Friday’s Baseball Results
Toledo 5, Northern Illinois 4
Kent State 18, Bowling Green 9
Central Michigan 11, Eastern Michigan 1
Ball State 4, Ohio 2
Miami 6, Western Michigan 4
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Toledo 5, Northern Illinois 4
Boxscore
Toledo, Ohio— The Toledo baseball team showed a flair for the dramatic on Friday, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Northern Illinois by a score of 5-4.
The Rockets scored twice in the bottom of the first to take an early lead, and junior starting pitcher Doug Smith was dealing through the first four innings. NIU scored runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to take the lead, then sophomore Chris Meyers tied the game at 4-4 with his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot. With two runners on base, sophomore Drew Compton lined a single into the gap that scored sophomore Zach Schwartzenberger and put the Rockets out in front, 5-4. Junior Austin Calopietro finished the job by pitching a scoreless ninth, notching his first save of the year.
Smith threw six innings on Friday, allowing two runs and striking out six while sophomore Bryce Davis earned his first win of the season after putting in two innings on the mound. Meyers led the way at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and the game-tying home run. Compton drove in the winning run and fellow sophomore Trace Hatfield also brought home a run for the Rockets. Sophomore Zach Schwartzenberger went 2-for-3.
Toledo and Northern Illinois will meet again on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. at Scott Park.
Kent State 18, Bowling Green 9
Boxscore
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio –The Kent State University baseball team (26-20, 13-7 MAC) won a back-and-forth battle against Bowling Green (14-31, 6-16 MAC) 18-9 in the first game of the three-game set at Steller Field Friday afternoon. Sophomore Michael Turner launched his second grand slam of the season in the top of the seventh to provide Kent State's third and final lead of the day.
The Kent State offense notched 20 hits with three home runs on the day, the 22nd time the Flashes have recorded 10 or more hits, the second time with 20 hits, and the sixth game Kent State has launched three home runs in single game in 2019. Every Kent State starter recorded a hit for the second time this season, forcing five Bowling Green pitchers to the mound in the first of the three-game set.
Turner led the team going 4-for-5 at the plate with six RBIs, while redshirt sophomore Ben Carew also added three hits and four runs scored. Carew extended his hitting streak to 12 games, reaching safely in each of the last 27 games. Freshman Justin Kirby collected three hits, three runs scored and two RBIs, including a solo home run in the top of the eighth, falling just a triple shy of the cycle.
Senior Kian O'Brien recorded three hits with three RBI hits and redshirt sophomore Alex Ronnebaum tallied two RBIs. Senior Pavin Parks launched his 10th home run of the year.
After BG tied it, the Flashes regained a 5-3 advantage in the top of the fifth, pushing across two runs on a single to center field off the bat of O'Brien, however the Falcons quickly responded with five runs on five hits and an error in the bottom of the sixth to take an 8-5 lead.
The tide turned in favor of the Flashes in dramatic fashion the top of the seventh inning as Kirby led off the frame with a double down the left field line and Carew followed with a single to center field to force a Bowling Green pitching change. Junior Cam Touchette drew a walk to load the bases before Turner launched his second grand slam of the season to regain a 9-8 advantage.
O'Brien followed the Turner long ball with a walk and advanced to third on a stolen base and a productive fly ball before scoring on a single through the left side by freshman Collin Mathews to make it 10-8, Flashes.
The extended the lead to 12-8 as Kirby slashed a solo home run to left field and O'Brien added an RBI-single to center field.
Kent State continued its offensive flurry with six runs on four hits in the top of the ninth inning. Mathews started the inning with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch as senior Josh Hollander drew a walk. Senior Pete Schuler entered the game and loaded the bases with a free pass before Kirby recorded a sacrifice fly to score Mathews. Carew re-loaded the bases with a walk for Touchette to drive in two runs with a single through the right side and force a pitching change. Turner collected two RBIs with a single hammered to left-center field and Parks rounded out the day with a sacrifice fly to deep right field to bring the final score to 18-8.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Drabick earned his first win on the mound for the Flashes, tossing 2.2 innings in relief, scattering two runs on four hits. Senior Connor Wollersheim made his 13th start of the season, pitching 5.1 innings and striking out three.
Up next, the Flashes will take on the Falcons in the second game of the three-game set at Steller Field on Saturday, May 11, at 1:05 p.m.
Central Michigan 11, Eastern Michigan 1
Boxscore
Story coming soon...
Ball State 4, Ohio 2
Boxscore
MUNCIE - Noah Powell didn't think he would play on Friday. He did, though, seeing a single pitch when he pinch hit in the 7th inning.
That's all it took for the junior shortstop to collect the game-winning hit, a 3-run double that led Ball State to a 4-2 win over Ohio. Powell, BSU's starting shortstop and an All-MAC player last year, hadn't played due to injury for 2 weeks but he stayed ready when he was called upon in a key spot.
"I heard my name called and I was excited to be in the game," Powell said. "I wanted to get it done for the guys. First pitch strike, he hung a slider and I did what I had to do for the team."
