BGSU baseball earned their fourth consecutive victory Wednesday afternoon, defeating Findlay 6-3 at Steller Field.
The win marks Bowling Green’s 16th straight victory against the Oilers.
“Findlay’s a really good program. They came here four or five years ago, and it’s in a really good place,” Bowling Green head coach Kyle Hallock said postgame. “They played us hard and they do a nice job over there. Good to play area times.”
Although they lost, the Oilers out-hit the Falcons 10 to nine.
“We’re still in search of our perfect game and our level of play; we need to find it,” Hallock said. “We need to find a way to play to our standard. We talked this week a lot about rather than playing to win, we need to play to dominate, and that’s the next step for this team and we need to find that before the regular season’s over.”
Senior infielder Gunner Antillon, sophomore catcher/outfielder Garrett Wright and senior first baseman/outfielder Gavin Ganun all recorded multi-hit games, with Antillon and Wright driving in two runs apiece.
Junior catcher Zack Horky opened the scoring in the first inning, driving in Antillon with a single through the right side of the infield.
However, Findlay responded in the second, scoring two off a double by junior infielder Gavyn Smith and a sacrifice fly by junior infielder Mike Sciortino to take a 2-1 lead.
UF held the lead until the Falcons scored six in the fourth frame.
Antillon drove in a run with a single before Wright drove in two with a double.
Findlay added their final run of the contest in the sixth inning on a run-scoring single by sophomore infielder Aiden Booth, cutting BG’s lead to 4-3.
BG tacked on another two runs in the later innings.
First, Ganun scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning. Then, Antillon drove in another run on a single in the eighth.
BGSU pitchers combined to strike out eight batters without allowing a walk.
“I was happy with the way a lot of the guys threw,” Hallock said.
Bowling Green junior right-hander Kade Arn earned his second win of the season, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out a batter.
“He’s throwing it with conviction and attitude, I guess is the best way to put it,” Hallock said. “That’s what you got to do when the wind’s blowing in. Whether you’re playing Findlay or you’re playing the 1927 Yankees, if that flag’s blowing in, do not mess around, and that’s what he did; he did a great job of that.”
Senior right-hander Connar Penrod closed the game for the Falcons, getting two outs, including a strikeout, to secure the win and his program-record 11th save of the season.
“Getting him some more game action and putting him in a high-pressure situation where he executes and does a good job is getting more momentum as we head into the weekend for us,” Hallock said.
BG senior left-hander Luke Krouse, who started the game, and freshman right-hander CJ Boudreaux, who replaced Krouse, combined for 6.0 innings pitching, giving up three runs and nine hits.
“I thought [Krouse] battled. I thought Findlay hit some good pitches that he made, and they created some opportunities, and that game could have gotten a little scarier than what it was, but Luke managed situations; he made pitches, he got after it,” Hallock said.
Meanwhile, eight Findlay pitchers appeared in the game: JJ Hartman, Kole Maxwell, Spencer Mueller, Max O’Rourke, Connor Evanich, Jacob Howard, Aiden Weiland and Colin Becker.
“It’s baseball; baseball’s challenging,” Antillon said. “It doesn’t matter the opponent or the pitcher who’s up there, once the ball leaves their hand, you really have no control over what’s going on, just have to make good swing decisions and commit to your approach.”
O’Rourke, a freshman right-hander who allowed three runs, took the loss in his first collegiate appearance.
Next, the Falcons will play Toledo in a three-game series beginning with the Fifth Third Field game at the home of the Toledo Mud Hens on Friday.
“It’s really important. The Fifth Third Field game gets talked about for fan experiences as one of the best ways to play that game in one of the best spots,” Hallock said. “We’ve got those three games always circled on our schedule, and it’s a high priority to play well and get the job done.”
