MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Bowling Green State University baseball team picked up the series win on Saturday (Feb. 15) with a come-from-behind victory over Middle Tennessee. After falling behind 8-1 through six innings, the Orange and Brown worked inning-by-inning to claw their way back in, forcing extras before taking the 12-9 final in 11 innings. With the win, the Falcons exit the weekend with a 2-1 record, their best opening weekend record in three years. 

Gavin Ganun belted the first two BGSU home runs of the 2025 season, hitting a solo shot in the third and a three-run shot in the eighth. In the ninth, Brady Birchmeier replicated his first career home run from last year, crushing a three-run ninth inning home run to put the Falcons in front, marking his third career home run. MTSU forced the game into extras in the bottom of the ninth, but the third three-run inning of the game for BGSU, this time in the 11th, pushed Bowling Green in front for the win. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first run of the game crossed in the bottom of the first with Middle Tennessee scoring one with three singles in the inning.
• MTSU added a home run to start the bottom of the second while adding another in the third for a 3-0 lead through three innings.
• The Falcons got on the board with a solo home run off the bat of Gavin Ganun to begin the fifth inning, cutting into the score 3-1. 
• In the sixth inning, the Blue Raiders put up a five spot, carrying their lead to 8-1, but the Falcon scoring was just getting started. 
• Middle Tennessee made a pitching change ahead of the seventh inning and the Falcons went to work cutting down the lead. Gunner Antillon led off the inning with a double followed by a single from Garrett Sloan, who advanced to second on a wild pitch to give BGSU runners on second and third with no outs. 
• Caden Parked legged out an infield single to score Antillon before Garrett Wright singled through the left side, scoring Sloan for an 8-3 score.
• TJ Takats began the second inning with a single before Brady Birchmeier reached on an error, setting up a three-run two-out blast by Ganun, his second of the game, for an 8-6 score.
• A second scoreless inning of work from Ty Roder brought BGSU to the plate in the ninth trailing by two. DJ Newman was hit by a pitch and Takats singled to put two on. Birchmeier delivered a blast to right field, scoring three and putting the Orange and Brown in front 9-8.
• A solo home run in the bottom of the ninth by Middle Tennessee forced extra innings.
• After a scoreless 10th inning, the Falcons went back to work in the 11th. Wright started the inning by reaching on an error followed by an RBI double off the bat of Newman.
• After a pitching change, Newman took third on a wild pitch and Takats walked to put runners at the corners. A single through the right side by Birchmeier scored Newman and moved Takats to third.
• Another wild pitch moved Birchmeier to second and prompted another pitching change. Antillon welcomed the new arm with a single through the right side, scoring Takats for the 12-9 score.
• Pitching his second inning of relief after a scoreless 10th, Connar Penrod worked through the 11th as well, picking up the win in the contest. 

STAT LEADERS

• Connar Penrod: W (1-0), 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R/ER, 4 K
• Logan Bell: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 1 K
• Ty Roder: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R/ER, 3 K
• Gavin Ganun: 3-for-6, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, 1 SB
• Brady Birchmeier: 2-for-6, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Gunner Antillon: 2-for-6, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R
• TJ Takats: 3-for-4, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP
• DJ Newman: 1-for-5, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 HBP
• Garrett Wright: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP

FALCON STAT FACTS

• Not only did Gavin Ganun hit the first home run of the season for the Falcons, he hit the first two. Ganun obviously became the first Falcon with a multiple home run game this season and is the first to do it since Tyler Ross blasted two against Toledo last season on May 16. 
• Picking up the win in the game, Connar Penrod registered his ninth win on the mound as a Falcon. Penrod is now tied for Nic Good for the active lead on the roster for a career. He also struck out four in the game, pushing him past the 100 mark for his collegiate career, now with a team-leading 102. 
• After having two home runs last year, Brady Birchmeier blasted his first of the season. One of Birchmeier's two home runs last year came in the exact same fashion as this year's, a ninth inning three-run home run against MTSU at Reese Smith Jr. Field. 
• Gunner Antillon has made quite the impact in his first three games as a Falcon. He's registered at least one hit in each contest, logging a team-best .462 average for the series. In this one, he ripped his first double of the season, logged his first RBI and scored for the second time. 
• TJ Takats logged his third career three-hit game, tying his career-high. He also scored three times in the contest, doing so for the third time in his career while matching that career-high as well. 
• Garrett Wright was hit by a pitch in the game, already his second of the season and number 23 for his BGSU career. Wright is now tied for ninth in program history for career HBPs with Jack Krause (2020-24) and Kurt Wells (2004-07). Going back to last season, Wright has now reached base in a team-best 11 straight games.
• Nate Kress and Ty Roder both made their BGSU debuts in relief appearances for the Falcons. Roder tossed two scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, being a large part of the Bowling Green comeback.  
• With the win, the Falcons are 2-1 on the season and tallied an opening series win for the first time since the 2022 campaign.

UP NEXT
The originally scheduled Tuesday game (Feb. 18) against the University of Cincinnati has been canceled due to weather. The Falcons next contest will now be part of a three-game series in South Carolina, playing USC Upstate on Friday and Sunday with a game against Presbyterian set for Saturday. 

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