BGSU baseball defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 9-3 for the first time since 2011, after riding a six-run lead built in the first inning.
The Falcons’ victory over Ohio State extends their winning streak to four games.
The rough start for the Buckeyes arose from graduate Ryan Butler’s shaky pitching performance, combined with two defensive errors.
The top of the first inning consisted of a bat-around, though Carter Mottice was the only BG batter to bat twice in the inning. Mottice, the leadoff batter, tripled to give the Falcons immediate momentum. He came around to score from a Sam Seidel single.
Butler was quickly relieved by redshirt senior Luke Carrell. Butler gave up six runs, three of them earned, on four hits and two walks. He only pitched one-third of an inning. Four relievers pitched the vast remainder of the game.
“I mean, that was a really fun way to start the game that way, obviously,” senior second baseman Sam Seidel said. “You want to come out and put some pressure on them early, but a six-spot just sets the tone for the rest of the night.”
Sam Seidel continued to build his deficit as the Falcons’ leader in hits. Seidel finished the game with three hits, including a double and a solo home run. He now has 32 on the season. Seidel also scored four runs and tallied two runs batted in.
After the first inning, the score was even between the Falcons and the Buckeyes. Each team only scored three runs through the last eight innings. Luke Krouse started the game, pitching four full innings and allowing the three earned Buckeye runs.
Redshirt senior Ty Roder received the win on the mound. He pitched 3.2 innings of relief, not giving up any hits and striking out six Ohio State batters.
“It was beautiful to see,” head coach Kyle Hallock said. “He had a great breaking ball tonight, major presence, and life on the fastball.”
The defensive errors kept the Buckeyes from maintaining any momentum. Throughout the game, the Buckeyes tallied four hits, which were ultimately not enough to counter their five defensive errors. BG had only one error.
“We hammer defense a lot,” Hallock said. “It’s 27 outs. We don’t want to play any more than that.” “It’s not a coincidence if you know how much we practice and how much we hammer the defensive side of the ball.”
Ohio State did outperform Bowling Green in home runs. Junior Alex Bemis hit a solo home run in the third inning, and junior Miles Vandenheuvel scored a two-run home run in the fourth. The two home runs were the Buckeyes’ only extra-base hits.
“It’s obviously huge, especially with the momentum we’re trying to build right now,” said Seidel. “Huge for this program, huge for momentum into tomorrow and then into the weekend.”
The Falcons will next face Lourdes University at home on Wednesday. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Steller Field.
