BGSU baseball lost to the Western Michigan Broncos 7-1 on Saturday after pushing through a five-hour delay.
Junior starting pitcher Andrew Heffernan drew two easy outs to begin the game via a strikeout and a groundout. Then, he hit graduate student shortstop Michael Maloney with a pitch.
The first hits for Western Michigan immediately followed and kept the inning alive. Senior first baseman Avery Thielman hit a single and redshirt senior designated hitter Lucas Rick hit a two-RBI double.
“If you get off to a quick start like Western Michigan did, and we’re chasing, it’s obviously to their advantage,” head coach Kyle Hallock said.
The Broncos would double their lead to four runs in the third inning. Thielman flied out to center field, scoring senior second baseman Drew Howard. Two singles would score another.
“I think the third inning, those two runs, you’ve got to give Western Michigan credit for it,” said Hallock. “They earned those themselves and you know, right away it’s four-nothing.”
Heffernan allowed four earned runs over three innings before being relieved by redshirt junior pitcher Ethan Papacek.
“We’ve done a decent job, so far at least, of our starting pitchers and then the relievers coming in and eating multiple innings,” Hallock said.
Papacek shut out the Broncos offense in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. In the seventh inning, Western Michigan scored two more runs.
Like the first inning, Thielman hit a single and Rick hit a double, this time in the seventh. Both hits scored a run, extending the Western Michigan lead to six runs.
The Falcons offense loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning ahead of redshirt senior third baseman Anthony Mitta’s sacrifice groundout. Two outs followed and the Falcons were held to the one run.
The Broncos immediately responded with a run of their own in the top of the ninth against the second Falcon reliever, Titus Lotz. Thielman picked up his third RBI on a double that scored junior center fielder Tanner Mally for the last run of the game.
Graduate student Ricky Kidd earned the win on the mound for Western Michigan. He did not give up any runs to the Falcons and allowed only four hits through his six full innings on the mound. Kidd only threw 74 pitches.
“Their starting pitcher did a nice job of establishing his fastball then mixing off that,” Hallock said. “It was tough to get him out of rhythm tonight.”
Bowling Green only notched five hits in the game. Mitta hit three singles in four at-bats.
With the Broncos’ win, they clinch a 2026 MAC tournament berth. It also serves to promote the series finale to a rubber match with the first pitch of Sunday’s game scheduled for 2 p.m.
