BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University baseball team claimed their fifth walk-off win of the season on Friday (May 16) to top Northern Illinois in a 5-4 final. With the bases loaded, one out and a new NIU pitcher on the mound, Gavin Ganun found a gap in the outfield, scoring Alex Laird for the winning run to give BGSU the victory. The win moves the Falcons to 32-20 on the season while being 18-11 within the MAC, clinching the No. 4 seed in the MAC Tournament. BGSU will conclude the regular season on Saturday (May 17) against Northern Illinois before starting the MAC Tournament on Wednesday (May 21) against Toledo with a 6 p.m. start in Avon.

On the mound, Carrson Sova struck out a career-high nine batters for the Falcons over four innings before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Connar Penrod entered in the eighth and worked 1.2 scoreless innings, picking up his team-leading fifth win of the season. Additionally, BGSU's 12 strikeouts as a team brought their season total to 407, breaking the program record for strikeouts in a season for the second straight year after having 403 in 2024. As for at the plate, Caden Parker led the way with a three-hit day, including his second home run of the season. Parker added two RBI and two runs scored while swiping a base as well. Garrett Sloan and Gunner Antillon both added a pair of hits to the offensive effort as well. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Northern Illinois tallied the first run of the game with one in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead.
• The Falcons knotted it up with a solo home run to left off the bat of Caden Parker on the first pitch of the bottom of the third, bringing the score to 1-1.
• The Huskies had a run cross in the fifth inning to take a 2-1 advantage.
• BGSU answered in the bottom half. Parker started with a single to right followed by a single from Garrett Sloan through the left side. A walk to Gunner Antillon loaded the bases before another walk, this time to Garrett Wright, pushed home Parker.
• In the next at-bat, Zack Horky lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that was enough for Sloan to slide safely into home, putting the Falcons in front 3-2.
• The Falcons added on in the sixth. Brady Birchmeier lined a single right up the middle to start the inning. He took second on a sacrifice bunt by Sam Seidel and then moved to third on a grounder by Cooper McKenzie. With two outs, Parker delivered his third hit of the day, dropping a single into shallow center to score Birchmeier for a 4-2 lead.
• Northern Illinois tallied an unearned run in the seventh to cut the lead down to 4-3 before tying it up in the eighth, 4-4.
• In the bottom of the ninth, Garrett Slaon knocked a single to right to start the inning with Alex Laird entering for him as a pinch runner. A sacrifice bunt from Antillon moved Laird up to second. An intentional walk to Wright and a bit-by-pitch to Horky loaded the bases.
• Northern Illinois opted for a pitching change, but on the second pitch from the new arm, Gavin Ganun sent a liner into the right center gap, scoring Laird for the 5-4 walk-off victory for BGSU. 

STAT LEADERS

• Carrson Sova: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 9 K
• Connar Penrod: W (5-2), 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 1 K
• Caden Parker: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 SB
• Garrett Wright: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 HBP
• Garrett Sloan: 2-for-4, 1 R
• Gunner Antillon: 2-for-3, 1 BB
• Gavin Ganun: 1-for-5, 1 RBI
• Brady Birchmeier: 1-for-4, 1 R

FALCON STAT FACTS

• The walk-off win for Bowling Green marks the fifth of the season for the Falcons at home and the first since April 26. Four of the five walk-offs have come in MAC contests. Additionally, BGSU is now 19-12 this season when their opponent scores first. 
• Gavin Ganun registered the walk-off hit, becoming the fourth different Falcon to log the go-ahead knock across BGSU's five walk-offs this season. 
• Getting the start, Carrson Sova tallied a career-high nine strikeouts, tying for the most by a Falcon this season. Sova's ninth strikeout marked the 404th for BGSU this season, setting the program record for team strikeouts in a season for the second consecutive year. 
• On the mound, Connar Penrod registered the win for Bowling Green, giving him a team-leading five on the season. For his BGSU career, Penrod now has 13 victories, the most of anyone on the current roster. 
• Penrod's 1.2 innings of work also brings his season total to 25 qualifying him for the program's Top 15 single-season ERA list. Currently, Penrod's 1.78 ERA would match Jim Fisher's 1972 campaign for sixth with both giving up just five runs over 25.1 innings of work. 
• Garrett Wright slapped a double to right center in the first inning, his 17th double of the season to tie him for sixth in program history for single-season doubles, matching the mark of five Falcons before him.
• Wright's double also gave him a hit in 15 of the last 16 games for the Falcons while reaching in 39 of the last 40 contests. 
• Caden Parker logged three hits in his first three trips to the plate, tying his season-high for hits in a game to match his three hits against Youngstown State on March 25. One of the three hits, his first, marked his second home run of the season as well. 
• In the third inning, Gunner Antillon legged out an infield single, giving him a hit in 13 of his last 14 games. Antillon finished with a pair of hits, his second straight multi-hit game and his 18th time this year with multiple hits. 
• Zack Horky was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning to extend his on-base streak to 22 games, but his 14-game hitting streak did conclude in the contest. 
• Garrett Sloan tallied another two-hit game for BGSU, giving him back-to-back. For the season, Sloan has seven multi-hit games. Of the seven, six have come in back-to-back instances, doing so on March 14 and March 15, March 18 and March 19 and now May 15 and May 16. 
• Both Brady Birchmeier and Sam Seidel returned to the lineup for the Falcons with Birchmeier logging a hit and a run scored in the contest. 

UP NEXT
The Falcons and Huskies will conclude the series on Saturday (May 17), set for a 1 p.m. start. Saturday will also be Senior Day for the Falcons with a pregame recognition. From there, BGSU will transition to the MAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, set for the 6 p.m. game on Wednesday, May 21 against No. 5 seeded Toledo. 

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