By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

The Bowling Green baseball team broke open a close game with a six-run sixth inning on Thursday to earn a 9-2 victory at home over Toledo St. Francis.

“I keep trying to tell the kids that we have to be patient and stay organized,” Bowling Green coach Fred Riggs said. “We did a good job of being disciplined at the plate, driving pitch counts up, got to the bullpen, and then we were able to scratch some runs across.”

Clinging to a 3-2 lead with one out and nobody on, the Bobcats (10-10) put seven straight batters on base in the sixth inning with three singles, three walks and a hit batter.

Rhett Winger and Joe Kline each drew a bases load walk to start the scoring, which was followed by back-to-back two-run singles from Will Brose and Logan Neifer.

The top four batters in BG’s lineup delivered in a big way against St. Francis, combining to hit 4-for-11 with five runs, four walks and eight RBI. Brose, who had two stolen bases, led the Bobcats with three runs knocked in while Kline and Neifer had two apiece. Winger and Kline joined Caleb Kunstmann with two runs apiece.

“They’re up there for a reason,” Riggs said. “All year, we’ve had a couple guys come in and out of there. Winger has been really good. He sees the ball well. He loves two strikes. He bears down and does what he needs to do. I don’t think he had a hit tonight, but he puts the ball in play. He very rarely strikes out. (Brose) has been smoking the ball, too. I’m loving it.”

St. Francis (8-9) took an early lead with a run in the first, capitalizing on a wild pitch and two defensive errors from BG.

A leadoff walk from Kunstmann in the third inning led to a game-tying RBI single from Kline two batters later. After advancing on a wild pitch and error, Kline came across the plate on an RBI groundout to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead.

“I think they realized tonight what we were talking about in terms of being patient at the plate, not chasing bad pitches, not being super scared when you’re down to two strikes … be comfortable being there, battle and compete,” Riggs said.

A hit by pitch to lead off the fifth developed into the game-tying run for St. Francis.

The Bobcats retook the lead in the fifth when Winger walked and came around on an error.

Winger, who normally plays right field or second base, saw his first action of the season on the mound for BG. He started and went the first three innings, allowing just two walks and an unearned run.

“It was fun,” Winger said. “I just went out there with the goal of throwing strikes and seeing what happens. I was throwing strikes with my fastball, and as long as I kept it in the zone, I knew the defense was going to make the plays.”

Jack Brown entered in relief to pick up the win, allowing just three hits, one run and a walk over the final four innings.

“Pitching has been really strong for us over the past couple games,” Riggs said. “We had a dip, and we’re back now. (Winger) came out and threw really well for us. We stayed on plan, executed and did what we needed to do.”