BGSU baseball (21-9, 11-4) was able to avenge their two losses against the Miami (OH) RedHawks (17-14, 12-3) on Friday by answering back with a 7-6 win on Sunday after 10 innings of play.
“We definitely played ourselves into a must-win situation today; we had to have it, and I’m glad we got it done,” said senior right-handed pitcher Connar Penrod.
Penrod proved to be the hero for the Falcons as the senior pitched three scoreless innings after entering the game at the top of the eighth inning. Those three innings saw Penrod strikeout three batters while only allowing two hits on his to the win.
Miami got on the board first to put points on the board when senior infielder Blake Buzzeo singled and drove home sophomore Ryan Novak and redshirt sophomore Tommy Harrison to give the RedHawks a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Miami would score again a few minutes later when redshirt senior Dillon Baker hit a double to drive in Buzzeo and improve Miami’s lead to 3-0 at the end of the second.
The Orange and Brown would respond in the third inning with a two-run home run off the bat of sophomore catcher Garrett Wright. Wright ended the game with two additional hits to go along with his sixth home run of the season.
“He’s the best catcher in college baseball,” said head coach Kyle Hallock postgame. “Special player; really tough. He was the best catcher in the state of Ohio when he came to Bowling Green, and now he’s making his case here in a year-and-a-half as the best catcher in the country.”
BG would tie the game at three apiece in the fourth due to a double from junior Zack Horky that drove home senior outfielder Gavin Ganun.
BG scored for the third straight inning in the fifth inning thanks to a single from senior outfielder Caden Parker that allowed sophomore infielder Brady Birchmeier to score and gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead.
The sixth inning saw the RedHawks tie and then take the lead.
Ryan Novak scored his second run of the game after a wild pitch from redshirt freshman Nate Kress. Junior Dominic Krupinski then scored to give Miami the lead after tagging up and scoring from third base following Dillon Baker flying out.
MU would extend their lead in the top of the seventh inning after a double from senior David Novak drove redshirt junior Evan Appelwick home.
BG would respond in the bottom of the inning, with junior Sam Seidel scoring after Birchmeier flew out. BG would score again when Wright got home and tied the game 6-6 following a Ganun double.
The eighth and ninth innings were scoreless in large part due to the efforts of BG’s Penrod and Miami’s junior left-handed pitcher Carson Byers. The two pitchers’ efforts forced the two teams into extra innings.
In the bottom of the 10th, BG claimed the lead thanks to a walk-off single from Birchmeier sent freshmen Brayden Curlis home to score the winning run and secure the 7-6 win for the Falcons.
“All of us are gonna have moments this year (where) we gotta come up big,” said Birchmeier. “It just so happened to be mine right there.”
The win puts BG fourth in the MAC standings, and they are currently only one win behind Miami in third place.
The Falcons will travel to Youngstown, Ohio, on Wednesday to play the Youngstown State Penguins before traveling to Kalamazoo for their weekend series against the Western Michigan Broncos on Friday through Sunday.
