ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team broke the program record for walks in a game with 15 on Tuesday on their way to a 16-4 win over the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.
The record had stood for 54 years, dating back to the 1969 season when BGSU tallied 14 walks against Hiram. For the Falcons, the team drew five walks in the fifth inning, jolting a seven-run frame.
BGSU drew another five in the ninth and tallied six runs to secure the win. For BGSU, 14 different Falcons stepped to the plate in the game with all 14 reaching base at least once and 12 different Falcons scoring at least once.
Bowling Green has now scored 40 runs over their last three games and will take a three-game winning streak and a 14-19 overall record into the weekend series against Western Michigan, who is currently fifth in the conference standings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Falcons tallied the game’s first run, plating one in the top of the first. Tyler Ross ripped a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch before coming around on a Nathan Rose double down the third base line, making it a 1-0 BGSU lead.
Oakland responded in the bottom half of the inning with a run to knot it up at 1-1 after one.
Bowling Green reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-run home run off the bat of Justin Fugitt, a line drive with Leighton Banjoff standing on second after drawing a walk and stealing a base, giving BGSU a 3-1 advantage.
The Golden Grizzlies added a solo home run to start the bottom of the fourth, cutting the score to 3-2.
The scoring continued for the Falcons in the top of the fifth with a rally. DJ Newman, Sam Seidel and Rose all drew walks to load the bases for BGSU. After a pitching change, Nathan Archer stepped into the box and came through with a double to right, scoring both Newman and Seidel.
In the next at-bat, Banjoff put a ball in play, scoring Rose from third to increase the BGSU lead to 6-2.
The rally continued through the inning for the Falcons. Fugitt and Cooper McKenzie both walked to join Archer on the bases and load them up again for BGSU. Mason Montgomery knocked a double into the left center gap, clearing the bases and pushing the advantage to 9-2.
Montgomery moved up to third on a wild pitch before Newman made contact on a full count pitch, taking it to left field for an RBI single to give BGSU a 10-2 lead after a seven-run fifth inning.
Oakland’s answer came in the bottom of the fifth with a bases loaded sacrifice fly to cut the score to 10-3.
In the ninth, the Falcons added to their lead. Montgomery, Adam Fallon and Anthony Toma all drew walks to load the bases, setting up a two-RBI double by Seidel to push the lead to 12-3.
With runners at second and third, Rose singled to left, scoring both Toma and Seidel to increase the BGSU advantage to 14-3.
Jack Krause and Parker Hydrick drew walks to load the bases once again for the Falcons with Gavin Ganun hitting a single to score Rose and Krause and give BGSU a 16-3 lead.
Oakland added a run in the bottom of the ninth to make the score a 16-4 final.
STAT LEADERS
Nic Good: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 1 K
Perry Miller: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER
Landon Willeman: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 1 K
Logan Bell: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 1 K
DJ Newman: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 1 K
DJ Newman: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
Nathan Rose: 2-for-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
Mason Montgomery: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
Sam Seidel: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 , 2 BB
Justin Fugitt: 1-for-2, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
Nathan Archer: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
Tyler Ross: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 SB
Gavin Ganun: 1-for-2, 3 RBI
Leighton Banjoff: 0-for-1, 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Anthony Toma: 0-for-0, 2 BB, 1 R
FALCON STAT FACTS
The Falcons drew a program-record 15 walks in the game, breaking a record that had stood since 1969 when BGSU had 14 against Hiram. For Bowling Green, 12 different players drew a walk with Anthony Toma, Sam Seidel and Leighton Banjoff drawing two.
Every player that started for the Falcons in the batting order not only reached base but scored at least once by the end of the fifth inning. In total, all 14 Falcons that stepped into the batter’s box reached base and 12 scored.
Justin Fugitt’s fourth inning home run marked his third of the season and extended his hitting streak to four games. Over the four games, Fugitt is hitting .417 (5-for-12) with seven RBI, five runs scored, a double, a triple and a home run.
Drawing a walk in the top of the fifth, Sam Seidel continued his on-base streak, now at 12 games. Seidel has reached base in 27 of his 30 games played and in 24 of his 25 started.
Logging the first hit of the game with a single up the middle, Tyler Ross pushed his hitting streak to six games. During his hitting streak, Ross is batting .350 (7-for-20) with three RBI, three runs scored and two doubles.
With his two-RBI double in the top of the fifth, Nathan Archer stretched his on-base streak to six games. Over the six games, Archer has six RBI, four runs scored, two doubles and a home run.
DJ Newman continued his strong output from the leadoff spot in the batting order. Newman has drawn at least one walk from the leadoff spot in all four games he’s been slotted there and has two multiple-hit outings over the time as well.
Nathan Rose has now recorded at least one RBI in four straight games for the Falcons with a total of eight over the span. Rose also added his team-leading 12th double of the season to his stat line. Over the last four games, Rose has 10 RBI, six runs scored and four doubles.
Now on a three-game winning streak, the Orange and Brown have recorded 40 runs over the three game stretch.
The win marks the first win in Rochester for the Falcons since a 15-3 win over the Golden Grizzlies on May 15, 2007.
BGSU advances to 3-0 when playing on a Tuesday this season.
UP NEXT
The Falcons will resume conference play this upcoming weekend, heading to Kalamazoo, Michigan, for a three-game weekend series against the Western Michigan Broncos. BGSU and WMU are set for a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday before 1 p.m. starts on both Saturday and Sunday.