Head coach Rich Maloney and the Ball State coaching staff stress for everyone to stay ready. Every day there's a new hero.
"I had no idea (that he would play)," Powell said. "Every day they say be ready because you don't know who's going to be the guy. Luckily today, I was the guy and it was good for the team."
Ball State trailed 2-0 for much of the afternoon and only had 1 hit through 6 innings before the game-changing bottom of the 7th. After Ross Messina singled and scored, John Ricotta singled and Chase Sebby doubled with 1 out. The Cards couldn't find a sac fly - which is strange because BSU is 2nd in the nation with 33 sac flies - and with 2 outs Griffin Hulecki drew a 2-out walk to load the bases. Ball State sent another pinch hitter, Tim Blankenberger, to the plate, prompting a pitching change by Ohio. OU coach Rob Smith wanted a lefty-lefty matchup in a tight spot and leading 2-1.
Blankenberger was checked in, got into the batter's box, and was subbed out to get the probability back in Ball State's favor. Powell came into the game and ripped the 1st pitch he saw down the left-field line, clearing the bases and putting BSU ahead 4-2.
"Noah hasn't played in a few weeks and he laced a rocket into the corner," Maloney said. "Their pitcher was outstanding, kept us off-balance. We had to really fight to win this game but we stayed the course and that's what good teams do."
The rest of the day belonged to Nick Floyd, who improved to 6-0 on the season with a masterful 4 innings of work. He didn't allow a run and struck out a career-high 8 batters to put finish the win.
"Nick Floyd was outstanding. Simply marvelous," Maloney said. "That's a senior stepping up when he needed to step up. But what I liked most about today was it was a total team win."
Ohio (16-28, 10-11 MAC) was the tough luck loser, getting a strong start from Eddie Kutt. He took a 1-hitter into the 7th and had 7 strikeouts before the Cardinals rallied. Ohio had 8 hits to Ball State's 6, led by Rudy Rott's 2-for-3 day with a walk.
Messina was the only Card with multiple hits. Drey Jameson started and struck out 8 over 5.0 innings. Maloney was impressed with the way he battled and gave his team a chance to win.
"Drey competed well even though he didn't have his best stuff," Maloney said.
Jameson ran his strikeout total to 128, just 11 shy of the single-season school record set in 2002 by Brian Bullington. Jameson entered the game 3rd in the nation in both strikeouts and Ks per 9 innings.
Maloney also praised the play of reserve Langston Ginder, who scored a run as a pinch runner in the 7th and promptly assisted on a forceout in the 8th inning while playing 3rd base.
The MAC's ERA leader, John Baker, will go Saturday for the Cardinals. The game has been moved up to noon as there is rain in the forecast.
Miami 6, Western Michigan 4
Boxscore
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University baseball team got its final home series of the season off to a good start with a 6-4 victory over Western Michigan Friday. With their fourth victory in their past five games, the RedHawks improve to 35-13 overall and 14-7 in the Mid-American Conference. The Broncos fall to 16-28 overall and 9-11 in the MAC.
Miami had its offense rolling early as it scored three runs in the first two innings. In the bottom of the first, redshirt junior third baseman Jordan Stephens singled to center field to bring home junior shortstop Will Vogelgesang and put the RedHawks on the board. In the bottom of the second, an infield single by junior second baseman Landon Stephens scored redshirt freshman first baseman Reid Norberg. Jordan Stephens followed with an infield single of his own to score sophomore center fielder Parker Massman and make it 3-0.
It stayed that way for the next couple of innings as freshman pitcher Sam Bachman kept WMU without a hit over its first four innings. In the top of the fifth the Broncos were able to get a couple on via a hit batter and a walk, and then used a sac bunt and a couple of infield hits to eventually tie the score at three.
Senior pitcher Shane Smith came into the game in relief in the top of the sixth. The Broncos used a pair of hits to score one in the frame and take their first lead at 4-3. It would be their last run as Smith would shut them down the rest of the way.
After falling behind, Miami fought right back to score three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Vogelgesang led off and singled through the left side of the infield. On the next at bat, he stole both second and third base. That allowed junior catcher Cal Elvers to bring Vogelgesang home on an RBI groundout and tie the score at four.
Landon Stephens followed with a true hustle play, tripling to left center and sliding in under a tag attempt at third base. That allowed Jordan Stephens to score him on an RBI groundout and give the RedHawks a 5-4 lead. Freshman designated hitter Cole Andrews then singled to left center. Senior right fielder Mackay Williams doubled to left center allowing Andrews to come home all the way from first and complete the scoring on the night.
Jordan Stephens was 2-for-5 on the night with three RBIs. Landon Stephens was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Vogelgesang and Norberg also had two hits each for Miami.
Smith earned the victory for the RedHawks, throwing the last 4.0 innings. He allowed one run on five hits, while striking out four.
Miami continues its series with Western Michigan on Saturday. Due to the threat of rain, the start time has been moved up to 2 p.m.
