BGSU baseball steamrolled Youngstown State 17-5 at Eastwood Field on Wednesday night, sweeping the season series over the Penguins.
The Falcons were led by a freshman frenzy that outfielder Carter Mottice and infielder Brayden Curlis highlighted.
Mottice excelled in his first collegiate game and start for the Orange and Brown, going 2-4 at the plate with two doubles and three runs batted in (RBI).
“What everyone got to see from him today is what we’ve been seeing for the last little bit of practice,” head coach Kyle Hallock said postgame. “It’s good confidence for him and makes us look smart when stuff like that happens.”
The performance was a moment Mottice had been waiting all season for.
“I love the pressure. I just love college baseball; it’s obviously more pressure. I wanted to come out here and do my best for the team, just keep the rallies going and help the team win,” Mottice said. “There was obviously a little nerves at the beginning, but I knew I had to come out here and do what I needed to do to help the team win and just let my game do the talking.”
Mottice had a tough start to his freshman campaign, dealing with injuries that prevented him from seeing playing time.
“He just got banged up a little bit in the fall and had a little setback right before the season started. But he had been practicing at a high level, and he came back from an injury kind of on schedule; he had practiced well,” Hallock said. “We had talked to him about utilizing him for the back half of the season, and he was in for it.”
Curlis, who’s father also played baseball at Bowling Green, also delivered in the clutch for the Falcons, going 3-4 at the plate with three RBIs.
“Brayden’s been very solid. He’s understanding the speed of this game,” Hallock said. “He was a very consistent player all throughout his high school career.”
Curlis has started to settle into the starting role at third base, recording a hit in three of the past four games.
“We’re starting to see that consistency more and more, at-bat to at-bat and play to play in the field,” Hallock said. “As he gets used to the speed of the game, he’s only going to get better.”
Hallock has utilized the team’s depth this season, with nine freshmen seeing playing time for the Falcons.
Next, Mottice, Curlis and the rest of the Falcons will stay on the road and head to Kalamazoo to battle Western Michigan in a weekend series from Friday through Sunday. Falcon Media Sports Network will have coverage of the series on bgfalconmedia.com.
