Murray State
Bowling Green State
Nine-Run Third Inning Too Much For The 'Breds
3/15/2008 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
It was already a dreary day when the Murray State Thoroughbreds hosted Bowling Green State this afternoon, but nine Falcon runs in the third inning did little to brighten things for Murray State, using that inning to best Murray State 14-7 at Reagan Field.
Bowling Green (6-6) scored two runs in the first inning and another in the third to take a quick 3-0 lead, but the 'Breds (5-5) took the lead in the second inning. Taylor Thieke led off with a single, then Matt Hon walked, moving Thieke to second. Daniel Miller set down a sacrifice bunt to the left of the mound, and BGSU starter Kevin Light picked up the ball and threw towards third, but threw it over third baseman Derek Spencer's head, allowing Thieke to score and moving Hon to third and Miller to second. Hon scored on a groundout, moving Miller to third, and Miller scored on a double by Kyle Tiernan, tying the game at 3-3. Tiernan scored the go-ahead run on a fielding error, giving MSU a 4-3 lead after two innings.
The Falcons sent 14 batters to the plate in the top of the third, scoring nine runs on six hits to jump out to a 12-4 lead. Murray State got a couple of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning, when Chris Craycraft led off with a single, then went to second on a single by Hon. The two moved up a base on a groundout, then Craycraft scored on a passed ball, moving Hon to third. Elliot Frey walked, then stole second, and Hon scored on a fielding error to narrow the gap to 12-6.
BGSU scored two runs in the fourth inning to take a 14-6 lead, then both teams were held scoreless until the bottom of the ninth, when Murray State mounted a comeback attempt. Matt Scheer led off and reached on catcher's interference, then Matt Phillips was hit by a pitch, moving Scheer to second. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch, then Scheer scored on a groundout for the final run of the game.
"I can't attribute the pitchers' problems to the conditions," said MSU head coach Rob McDonald, when asked if the wet field contributed to both starting pitchers' problems early on. "I would reject that, and I think that Coach (Danny) Schmitz from Bowling Green would reject that, also. We've got dozens of dry baseballs, the mound was in good shape -- I just think both pitchers started off having a tough time. I'm not going to allow that as an excuse, and I'm sure Coach Schmitz wouldn't allow that for his pitcher. His guy got things going, and ours just didn't.
"We've got to play better all around. Today, we didn't play as well defensively as we have, and we didn't pitch well. That's been an oddity. Our defense has been good, our pitching has been good. Also, we didn't hit enough to win today, either. Basically, in all phases of the game, we came up short today."
Murray State had five hitters with one hit apiece, led by Tiernan and Tyler Owen, who each had a double. Owen's hit snapped a season-opening 0-for-25 slump. Hon scored two runs for the 'Breds. On defense, first baseman Thieke had a team-high nine putouts, while second baseman Cory Hodskins and third baseman Hon had three assists each.
Bowling Green was led by Ryan Shay, who went 4-for-5 with a double, three runs and a run batted in. Logan Meisler had three hits, with two runs and two RBIs. Frank Berry had two hits, with a triple, two runs and an RBI, while Brian Hangbers had two hits. Spencer had five RBIs for the Falcons, with a three-run triple in the third inning, while Mark Galvin had a double and Andrew Foster had three runs. On defense, first baseman Hangbers had 14 putouts, while third baseman Spencer and second baseman Meisler had four assists apiece.
On the mound, starter Jake Donze (1-2) took the loss, allowing 10 runs on seven hits, striking out one and walking five in 2-1/3 innings. Anthony Stacy came on in the third inning, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits, striking out one and walking two in 4-2/3 innings. Drew Leeper pitched the eighth inning, allowing no runs on one hit and walking one, while Seth McFarlin pitched the ninth inning, allowing no runs on one hit, striking out one and walking one.
For BGSU, Nick Cantrell (2-2) got the win in relief, allowing two unearned runs on three hits, striking out six and walking one in six innings. Light started for the Falcons, allowing four runs (three earned) on two hits, striking out two and walking three in two innings. Brennan Smith pitched the ninth inning, allowing one unearned run on no hits, striking out one and walking one.
Murray State will close out a five-game homestand with a double-header on Sunday, beginning at noon. Both games will be seven-inning contests.
