The Bowling Green baseball team (32-18, 24-6 MAC) concluded their historic regular season by defeating the Toledo Rockets (25-30, 16-14 MAC) 3-2 at Steller Field on Saturday afternoon, sweeping the Battle of I-75 for the first time since 2019, the last time the rivals faced each other before BG’s baseball program briefly cut in 2020.
“It’s important in today’s age of college athletics to have some patience and to really buy into people. We knew we had been collecting the right people, the right players and the right assistant coaches. It means a lot for our school to have our back while we build this. We didn’t put a timeline on this, but we put expectations on it. We knew it would click at some point,” BGSU baseball head coach Kyle Hallock said postgame. “To go from where we started to where we’re at now is a testament to our players; they will always get the credit for the wins, and I just think it’s really important that our university believed in us like they did, and gave us this opportunity to go play, and our alumni stepped up, and we’re all working together really, really well.”
The Falcons, who set a new program record with 24 Mid-American Conference (MAC) wins, finish the season 15-3 at Steller Field.
“It’s always nice to be at the top. It doesn’t happen without the people that came before us because they set the bar, and I think if you talk to them, they’re very happy for us because they want the bar raised, and they want the best for this program,” Hallock said. “So, right now, we play for the alumni and our school and our university, and in ten years, the next wave of Falcons will be playing for these guys and chasing these guys, which is really cool.”
BG struck first in the bottom of the second inning, with senior infielder David Silva scoring on a throwing error by Toledo second baseman Scott Mackiewicz.
Toledo responded in the top of the fourth as freshman infielder JP Wagner drove in a run on a groundout.
However, the Falcons answered back in the bottom half of the frame.
A day removed from crushing a home run onto Monroe Street at Fifth Third Field, senior infielder Landon Roque drove in two runs with a two-out single to left field, extending BGSU’s lead to 3-1 and his hitting streak to 12 games.
Toledo did not go away easily, as UT junior catcher Brayden White drove in a run with a single up the middle in the sixth inning, cutting BG’s lead to 3-2.
The game was not without drama, as it appeared Mackiewicz drove in Wagner with a two-out single to tie the game in the top of the eighth inning.
However, the Falcons realized that UT junior outfielder Caden Konczack missed second base while advancing from first to third on the hit.
BG appealed the play, and sophomore second baseman Sam Seidel stepped on second to record the final out of the inning. This nullified the run scored because it was ruled a force out.
Sophomore Jackson Bergman, Toledo’s starting pitcher, suffered his sixth loss this season. The right-hander threw 72 pitches across 3.2 innings, allowing three runs, two of which were earned, and six hits while striking out two Falcons.
Sophomore RJ Shunk, juniors Brennan McCune and Caden Kline and senior Camryn Szynski combined to toss 4.3 scoreless innings in relief. McCune was especially dominant out of the bullpen, striking out five of the eight batters he faced.
Meanwhile, sophomore Perry Miller, BGSU’s starter, did not earn a decision. Miller hurled 70 pitches across 3.2 innings, allowing one run, five hits and two walks while striking out two Rockets.
Junior Connar Penrod threw 51 pitches in 2.1 innings of relief, earning his third win of the season. The right-hander allowed one run, one hit and two walks while striking out three.
Senior Logan Bell, freshman Owen Poole and sophomore Jacob Turner did not allow a run in three combined innings of relief. Turner recorded the final out of the game to earn his team-leading fifth save of the year.
The Rockets left 14 runners on base while the Falcons stranded nine.
Next, the Orange and Brown will prepare for the MAC Tournament in Avon next week. While the tournament starts on Wednesday, the one-seed Falcons will receive a bye and play the lowest remaining seed in the winner’s bracket on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Tyler Kavalecz and Chas McNeil will provide coverage throughout the entire tournament, including calls of the game on Falcon Radio and 88.1 WBGU.
“One of the things about the MAC Tournament is you can’t change who you’ve been; you can’t change what you do. We started discussing the fact that we have the right guys here, and we want to keep playing together,” Hallock said. “We don’t want graduation to come, the Major League Baseball draft to come and the faces in this circle to change just yet. So, we’re fighting to play together for as long as we can and keep the faces in our team huddles the same, and we also understand that we have to be exactly who we’ve been. We don’t have to be anyone different, we don’t have to be anyone better, we just have to be ourselves, and that’ll take care of itself.”
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