The BG baseball team extended its winning streak to three games Wednesday by defeating Shawnee State, 6-3, at Stellar Field.
After losing its first five games of the season, BG has now improved to 8-12 on the season as Shawnee State drops to 16-16.
“It’s been a combination of the three things: pitching, hitting and defense,” said coach Danny Schmitz. “We did a good job on the mound and turning double plays when we got into a little trouble.”
With the win, the Falcons also remain undefeated at home with a 3-0 record before entering Mid-American Conference play this weekend.
“We’ve been focusing on defense recently and cracking down on it,” said Brandon Howard, who scored two runs for the Falcons. “It’s something that we weren’t sharp on earlier in the year, but we’re doing a better job and it will help us get wins later on.”
The Falcons wasted no time by getting off to a hot start, scoring all of its six runs in the first two innings. BG gave Carter Bledsoe, the losing pitcher for Shawnee State, a rough outing by recording four earned runs in the first inning.
Furthermore, Bledsoe could not record an out in the first before giving up the four earned runs, which led to him getting pulled.
“Being patient at the plate has definitely helped us pick up wins,” Howard said. “It definitely helps when we play teams like this that throw a lot of speed pitches.”
Center fielder Jake Thomas also scored two runs for the Falcons and went 2-4 from the plate. Additionally, second baseman Matt Pitzulo went 2-3 to go with three RBI.
However, BG’s offense did come to a stall after the second inning by not scoring any runs with the 6-0 lead. Nonetheless, the Falcons’ defense stood strong, only giving up three runs on seven hits, while turning several double plays throughout the game.
Picking up the win on the mound for the Falcons was Trevor Blaylock, his first career collegiate win. The Falcons used eight different pitchers, as BG only has one day off before a three-game series with Western Michigan this weekend.
“With only having one day off we wanted to get some more people in there,” Schmitz said. “We were working with a pitch count to keep everyone ready for this weekend.”
The Falcons’ three-game series with Western Michigan will open MAC play in Kalamazoo, Mich. this Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
“We are looking forward to getting ready for Western,” Schmitz said. “They are a very fine ball club, both defensively and offensively, and it should be a great series.”
