All good things must come to an end, and for BGSU baseball, their winning streak was finally snapped this past week. Losing back-to-back games against Kent State.
The more you win, the bigger the target is on your back. The Kent State Golden Flashes came into the home of the Falcons, Steller Field, and stopped BG’s perfect Mid-American Conference (MAC) run at 7-0.
Now, following a 20-4 Kent State victory on Saturday, it is not a stretch to believe that some Falcon fans could feel uneasy about BGSU’s chances of making a MAC Tournament run simply by the size of the loss but, the best advice that can be applied to the end of the Orange and Brown’s 11 game win streak is this, take a deep breath and just watch.
It’s no secret that Bowling Green’s bread and butter all season has been the ability to win from behind nearly every single time as BG is ten and two when their opponent scores first.
The Orange and Brown are very familiar with the comeback kid role, being 5-5 heading into the seventh inning from behind, 5-4 going into the eighth, and 2-3 into the ninth.
“On this homestand, it’s important to have last at-bats, there is double or triple the pressure on the opponent’s pitching staff to stop it,” BGSU head coach Kyle Hallock said following the Falcon’s lone win against Kent State last Friday. “[Kent State] got two or three quick strikeouts bottom of the ninth and we win the game, the same thing happened last week, two quick outs, win a game.”
With this information, you can analyze the 20-4 loss differently as you look at the inning-by-inning basis.
Heading into the sixth inning, the Orange and Brown were down 6-2 before the combination of the senior lefty, junior right-handed pitcher, and senior right-hander Nic Good, Kade Arn, and Logan Bell let up a combined 11 hits for 14 runs, one walk, one strikeout, two doubles and two home runs.
This is where the Falcons ran into trouble as they fell into deep water late and were unable to recover before getting run ruled without the time needed to spark a comeback.
Although one can argue if attempting late game comebacks is the best way to consistently win baseball games, the Orange and Brown manage to remain at the top of the MAC statistically regardless of the two losses.
When it comes to batting, the Falcons can slug, leading the conference in hits, (268) and total bases, (417), while also being second in batting average, (.312), and third in runs, (189) and walks, (124).
In terms of individual performances, sophomore catcher Garrett Wright has turned into “Mr. Reliable” with a second in the MAC on-base percentage, (.523), while leading the conference in triples with three. Sophomore infielder Brady Birchmeier did fall by one spot now sitting at second in the MAC in RBIs with 33.
While the pitching isn’t coming off the best series of performances, the unit as a whole has been one of the top teams in the MAC with a third in the conference 6.69 ERA.
Although the ERA does hold up well, the Falcons are a high contact team, letting up the most hits, (283), doubles, (58), and opponent batting average allowed, (.320).
All this information is to say that BGSU’s historic start to the year is more of hint to the season to come than a fluke. Statistically the Falcons still manage to perform well and push themselves into the lead time and time again.
In what will be a test of this theory, Bowling Green is seeking MAC play redemption in a three-game series against the Central Michigan Chippewas in Mount Pleasant Michigan.
Games one and two will be played on Friday, March 28 in a double header starting at 11 a.m. with game two following thirty minutes after the first. Game three will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Falcon Media Sports Networks Noah Seeley, Chas McNeil, and Tyler Kavalecz will have the recaps each day after each game is completed.
