Falcon baseball loses Game 1 to Kent State (4-25-14)

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Bowling Green’s Jeremy
Shay (left) attempts to pick off Kent State’s Zach Beckner as he dives back to first base in the second
inning of Friday afternoon’s game at Steller Field on campus at BGSU. (Photos: Shane
Hughes/Sentinel-Tribune)

Cody Koch’s three-run home-run with two out in the top of the eighth inning Friday gave Kent State a 7-5
win over Bowling Green in a Mid-American Conference baseball game at Steller Field.
The cleanup hitter in Kent’s order crushed the first pitch from starter Mike Frank over the left-field
fence after one-out singles by Jon Wilson and Alex Miklos. BOX
SCORE

After
Frank retired Justin Wagler on the first pitch in the eight with a fly out to center, BG pitching coach
Rick Blank visited his pitcher and decided to leave him in.
Koch homered on the next pitch, giving him four homers and 39 RBI for the season. He hit the ball hard in
all four plate appearances, going 3-for-4 to raise his average to 327.
“I decided to leave (Frank) in one for more hitter, and I probably stayed with him a little too long,” BG
head coach Danny Schmitz said. “That was the ballgame.”
The game started an important three-game series for Falcons, who are facing the MAC East Division leader.

Kent improved to 28-13 overall and 12-4 in the MAC. BG, which had won five straight and was 11-3 in its
last 14 games, are 17-20, 8-8.
The Golden Flashes scored twice in both the third and fourth innings, but Frank rebounded to retire the
final two batters in the fourth, and faced the minimum number of batters in the fifth, sixth and seventh
innings.
Frank retired Kent in order in the first two innings.
The Falcons rallied to tie the game both the third and fourth innings..

Bowling Green’s Mike
Frank pitches during Friday afternoon’s game against Kent State at Steller Field on campus at
BGSU.

Patrick Lancaster and Troy Keegan hit an RBI singles for BG in the third, and Jeremy Shay added a two-run
homer in the fourth.
The Falcons took a 5-4 lead in the seventh when Jake Thomas walked, stole second, advanced to third on a
high pickoff throw to second and scored on T.J. Losby’s single.
“That was a good college baseball game. Both teams played extremely hard,” Schmitz said.
Kent relievers Dan Kopcak, Tim Faix and Eric Dorsch limited BG to just the one run on one hit over the
final 3 1/3 innings. They struck out one and walked one.
BG had MAC ERA leader and Kent starter Eric Lauer in trouble during his 4 2/3 innings, but didn’t score
until the third.
The Falcons stranded five runners during the first two innings.
“The first two innings were the key. We had opportunities to score and then we fell behind,” Schmitz
said. “But you can’t fault the effort by our team.
“Their bullpen did a nice job. Give them credit —they shut door on us in the late innings.”
The series concludes with single games today and Sunday at 1 p.m.— GORDON

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