BGSU baseball (27-14, 15-8 MAC) worked through a weather-produced doubleheader against Eastern Michigan (17-20, 9-11 MAC) on Saturday after game one of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) series was cut short Friday afternoon and pushed to Saturday due to poor weather.
The Falcons won both games of the doubleheader, 11-4 in the first game and 10-9 in the walk-off in game two.
The Orange and Brown got their first MAC series win since their sweep of Central Michigan on the last weekend of March.
GAME 1
The Falcons and Eagles came into the first game with three innings in the books from Friday afternoon, with BGSU holding a 3-2 lead.
Picking back up in the fourth inning on Saturday, Eastern Michigan struck first after freshman outfielder Carter Mottice attempted a diving catch, which got past him and scored a run.
BGSU was helped by Eastern Michigan right-handed pitcher Collin Milligan as he walked three Falcon batters before junior catcher/outfielder Zach Horky came in clutch with a two-RBI single.
The Orange and Brown blew open the game with four runs in the sixth inning on a two-out rally.
The rally started with the seven-eight-nine part of the batting order with the freshmen trio consisting of infielders Brayden Curlis and Alex Laird along with Mottice.
“Our freshmen have grown up quickly. They’re maturing, putting together really good at-bats, and they’re playing off each other,” head coach Kyle Hallock said.
Curlis scored first on a passed ball before senior infielder Gunner Antillon continued his hot streak at the plate with a two-RBI single, which scored Mottice and Laird.
Eastern Michigan pitchers continued to walk batters all game long, with five coming in the sixth inning and scoring two, with both Curlis and Antillon making it home.
Eagles senior outfielder Giano Zuccaro knocked a ball into the right field trees in the seventh inning to try and keep Eastern Michigan in the game.
The Falcons continued to add to their lead in the seventh inning with the help of two flyout RBIs from Mottice and sophomore catcher/outfielder Garrett Wright.
Profound pitching carried the Falcons throughout the game between the trio of junior Jacob Turner, sophomore Owen Poole, and junior Kade Arn.
All three pitchers had multiple innings in their outings, totaling only six hits given up.
Arn came in the final two innings and allowed no hits to help solidify the Orange and Brown’s 11-4 victory in the first game of the doubleheader.
GAME 2
The Falcons came out strong in the first inning of the second game of the doubleheader, batting around the order and scoring four.
During the first inning, Wright broke the record he set in his freshman year by tallying 22 hit-by-pitches on the season.
“He impacts winning as much as any player you’ll ever see,” said Hallock. “He’s going to go down when it’s all said and done as one of the best to ever wear this uniform.”
Eagles junior infielder Ty Stecko gave problems for the Orange and Brown, going two for four at the plate, including a two-run homer in the top of the third.
Eastern Michigan right-handed pitcher Michael Pfeiffer had himself an incredible outing, going 4.2 scoreless innings with only one hit given up along with two walks.
The Eagles continue to put up runs with a two-RBI triple from senior outfielder Logan Hugo. Eastern Michigan would take a 9-5 lead after the eighth inning.
Wright kept the Falcons in the game with a three-RBI triple to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Orange and Brown a fight to keep going in a 9-8 ballgame.
Laird smacked a ball through the right side of the infield to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth for BGSU.
The Falcons looked at no one apart from Antillon to finish off the comeback in the bottom of the ninth, who would walk it off with a single out to right field to score the game-winning run.
“The right side was wide open; he makes his money on the four holes,” said Hallock about the Antillon walk-off. “We were looking for something towards second base, and he drilled it.”
Antillon continued to be dominant at the plate with three hits, three RBIs, and five walks total between the two games.
The Falcons will wrap up the three-game MAC series against Eastern Michigan on Sunday with the first pitch at 1:00 pm.
