BGSU baseball (14-5, 6-0) returned home to Steller Field on Tuesday, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne (1-18, 0-3) 19-18 in comeback fashion, extending their winning streak to nine games, their longest in 15 years.
It didn’t take long for things to get going, as PFW sophomore shortstop Justin Osterhouse hit a solo shot to right field, putting the Mastodons up 1-0 early. The Falcons would then respond with a home run of their own from sophomore first baseman TJ Takats, his first of the year. The first inning would end with both sides tied, 1-1.
Freshman Carrson Sova would throw a wild pitch, his sixth of the year. It would then lead to Purdue Fort Wayne’s next score of the game, 2-1. Then, Osterhouse would strike once again with his second home run of the day, this time being a grand slam, creating a five-run deficit, 6-1; a sight that Kyle Hallock’s squad has not seen much of this year, but also one that doesn’t let get the best of them.
“Coach always says keep trying to win one pitch at a time,” junior Sam Seidel said. “When you stack all of those up at the end of the game, the scoreboard should be in your favor.”
Osterhouse would deliver yet another solo shot and show his dominance early on. Very reminiscent of the sophomore’s performance from last year’s matchup between these two teams.
The Mastodons would increase their lead to 7-1. Despite being down very early on, BG kept chugging along and cut the large deficit down, as redshirt freshman Caden Parker hit a two-run homer to left field.
Freshman Zack Horky would then tag up from third base and score after a Garrett Wright flyout, giving the Orange and Brown another score, ending the fourth with PFW still leading, 7-4.
After three more runs scored from the Mastodons based on throwing errors, the bottom of the sixth is when the momentum was starting to build for the Falcons.
BG scored four runs from either walks with the bases loaded or junior pitcher of the Mastodons Owen Willard making contact with batters. The Falcons would clean up what was a massive lead for PFW and scored five runs altogether in the bottom of the sixth, leaving them down by one run, 11-10.
Unfortunately, the momentum shifted yet again as the Black and Gold added four more runs to their lead, including a three-run homer from senior Jackson Micheels, increasing their lead yet again, 15-10.
The next major score would come from senior Gavin Ganun of the Falcons, with a two-run homer to right field. But the blows to any sort of advantage kept coming, as three more runs were tallied on to the total for the Mastodons at the top of the eighth, including a single from sophomore Augusto Schroeder.
Wright would then buy the Orange and Brown more shots with a two-run home run to left field. A few more hits from Ganun and freshman Garett Sloan would slim the margin down once again.
Then, the crowd at Steller Field rose to their feet. Wright singled on a blooper in right field, with Takats scoring from first base to tie things up. Then, Seidel hit a single for a walk-off win for Bowling Green, 19-18.
“TJ Takats is a special player,” Hallock said. “We just wanted to put him in the leadoff spot and set the tone; he’s, he’s had at-batst bats this past wekend, and deserved to get out there.“
BG will roll along once again and look to win their 10th game in a row for the first time since 2010, as they will face the Dayton Flyers at home on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Tyler Kavalecz and Chas McNeil will have the call on WBGU 88.1 FM, beginning at 2:45 p.m. for pregame.
