Buckeye Reporter

The Bowling Green State University baseball team secured its fifth walk-off win of the season on Friday, defeating Northern Illinois 5-4. The victory came when Gavin Ganun hit a ball into the outfield gap with the bases loaded, allowing Alex Laird to score the winning run. This result moves the Falcons to a 32-20 record overall and 18-11 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, clinching the No. 4 seed for the upcoming MAC Tournament.

Pitcher Carrson Sova struck out nine batters over four innings, marking a career high. Connar Penrod entered in relief during the eighth inning and pitched 1.2 scoreless frames, earning his fifth win of the season—the most on the team. The Falcons’ pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts in the game, raising their season total to 407 and breaking their own program record for strikeouts in a single season for the second consecutive year.

Caden Parker led Bowling Green offensively with three hits, including his second home run of the year. He contributed two runs batted in and scored twice while also stealing a base. Garrett Sloan and Gunner Antillon each recorded two hits.

Northern Illinois opened scoring in the first inning before Parker’s solo home run tied it in the third. After falling behind again in the fifth, Bowling Green responded with two runs to take a 3-2 lead. The Falcons added another run in the sixth before Northern Illinois scored once each in the seventh and eighth innings to tie it at four.

In the bottom of the ninth, Sloan singled and was replaced by pinch runner Laird, who advanced on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on Ganun’s game-winning hit after an intentional walk and hit batter loaded the bases.

This win marks Bowling Green’s fifth walk-off at home this season—four of which have come against MAC opponents—and is their first since April 26. Ganun became the fourth different Falcon to deliver a walk-off hit this year.

Penrod now has 13 career wins at BGSU, leading all current players on the roster. His performance this season qualifies him for inclusion among BGSU’s top single-season earned run averages (ERA), currently matching Jim Fisher’s mark from 1972.

Garrett Wright’s double in Friday’s game was his 17th of the season, tying him for sixth place in program history for single-season doubles. Wright has now recorded hits in 15 of his last 16 games and reached base safely in 39 of his last 40 contests.

Antillon extended his hitting streak to 13 out of his last 14 games and notched his second consecutive multi-hit performance—his eighteenth such game this year. Zack Horky extended his on-base streak to 22 games after being hit by a pitch but saw his hitting streak end at fourteen games.

Sloan achieved back-to-back multi-hit games for BGSU; six of his seven multi-hit performances this season have come consecutively across various stretches.

Bowling Green will conclude its regular season against Northern Illinois on Saturday at Steller Field, with Senior Day celebrations planned before transitioning to face Toledo as the No. 4 seed at next week’s MAC Tournament.

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