ATHENS, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team continued their strong start to the MAC schedule, topping Ohio on Saturday (March 8) with an 8-6 victory. The win moves BGSU to 2-0 in MAC play for the second straight year, the first time with back-to-back 2-0 MAC starts since the 2004 and 2005 campaigns. For the second day in a row, the Falcons were lifted by an eighth-inning rally before calling on Connar Penrod to close the door for the save. BGSU is now 8-5 on the year with wins in three straight on top of their 2-0 MAC start. 

Ohio scored the first run of the day, but a Zack Horky double and Sam Seidel single in the fifth knotted the score. BGSU moved in front with two runs in seventh, but Ohio battled back to tie it again, 3-3. In the eighth inning, Bowling Green created separation with a five-run inning, including home runs from both Seidel and Brady Birchmeier. Out of the bullpen, Penrod recorded his second save in as many days, extending his scoreless streak to start the season to 8.1 innings of work. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning. Garrett Wright reached on a fielding error before Brady Birchmeier walked and Caden Parker was hit by a pitch. However, the Bobcats worked a ground ball to exit the inning scoreless.
• The first run of the game was scored by Ohio in the second inning for a 1-0 lead.
• Wright later singled in the third inning for the first Bowling Green hit of the day.
• In the fifth inning, Zack Horky led off with a double off the right center wall. Sam Seidel brought him home with a single up the middle in the next at-bat, tying the game 1-1.
• In the seventh inning, Garrett Sloan led off the inning with a pinch hit single into right center. Horky drew a walk to quickly put two on for the Falcons. Seidel laid down a bunt to advance both runners. 
• A grounder with the infield in resulted in an out at home for Ohio. An intentional walk to Wright loaded the bases with two outs. Birchmeier was able to draw his second walk of the day, pushing home Sloan for a 2-1 BGSU lead, prompting an Ohio pitching change.
• Parker welcomed the new Bobcat arm with an infield single up the middle, scoring Antillon to give BGSU a 3-1 lead at the seventh inning stretch. 
• A two-run home run for Ohio in the bottom of the seventh tied the game at 3-3.
• In the eighth, Sloan was hit by a pitch and stole second. With a runner on, Seidel crushed a home run to deep center to put BGSU back in front 5-3.
• The Falcons kept it going with singles from Gunner Antillon and Wright, setting up a three-run home run off the bat of Brady Birchmeier that cleared the scoreboard in left center, granting Bowling Green an 8-3 lead after a five-run eighth.
• Ohio added three runs to their score in the bottom of the eighth for an 8-6 BGSU advantage and the eventual final.

STAT LEADERS

• Nic Good: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R/ER, 3 K
• Jacob Turner: W (1-1), 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 2 K
• Connar Penrod: SV (3), 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 4 K
• Sam Seidel: 2-for-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R
• Brady Birchmeier: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB
• Garrett Wright: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB
• Gunner Antillon: 1-for-5, 2 R
• Zack Horky: 1-for-3, 1 2B, 2 R, 1 BB
• Caden Parker: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 HBP
• Garrett Sloan: 1-for-1, 1 R, 1 HBP, 1 SB

FALCON STAT FACTS

• The win for the Falcons secured a series win in Athens for BGSU for the first time since the 2021 season. BGSU is now 2-0 to start MAC play in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2004 and 2005 seasons. 
• For the second consecutive game, Connar Penrod picked up the save for the Falcons, now with three on the year. Penrod added another 1.2 innings of work to his scoreless streak to start the season, now at 8.1 innings, logging 16 strikeouts over the stretch. 
• Sam Seidel's home run marked this third of the week after having two home runs on Wednesday (March 5) against Dayton. 
• Brady Birchmeier launched a three-run home run in the eighth inning, extending his hitting streak to 13 games, logging a hit in every game so far this season, as well as his on-base streak to 15 games going back to last season. Birchmeier tallied four RBI in the game as well, increasing his season total to a team-leading 19 on the year. 
• Jacob Turner tossed four innings for the Falcons, picking up his first win of the season. Turner now has a win in each of his three seasons with Bowling Green. 
• Garrett Wright recorded another multi-hit day for the Falcons. He now has three straight games with multiple hits and for the year has logged eight multi-hit games. 
• Gunner Antillon scored twice for the Falcons in the game. He's now crossed home in five consecutive games with a team-leading 11 runs scored on the season. 
• Zack Horky's double in the fifth inning not only marked his first extra-base hit of the season, but his first since a double on May 20, 2022 against Rutgers. 
• With the win, head coach Kyle Hallock now has 99 wins at the helm of the Falcons and is one away from 100 career victories as a collegiate head coach. 

UP NEXT
Bowling Green will wrap up the weekend series against Ohio on Sunday (March 9) at 1 p.m. The Falcons will then begin the home portion of their schedule on Tuesday (March 11) with a 3 p.m. first pitch against Tiffin University at Steller Field. 

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