Falcons swept in doubleheader

After picking up a win to start its spring break invitational, the Falcons ran into strong pitching from Northeastern as the Huskies took two games from BG.

On day after a 25-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox in an exhibition game, the Huskies received two fantastic outings from their starting pitchers. In a game one, 4-3 win, Northeastern starter Andrew Leenhouts went the distance, throwing seven innings, allowing three runs out eight hits, striking out four.

In game two, a 5-2 Huskies win, Dylan Maki one-upped his counterpart, also going the distance, allowing two runs — one earned — on five hits in seven innings.

T.J. Losby hit his first home run of the year in game one, while Logan Walker and Brian Bien each drove in a run for BG in game one.

The Falcons only mustered five hits in the second game, but three came off the bat of Jake Thomas, who returned to the leadoff spot after sitting game one. While Thomas has only appeared in five of BG's nine games, his his hitting 9-for-17 (.529) with three RBI.

Ethan McKenney started game one for BG and went the distance, throwing six innings and allowing four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.

Pat Martin started game two, but did not fare as well as McKenney. He lasted only three innings, allowing four runs — three earned — on three hits and three walks.

Now at 2-7, BG returns to action Monday afternoon as it takes on Georgetown.

Game Two: BG @ Northern Michigan

The Falcons are battle-tested coming into this series and they showed how tough they are last night against Northern Michigan.

The first period started exactly like the first game, with BG coming out ready to play. Just 32 seconds into the game, Dan DeSalvo carried the puck into the Wildcats' zone and fired a shot past Northen goaltender Reid Ellingson for the 1-0 lead early.

The Wildcats responded at the 4:07 mark of the period when Steven Vigier tipped in a shot from the top of the zone and beat BG goalie Andrew Hammond to tie the game up. They scored again with just over a minute remaining in the first period. Justin Florek managed to score after a scramble in front of Hammond and the score was 2-1 Northern Michigan heading into the second period.

Just two minutes into the second period, the Wildcats scored again as they got a gracious bounce in the BG zone and Matt Thurber hammered the shot past Hammond for the 3-1 lead.

At this point the Falcons were on the brink of elimination, but they didn't give up.

At the 3:54 mark of the second period Marcus Perrier fired a shot from the point that beat Ellingson and cut into the lead 3-2.

Then again five minutes later, the Falcons tied the game up when Sullivan fired a wrist shot that dinged off the post and past Ellingson. The game was tied 3-3.

With just under a minute left in the second period the Falcons took control of the game. DeSalvo received a nice outlet pass and skated by the Northern Michigan defense. He faked out Ellingson and beat him with the backhand shot to give him his second goal of the game and the lead for the Falcons 4-3.

With five seconds left in the second period Vigier broke through the Falcon zone and was taken down from behind rewarding him a penalty shot to tie the game up, but Hammond stoned him preserving the one goal lead.

The Wildcats tried to come back but Hammond played sensational in the third period. Bryce Williamson added an empty-net goal for the Falcons as they beat Northern Michigan 5-3. They forced a game three tonight at 7:35 p.m.

Gymnastics sets season highs in loss to Ball State

The BG gymnastics team narrowly missed out on its first Mid-American Conference win, as Ball State mounted a last-second comeback to upset the Falcons 194.025-193.9 in Muncie, Ind.

The Falcons led the Cardinals after three rotations, but the balance beam again proved to be their undoing, as Gina Locigno and Danielle Wishart both hopped off in the final minutes of competition.

Despite the falls, BG nearly set a season high on beam, as Monica Eaton (9.625), Megan Valentini (9.775), Megan Harrington (9.775) and Jamilah Ali (9.85) gave standout performances.

While the Falcons struggled, Ball State turned in an impressive showing on floor exercise, scoring 48.825. The Cardinals hit all 24 routines, breaking 194 for the first time this year.

“We’ve kind of been in this pattern where the opposing team is having their best meet of the year,” said coach Kerrie Beach. “As I’ve said in the past, what the other team does doesn’t affect what we do. I just hope it really ignites that fire in our athletes.”

The fire was lit in the first half of the meet, as the BG gymnasts again put together six strong uneven bar routines, scoring 48.45 to open the meet. Monica Eaton tied for the win with Ball State’s Kayla Kmiecik, scoring 9.8. Locigno (9.775) and Lindsay Koch (9.675) hit season-high scores to help the Falcons.

On the vault, three Falcons scored the three highest scores of the night, led by Wishart’s career-high 9.9. Lacey Swords (9.775) and Ali (9.825) hit solid vaults to set up Wishart’s high, stuck full-twisting Yurchenko.

After two events, BG led Ball State by .425. On the floor exercise, the Falcons ran into some trouble, as Ali and Wishart both flew out of bounds on their opening passes, and no gymnast scored above a 9.75.

“We weren’t quite as in control as we usually are,” Beach said. “It’s an event that’s usually really strong for us. I was surprised to see us bouncing out of bounds.”

Surprisingly, BG’s lead over Ball State grew after the troubles on floor. Stellar performances by several Falcons on beam were not enough to overcome two falls, and Ball State achieved the slimmest of victories.

