Buckeye Reporter

Bowling Green State University’s baseball team opened its final regular season series with a 14-8 loss to Northern Illinois at Steller Field on Thursday. The game saw both teams combine for 28 hits and 22 runs, with Bowling Green starting strong but ultimately falling behind in the second inning.

The Falcons scored three runs in the first inning, highlighted by hits from Gunner Antillon, Garrett Wright, and Zack Horky. Caden Bates added a sacrifice bunt to bring home another run. However, Northern Illinois responded in the top of the second with five unearned runs and maintained their lead for the rest of the game.

Bowling Green attempted to close the gap throughout the game. In the third inning, Horky tripled and was brought home by Gavin Ganun. NIU extended their lead with a three-run home run in the fourth and additional runs later in the game. The Falcons managed to score in several innings but could not overcome NIU’s offense.

Statistical leaders for Bowling Green included Zack Horky, who went 3-for-5 with a double, triple, three runs scored, and two RBIs; Garrett Sloan was 2-for-2 with a run and a walk; Antillon contributed two hits and a run; Ganun added two RBIs; Wright recorded an RBI double; Bates had his first multi-RBI collegiate game.

Horky extended his hitting streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 21 games. He is one game away from entering Bowling Green’s all-time list for consecutive games with a hit. His triple was his first of this season and second of his career. Wright has now hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games while reaching base in 38 of his last 39 games. Antillon has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games and tied for ninth all-time at BGSU for being hit by pitch in a season.

With results elsewhere in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), Bowling Green will face Toledo in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The exact seeding between No. 4 and No. 5 remains undecided pending outcomes from remaining regular season games for both teams.

The series against Northern Illinois continues Friday and concludes Saturday at Steller Field, where Senior Day will be observed before Saturday’s contest.

For more updates on Bowling Green baseball, fans can follow team accounts on Twitter (@BGSU_Athletics, @BGSU_Baseball), Instagram ('bgfalcons', 'bgsu_baseball'), Facebook ('BGSU Athletics'), or YouTube ('Falcons Athletics').