The second day of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament is officially in the books, with a six-hour 45-minute rain delay that broke up back-to-back matchups for Bowling Green.
At the end of the essential doubleheader for the Orange and Brown, Bowling Green became the first MAC team to be eliminated from the tournament after a 10-and-a-half hour 14-12 loss to Toledo and a 10-7 defeat to Eastern Michigan in extra innings.
Here are my Falcon Four takeaways from day two of action in Avon, Ohio, for the MAC Tournament:
Scheduling and delays in play cost Bowling Green a true shot
When it was announced Wednesday that Bowling Green and Toledo’s Battle of I-75 rematch would be postponed to Thursday morning, the writing on the wall became clear that the loser of that game would need to make a near impossible run to continue to compete.
This “gut-feeling” ended up becoming true for the Falcons who, along with the Rockets, had to play in a huge downpour that brought home 16 runs through just two innings of work.
To begin your tournament in a start-stop game where you have to rotate through your pitching staff after each time stoppage as arms cool down, really diminishes the product of baseball that people came to see.
Both Toledo and Bowling Green had their backs up against the wall in that slot where at the end of the day the Falcons lost and had to play against a rested Eastern Michigan team while wet, cold and exhausted from a long day of baseball.
The Rockets also were at risk of this same situation happening to them if they fell to Bowling Green which is not ideal when you consider that the conference tournament should be a showcase of top talent and situations in the MAC.
You cannot continue to count out the “big play” factor for Eastern Michigan
No matter how highly you view the seeding in the tournament as teams rise and fall from scheduling, injuries and other factors, it became clear yesterday that despite their record, the Eastern Michigan Eagles are not the sixth best team in the conference; they are better.
On Wednesday, it came as a bit of a shock to see the Eagles battle with a team like the three-seed Ball State, despite being the only MAC team in the tournament with a losing record at 12-18 through conference play.
When you look back at the first game of the tournament between the Cardinals and Eagles, Eastern Michigan as the underdog managed to take a strong crack at Ball State, shooting out to a 5-3 lead in the fourth before the rain came down.
Although Ball State did manage to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth out of the delay, it was clear at the moment that a majority of the momentum fell on the side of EMU before any stoppage.
The Eagles would lose by one single run, being shut out for the rest of the contest, which set them up with a day to rest before playing Bowling Green on Thursday.
Eastern Michigan managed to wrestle a 10-7 victory away from the Falcons and the only thing more eye-popping than the end time for the game was the box score.
EMU outhit the Orange and Brown 15-10 through 10 innings with a solo home run from senior outfielder Giano Zuccaro to take the lead in the fifth.
When BGSU started to gather momentum and sent the game to the tenth, the Eagles did not flinch, knocking back-to-back doubles to ice the game and send the Falcons packing.
Although they are in the middle of the MAC in batting, Eastern Michigan have found an extra gear and “clutch factor” in this tournament.
A first-round bye team will walk away as MAC champions
This may not be the craziest thought, but with the time sink that has become the rain delays and duels of the tournament, both Miami (OH) and Kent State have the opportunity to come in fresh and take down the tired teams.
With Bowling Green eliminated, Eastern Michigan heading to game three before either team has started one and Toledo rapidly running through their pitching staff, there is limited upside to any other team than Kent and Miami.
One of the only other teams that received a solid draw from the tournament is Ball State, who did have to participate in game one’s rain delay however they did receive a free day off from yesterday’s downpour.
Bowling Green’s injury woes impacted their tournament success more than planned
It was no secret that Bowling Green’s injuries this season mounted quickly and often, with four of their primary starters in the batting order missing a big chunk of the season, as junior two-way player DJ Newman, sophomore outfielder TJ Takats, sophomore first baseman Brady Birchmeier and junior second-baseman Sam Seidel all missing time.
The latter two players, Seidel and Birchmeier, did make their return in time for the tournament but from the first pitch on Thursday, it was clear that the rust had accumulated too much to survive.
Seidel did manage to make some contact, but his fielding did not do the Falcons any favors, as he missed open throws off target to add opponent baserunners that BG couldn’t stop.
Birchmeier did crack off a large amount of dust with a three-run homer to help tie the game in the ninth for Bowling Green but their additions to the roster during the tournament gave them too little time to thrive.
