BLACKSBURG, Va. – Bowling Green State University baseball played the first two games in program history on Saturday, going against the Virginia Tech Hokies in a doubleheader.
In the first game, Virginia Tech took a 3-0 lead, but runs in the seventh and the eighth for the Falcons closed the gap to 3-2. However, the runs stopped there for Bowling Green on the day, falling in game one 13-2 and game two 12-0. DJ Newman and Tyler Ross logged hits in both games while Sam Seidel tallied a career-high three base knocks in game two.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 1
The first run of the game crossed for Virginia Tech with their leadoff batter hitting a solo home run to right field.
In the third inning, the Hokies nearly had runners at the corners with one out, but the slide into third carried the runner over the bag, resulting in an out. During the next at-bat, Kyle Gurney threw out the runner on first trying for second to end the inning with the score still 1-0.
In the sixth, Virginia Tech loaded the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly and single each scored a run to give VT a 3-0 advantage before a pitching change.
The Falcons responded in the top of the seventh with their first run of the game. Justin Fugitt reached on a fielding error with two outs. DJ Newman followed with a triple to the right center wall, just shy of a home run, to score Fugitt and make it a 3-1 score.
BGSU added to their tally in the eighth. Gurney drew a leadoff walk. Nathan Archer hit a hard hopper to second for a base hit. A throwing error on the play allowed Gurney to take third to put runners at the corners with no outs. Tyler Ross continued the stretch with a high chopper off the turf, perfectly placed for an infield single that scored Gurney, closing the gap to 3-2.
Virginia Tech added 10 runs in the eighth to move their lead to 13-2.
STAT LEADERS, GAME 1
Connar Penrod: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 1 K
Nathan Archer: 2-for-4
DJ Newman: 1-for-4, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Tyler Ross: 1-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Kyle Gurney: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 2
Virginia Tech recorded a two-RBI double followed by an RBI single in the second inning to go up 3-0.
A solo home run in the third added to the Hokies’ to move ahead 4-0.
Virginia Tech added seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 11-0.
Another run for the Hokies crossed in the seventh to push their lead to 12-0.
STAT LEADERS, GAME 2
Kade Arn: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 1 K
Sam Seidel: 3-for-4, 1 BB
DJ Newman: 2-for-4, 1 BB
Tyler Ross: 1-for-3
Leighton Banjoff: 1-for-3
Jack Krause: 1-for-3
FALCON STAT FACTS
Gage Schenk tallied three strikeouts in the first game to bring his career total to 180. That moves him past Burke Badenhop and Kyle Knoblauch on the all-time list, placing him ninth in program history for career strikeouts.
Sam Seidel recorded a season-high three hits in the second game of the day. Seidel has now reached base in 32 of his 38 games played this season.
DJ Newman tallied a two-hit game in game two for the Falcons. Since moving into the leadoff spot in the order, Newman has six multiple-hit games and has reached base multiple times in nine times in 16 games.
Tyler Ross registered a hit in both games for the Falcons. He’s now recorded a hit in four straight games, in seven of the last eight and in 14 of the last 16.
Kade Arn pitched a scoreless relief inning. Arn has now made three consecutive appearances without allowing a run, spanning 3.1 innings of work.
UP NEXT
Bowling Green and Virginia Tech will conclude the weekend series today with a 1 p.m. first pitch. From there, BGSU will head to Youngstown State on Tuesday to conclude the 2023 non-conference slate.
