Bowling Green Baseball (5-7) looked for their first series sweep on the road against the Miami RedHawks (5-9) on Sunday, following a close Friday win and a dominant Saturday win.
The dominance continued to open the first inning, when, with bases loaded, senior infielder Tyler Ross earned an RBI, giving BGSU the early lead.
A double to center field by freshman pitcher TJ Takats brought another Falcon across home plate and two RedHawk errors allowed three more runs giving the Orange and Brown a 5-0 lead going to the bottom of the first.
Miami in the second inning got three Falcons to get out, fielding two easy pieces of contact and earning a strikeout, giving their batters another scoring chance. Rigo Ramos’ hot streak looked to be ending when he walked the first Miami batter, but he followed that up by stringing together two strikeouts in a row and flying out the next batter.
Sloppy pitching by lefty sophomore pitcher Nick Vardavas put a Falcon on base to start the third, which was cashed on a homerun to right field by junior outfielder Gavin Ganun, making the score 7-0.
Ramos kept having a great day, striking out his first batter and forcing two more RedHawks to swing, knocking down three outs all in a row.
Vardavas earned redemption in the fourth creating hits that fell into the laps of three RedHawks snuffing the inning short for the Falcons. While pitching woes improved, the offense remained stagnant, as Ramos collected another two strikeouts, finishing the inning on a pop fly.
Bats warmed back up in the fifth, when with a man on first, Ganun smoked a career-best second homerun in the same game. This gave the Falcons a 9-0 lead over the RedHawks going to the bottom of five.
Signs of fatigue from Ramos became clear when he hit one RedHawk batter and walked another. Miami stopped the shutout, with a double down the infield line by redshirt junior Arizona native Ryland Zaborowski, shrinking the Falcon lead by two. Zaborowski was brought home shortly after off a single, putting the score at the top of the sixth at 9-3.
A quick top of the sixth put pressure on BGSU to stop another Miami score, and with bases loaded, the Falcons brought out right handed senior Peyton Wilson. Only needing one out, Wilson’s first pitch was a pop fly that was easily fielded, keeping BGSU ahead.
A single by Ganun was the only bright spot for the Falcons offensively in the seventh. Their lead shrunk further when a double from a RedHawk allowed enough time for a run to be earned, setting a new score at 9-4.
Yet again the Falcons could not get their bats going as their offensive opportunity ended after just four batters. Miami had better luck, cashing in on BGSU’s mistakes when an error with the bases loaded sent three RedHawks home.
The Redhawk who caused the error, freshman Ryan Novak, was aided home on a high pop fly, creating a tight 9-8 lead for BGSU with one inning left to play.
Two straight outs were not a good sign for the Falcons to open the ninth, but a walk by the RedHawks with bases loaded provided BGSU with the opportunity to close things out, scoring one run in the bottom of the ninth, 10-8.
A single by Novak in the ninth cut the lead to one, and in an instant, everything was evened after a fielder’s choice by the Falcons bought enough time for a RedHawk to get home, sending the game to extra innings tied at 10-10.
The tenth inning featured quick outs by both sides, with the eleventh inning being similar, except an error by the BGSU loaded the bases. This was cut short as a RedHawk popped a ball up which was easily caught taking the game to the twelfth.
A single gave BGSU the first lead in extra innings, which was strengthened when senior Leighton Banjoff hit a hard single to left field pushing two more Falcons across home plate. A ground ball by Takats bought time for Ross who was on base, stretching BGSU’s lead up to 14-10.
The RedHawks stand was not long lasting as a line drive and ground ball put Miami down two outs with no one on base. A full count strikeout was the final straw as BGSU completed their sweep of the RedHawks, remaining perfect in Mid-American Conference play (3-0).
The Orange and Brown succeeded off three separate errors by the RedHawks as well as stranding 18 Miami batters on base.
BGSU gets a short break before returning to action against the Dayton Flyers on Wednesday, March 13 in Dayton with first pitch scheduled at 3 p.m.
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