BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team rallied for a two-out walk-off win on Tuesday (March 18), topping Purdue Fort Wayne, 19-18, at home. With two outs in the ninth, singles from Garrett Wright and Sam Seidel brought across the tying and go-ahead runs for the Falcons, clinching the victory and extending the team's winning streak to a season-best nine. Bowling Green advances to 14-5 on the season with another midweek on-deck tomorrow (March 19) against Dayton with a 3 p.m. first pitch.

Each team scored in the first with TJ Takats belting a home run in BGSU's first at-bat of the day, but a five-run second put the Mastodons in front 6-1. A three-run third pulled BGSU within a pair, but Purdue Fort Wayne responded with four in the fifth to extend their lead to 11-4. The Falcons again fought back, adding one in the fifth before a five-run sixth inning that saw four Mastodon pitchers, cutting the lead down to 11-10. Purdue Fort Wayne answered again with four in the seventh, but the back-and-forth continued with two from Bowling Green in the bottom half. A similar sequence unfolded in the eighth with the Mastodons scoring three before five from the Falcons to again cut the difference to one, 18-17, going into the ninth.

Connar Penrod took the bump in the ninth for the Falcons, striking out two as part of a one-two-three frame to send BGSU to the plate. The Mastodons worked for back-to-back strikeouts, but then the rally started. Takats walked before scoring on a bloop single to right from Wright, tying the game with a bang-bang slide at home. After an intentional walk to DJ Newman, Seidel delivered the walk-off hit, slipping a single down the third base line to score Wright from second for the 19-18 BGSU win.
 

WALK. IT. OFF!#AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/IqJQsfwN9e

— BGSU Baseball (@BGSU_Baseball) March 18, 2025

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Purdue Fort Wayne scored with a solo home run in the top of the first for the first run of the game.
• Bowling Green quickly answered in the bottom half. TJ Takats hit a leadoff home run for the Orange and Brown, tying the game 1-1 after one. 
• The Mastodons answered with five runs in the top of the second, including a grand slam, for a 6-1 advantage.
• A solo home run in the top of the fourth for Purdue Fort Wayne pushed the lead to 7-1.
• The Falcons got back on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Garrett Sloan started the inning with a line drive down the third base line, setting up a two-run home run to left by Caden Parker.
• Zack Horky followed with a walk and stole second. A grounder pushed Horky to third before a sacrifice fly by Garrett Wright brought him home, cutting the lead down to 7-4.
• Purdue Fort Wayne responded in the top of the fifth with four runs to push the score to 11-4.
• The Falcons added a tally in the fifth. Sloan reached on a fielder's choice with a hit-by-pitch to Parker putting two on. Horky delivered a single, scoring Sloan for an 11-5 tally. 
• Takats began the BGSU half of the sixth by being hit by a pitch before stealing second. Wright joined him, drawing a walk to prompt a pitching change for the Mastodons.
• Another walk, this time to DJ Newman loaded the bases. An infield single up the middle from Sam Seidel scored Takats for the first run of the inning and another PFW change on the mound.
• After the change, a walk to Gavin Ganun loaded the bases again. A sacrifice fly from Sloan plated Newman before a wild pitch added Seidel to the run total for BGSU.
• A walk to Parker and a hit by pitch to Horky again loaded the bases with Caden Bates entering on the bases for Horky along with another Mastodon pitching change. Gunner Antillon hit a sacrifice fly to welcome the new arm, making it an 11-10 score through six innings.
• The Mastodons answered with four in the top of the seventh, extending the score to 15-10. 
• In the bottom half, Newman singled through the right side for the Falcons before Ganun took a breaking ball deep to left center for a two-run home run, cutting the deficit down to 15-12.
• The back-and-forth continued with Purdue Fort Wayne posting three runs in the top of the eighth for an 18-12 PFW lead.
• The bottom of the eighth began with back-to-back walks to Parker and Bates. Antillon hit into a fielder's choice, but a throwing error on the play was enough to score Parker.
• Antillon took second on a wild pitch with Wright bringing both home with a two-run home run to left, cutting the lead down to 18-15.
• The two-out rally continued with Newman doubling to center with a walk to Seidel following. Ganun singled to score Newman before Sloan did the same to score Seidel, bringing the score to 18-17.
• With two outs in the ninth, Takats drew a walk to start a BGSU rally. Wright blooped a check-swing single into right field with Takats coming all the way around from first to score, tying the game.
• After an intentional walk to Newman, Seidel slapped a single down the third base line, past a diving third baseman, with Wright scoring for the walk-off win.

STAT LEADERS

• Connar Penrod: W (2-0), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 2 K
• Nate Kress: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 2 K
• Garrett Wright: 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB
• Gavin Ganun: 3-for-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB
• DJ Newman: 3-for-5, 2 2B, 3 R, 2 BB
• Caden Parker: 1-for-2, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP
• TJ Takats: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 SB, 2 HBP
• Garrett Sloan: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Sam Seidel: 2-for-6, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB

FALCON STAT FACTS

• With the win, the Falcons have now won nine-straight games, the longest winning streak for the program since winning 11-straight in 2010. It also marks the eighth straight win over Purdue Fort Wayne all-time. 
• Garrett Wright extended his hitting streak to a team-best eight games, roping a double to left center in the third inning. Wright finished with three hits, three runs and four RBI. He's scored in eight straight games as well, scoring 16 times over the eight games while adding 16 hits and 13 RBI over the stretch. 
• TJ Takats hit a leadoff home run to start the offensive frame for the Falcons, his first home run of the season and the first leadoff home run for BGSU since Nathan Archer had one against Oakland on May 1, 2024.
• DJ Newman ripped a single in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to seven games and his on-base streak to 14 games for the Falcons. He's also scored in four consecutive games with nine runs over the span. Newman also doubled twice, his first multi-double game of his BGSU career. 
• Connar Penrod came on in the ninth for the Falcons, working a one-two-three inning, including two strikeouts to earn the win. Penrod has made eight appearances for BGSU this year, logging five saves and two wins, leaving just one appearance without a decision. He's also now up to 11 scoreless innings to start the year and 21 strikeouts, second on the team. 
• Nate Kress tossed two scoreless innings for the Falcons, giving him three straight appearances and a total of 6.1 consecutive innings without allowing a run. 
• Sam Seidel walked it off for the Falcons with his second hit and second RBI of the game. This is the second time this season that Seidel has logged multiple hits, multiple RBI and multiple runs scored all in the same game. 
• Gavin Ganun put together his fourth three-hit game of the season while hitting his third home run. All three of his home runs this year have come during three-hit days for him at the plate. 
• Caden Parker launched his first home run of the season and the second of his BGSU career. Parked scored multiple times for the third time this season and had multiple RBI for the fifth time this year. 
• Garrett Sloan posted another multi-hit day, his third of the season with all three coming in the last four games. He also scored twice for the second time this year and tallied multiple RBI for the first time as a Falcon.
• Caden Bates entered the game in the sixth as a sub, making his BGSU debut. In his first plate appearance he drew a walk.
• The 19 runs for the Falcons are the most they've scored in a game so far this season and the most since scoring 19 in a win over Oakland last year on May 1, 2024. That means that the last two times BGSU has hit a home run in their first at-bat of the game, they've gone on to score 19 runs. 
• As a team, the Falcons hit a season-high four home runs in the game with all four coming from different players. 

UP NEXT
The Falcons will continue their homestand on Wednesday (March 19) with a 3 p.m. start against Dayton. Bowling Green will remain at home for the weekend series as well, hosting Kent State for a three-game series at Steller Field

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