The Bowling Green baseball team suffered a 13-4 setback to Clay on Monday at Bobcat Field.
The game was called with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Eagles leading, 16-4, because of heavy rain which intensified toward the end.
Under the provisions of baseball rules for non-suspended games, the contest reverts back to the last completed inning, thus the final score will go down as 13-4. All records from the seventh inning will not count.
Clay got out to a fast start against BG senior starter Will Brose. The Eagles put their first five batters on base via four hits and a walk — and all scored. An RBI single by senior shortstop Vinny Gallaher, a two-run double by senior second baseman Brock Fussell, an RBI groundout by senior center fielder Drake Sekinger, and a one-out sacrifice fly by senior designated hitter Grady Spears put CHS up 5-0 after a half inning of play.
BG got two runs (one earned) back in the third on sophomore right fielder Kasey Dean’s RBI groundout and a wild pitch on a strikeout that scored senior center fielder Brent Boston from third.
Clay pushed its advantage to 6-2 in the third on a run-producing single by Spears to left.
BG countered with a run of its own in the third when senior left fielder Caleb Kunstmann’s shallow, wind-aided fly ball down the left field line dropped in for a single with two outs. Senior third baseman Al Sutton almost made the difficult catch, but the ball tailed back into play, deflecting off his glove.
The Eagles broke the game wide open in the fourth, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring six times (five earned), all after the lead-off hitter had been retired. Fussell’s two-run triple sparked the uprising, and he ended up circling the bases when an errant throw allowed him to cross the plate.
Senior pitcher C.J. Boudreaux, and junior right fielder Ian DeWitt (double) had also had RBI hits in the frame. Clay’s sixth tally came across as the result of another Bobcat throwing error.
The Eagles tacked on their 13th run of the contest in the top of the fifth. The unearned tally resulted from a walk and two throwing errors, the last on a failed pickoff attempt at second base.
Needing a run to keep the game from being called due to the 10-run rule, BG responded with a single marker in the fifth when Kunstmann’s fielder’s choice groundout to short scored pinch runner junior Evan Meyer from third. Brose, now playing first base, led off with a walk and took second on junior catcher Carter Earl’s single to right with one out.
The team’s played a scoreless sixth in a soaking rain. The umpires allowed play to begin in the seventh and Clay scored three times. Control issues became evident due to the wet conditions, as BG walked two and hit three consecutive batters after the leadoff man was retired. A ground out forced in the third run.
In the last of the seventh, Clay junior reliever Jake Titgemeyer also hit a batter after walking two in the sixth. With two outs and Boston at the plate with an 0-1 count, a wild pitch and a high throw into center field trying to catch the runner advancing in pouring conditions caused the umpires to call the game.
Boudreaux earned the win, working five innings. He struck out five, allowed four hits and walked four. Brose (3-3) took the loss. Senior reliever Andrew Claypool worked the hill for BG in the fifth and junior Joey Kline closed the contest.
Fussell had three extra-base hits (2-2B, 3B, 4 RBI) to pace CHS, while teammate Gallaher had three singles (RBI).
Kunstmann had two singles (2 RBI) and also picked up his third outfield assist of the season when he gunned out a runner at third trying to advance on a single down the left field line in the fourth. Brose reached base three times in four plate appearances with a single and two walks.
