him his sixth and seventh RBIs of the day.
Coming back from down 10-0, the Falcons took the lead and went up 11-10 going into the bottom of the sixth.
However, the Tigers took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth, scoring a run on a wild pitch and a run on a sacrifice fly by Stuart to take the score to 12-11 in favor of Memphis.
The Falcons tied it up at 12 in the top half of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from designated hitter DJ Newman and took the lead in the eighth with a Tyler Ross single that scored Archer.
However, BGSU reliever Jacob Turner was unable to hold off the Tigers in the bottom of the ninth.
An RBI single sent into left field by Davis tied the game up with only one out in the inning, and two batters later Marcy hit a walk off single up to middle to score Davis, winning the game for the Tigers 14-13.
Although BG failed to complete the comeback from down 10-0, they had a fantastic day at the plate, registering 10 hits along with eight walks, highlighted by Archer’s grand slam and seven RBI game.
Sophomore Cooper McKenzie made his season debut, replacing Zack Horky behind the plate in the sixth inning and going 2 for 3 with two singles.
The Falcons will go for their first three-game non-conference series win since 2020 on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in the rubber match against the Memphis Tigers.
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