Bowling Green’s baseball team had relied on pitching and defense through the first month of the season.
The Falcons had not scored more than seven runs in a game and hadn’t topped 16 runs in a three-game
stretch.
With just four wins through 16 games, BG was opening the Mid-American Conference schedule on the lowest
of lows over the weekend at Steller Field.
BG responded with a bang, sweeping rival Toledo in the three-game series, scoring 25 runs including a
10-run series opener on Saturday.
“Our pitchers have been carrying us, our pitchers and defense because we have been struggling to score
runs,” BG head coach Danny Schmitz said. “So it’s about time the offense went ahead and helped the
pitching staff out.”
The Falcons (7-12) were locked in a scoreless tie entering the bottom of the fourth in Saturday’s opener.
They answered with a four-run fourth inning and maintained the offense deep into the game to notch a
10-6 win over UT (9-12).
BG did not make things easier to start the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, falling behind 3-0
after the top half of the first inning.
Tyler Hays, a freshman workhorse, has thrown as well as anyone to start the season for the Falcons. He
was not himself allowing a solo home run followed by a double before exiting without recording an out.
“Got the flu. And he didn’t want to say anything, then we found out he was sick to his stomach all
night,” Schmitzsaid of Hays. “So he tried to go out there, we appreciate his toughness. But I could tell
that something was wrong right after the second hitter. He finally admitted he wasn’t feeling well.”
The offense did not falter scoring one, two and three runs in the first three innings, respectively, to
take a 6-4 lead. Brad Croy, a senior, continued to help the bullpen by ripping a line drive over the
left-field wall for his first career home run and an 8-5 lead after four innings.
“I thought we did a great job of grinding out at-bats. Working the count and getting pitch counts up
which was really important,” Schmitz said.
“I guess the previous 16 games, we didn’t have many where we really hit the ball hard.”
Griffin Parrill, a freshman from Perrysburg, came on for Hays and did not walk a batter across 3 2/3
innings to earn the win, a BG held on for a 9-6 decision.
“That’s huge. And being a freshman, I’m not sure if he’s ever come in in a situation like that where
somebody gets hurt and all of a sudden you’re out on the game mound warming up in front of a big crowd,”
Schmitz said. “He’s got great makeup, he’s got great composure and he gave us exactly what we needed.”
Mike Malewitz, another freshman, helped end the weekend on a high.
After trailing 5-2 entering the bottom of the eighth, BG rallied with a three-run inning knot the score
at 5-5. Malewitz then ripped a walk-off single up the middle for a 6-5 win and its first 3-0 start in
the MAC since 2008.
Joe McGuinness was the eighth-inning hero for the Falcons, belting a three-RBI bases-clearing double to
tie the game.
“We just said everybody’s zero and zero starting tomorrow. The guys came out with a lot of energy,”
Schmitz said of the message to his team on Friday.
BG exits the weekend with seven wins, a 3-0 conference start, and its first sweep of the Rockets since
2010.
