Two late-inning breakdowns by the Ball State University baseball team's bullpen allowed Bowling Green State University to sweep Saturday's doubleheader.
In the first game, the Falcons scored two unearned runs in the seventh inning off senior reliever Tom Mueller to win 3-2. Junior closer Morgan Coombs (2-2) gave up a run in the eighth and ninth innings in the second game, and Bowling Green won 7-6.
Sophomore third baseman Kolbrin Vitek hit a solo-home run in the ninth inning with two outs to keep the Cardinals in the game, but Coombs was unable to hold the hosts at bay. The Falcons loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half of the inning and after a fly out, senior shortstop Ryan Shay singled to right field to end the game.
For Ball State, freshman first baseman Ian Nielsen went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a triple. Senior second baseman Nate Fields went 2-for-5 with two runs and three stolen bases. Senior Brenden Stines pitched six innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits.
The first game was a makeup of Friday's series opener, which was rained out. The game was tied at one in the seventh when a throwing error by Vitek on a sacrifice bunt extended the inning for Bowling Green. Ball State cut the deficit to one in the ninth when it put runners on second and third with one out but could only score once on a sacrifice fly.
Brad Piatt allowed one run on four hits in six innings. The loss dropped Mueller to 0-2. Junior center fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker and junior catcher Zach Dygert were the only Cardinals with multiple hits in the game. One of Dygert's two hits was a solo-home run in the fourth inning.
Ball State (15-14, 5-4) fell out of the lead in the Mid-American Conference West Division with the losses. The University of Toledo split the first two games of its series with Kent State University, improving to 7-4 to retake first place.
The sweep ensures Bowling Green is the first team to win a series against Ball State since Ball State visited the University of Missouri from March 6 to 8. The Tigers took three of the four games that weekend.
Ball State will complete its three-game series at Bowling Green at 1 p.m. today.
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