While a 193.9 marks the Falcons’ highest away score to date, it also signifies another meet that the team’s goal of scoring a 194 has eluded them.
“I can’t even tell you the level of frustration,” Beach said. “The team’s working so hard and I know that’s been a major goal of theirs. But you know when you’re that close that many times that it’s going to happen. We still have plenty of meets left to get that 194 or higher.”

The Falcons continue MAC competition next week, traveling to take on Kent State in the team’s third-straight away meet.

Falcons fall to Buffalo on final day of regular season

With seeding placement in the Mid-American Conference Tournament on the line, the BG men's basketball team fell to Buffalo Saturday afternoon, 68-64.

With the loss, the Falcons will be the No. 6 seed in the MAC Tournament, giving them a home game Monday night at 7 p.m. against No. 11 seeded Central Michigan. The Falcons defeated the Chippewas 71-58 earlier this season.

A'uston Calhoun paced the Falcons with 23 points, while Dee Brown (15) and Jordon Crawford (13) also scored in double figures for BG.

The Bulls used an aggressive inside presence throughout the game, attempting 25 foul shots, while BG had only eight free throw attempts.

Mitchell Watt led the Bulls with 20 points, who shot 47.9 percent from the field, including 38.5 percent from three-point distance.

Impressive Come From Behind Win Propels Falcon's Softball Team Into Day Three

A strong come from behind performance highlights the Falcon’s play at the Under Armour Invitational through day two.

Day one saw the Falcon’s defeat St. Francis yet fall to Quinnipiac University.

The Falcon’s took the plate against St. Francis and drove home only one run, but it was enough. Katie Yoho was able to drive a single home-run in the seventh and was either teams only score, as the Falcon’s pulled through a 1-0 victory.

Game two took place against Quinnipiac University, where the Falcon’s fell 7-4. Paige Berger, Erika Stratton, Hannah Fulk, and Yoho all collected RBIs.

The excitement came on Saturday as the Falcon’s defeated Bethune-Cookman University 8-6. The Falcon’s at one point down 5 runs, rallied in the fifth to score four runs on three hits.

The sixth inning saw more of the team’s dynamic hitting, as the Falcon’s scored four more runs again just on three hits.

Berger, Yoho, and Andrea Arney all recorded RBIs while Rachel Proehl scored on a throwing error.

“We battled hard for the win today,” said Coach Shannon Salsburg. “The entire team contributed to this win. It is huge to know we can battle from behind no matter the score.”

Despite the impressive come-from-behind win, the team was unable to keep the momentum against Florida Gulf Coast, losing 6-1.

The game went back and forth for the majority of the game, until the fifth inning where FGCU scored five runs of off five hits.

Between the two days, the Falcon’s used all their pitchers and will look forward to playing an encore game against St. Francis on Sunday.

Twelve runs, 21 hits lead BG baseball to victory

A season-high 21 hits and 12 runs led the BG baseball team to its second win of the season, a 12-5 victory against Mt. St. Mary's on Saturday in the Falcons' first game of the RussMatt Invitational in Florida.

Seven Falcons had multi-hit games, led by Jake Thomas, who batted leadoff for the second consecutive game. He went 4-for-5 with two RBI, two runs scored and a walk.

Andrew Kubuski, Patrick Lancaster and Brandon Howard each had three hits for BG. Howard had two RBI, Kubuski had one and Lancaster scored three runs.

Cody Apthorpe once again struggled on the mound for BG, facing 15 batters in 2 1/3 innings pitched. However, he only allowed two runs on six hits and two walks.

Ben Singer picked up the win in relief, giving up an unearned run on one hit and no walks in 4 1/3 innings. Trevor Blaylock got the last six outs for BG, allowing a run on four hits.

The Falcons will be back in action tomorrow, playing a doubleheader against Northeastern.

Game One: BG @ Northern Michigan

The BG hockey team was ready to play Friday night as they scored a goal in the opening minute of the game. Connor Kucera sent a shot at the net that found Adam Berkle's stick. He deflected the puck to Dan DeSalvo who buried the shot in the back of the net. The Falcons were up 1-0 in the opening minute.

Then at the 11:58 mark of the first period, Northern Michigan's Justin Florek tied the game up heading into the second period of play 1-1.

The second period started quickly again as this time the wildcats scored just five minutes into the period making the score 2-1.

The Falcons responded as Berkle stole the puck and carried it in front of the Wildcats' net. He shot the puckl low and beat Northern goaltender Jared Coreau to tie the game up 2-2.

Late in the second period, the Falcons committed a penalty so the Wildcats started the third period on a power-play. Andrew Cherniwchan made the Falcons pay as he deflected a shot past BG goalie Andrew Hammond to give the Wildcats a 3-2 advantage with just over 18 minutes left in the game.

Howerever, the Wildcats struck again as senior Tyler Gron received a nice pass out of the penalty box and started a 2-on-1 advantage towards Hammond. He decided to keep the puck and beat Hammond and made the score 4-2.

The Falcons were then shut down on offense and lost game one of the three-game playoff series.

The game tonight is a win or go home situation. They need to win to force a game three. The game starts at 7:35 p.m.