ROCHESTER, Mich. – In a contest that was originally scheduled to take place in the Buckeye State but was moved to the Oakland Baseball Field on Tuesday due to wet weather, the Bowling Green Falcons defeated the Golden Grizzlies, 12-2, on Wednesday, May 3.

Oakland is now 19-26 (11-10 Horizon League), while the Falcons improve to 16-25 (9-15 Mid-American Conference).

With Bowling Green striking in the top of the first inning and Oakland evening it back up in the third, Wednesday's action was knotted at one apiece after five frames, but the Falcons scored at least two runs in each of the final four stanzas to separate themselves.

Working a team-high three innings and the sixth of nine Golden Grizzly pitchers on an on-and-off rainy afternoon, redshirt senior right-hander Brett Hagen (1-3) took the loss, finishing with a line of five runs on six hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.

Eldridge, Iowa junior lefty Jake Matthaidess handled the first inning for Oakland and junior Ben Paugh, graduate student Christian Stelling and redshirt senior Bryce Konitzer also recorded three outs.

Continuing to show a knack for painting corners and generating soft contact, senior southpaw Chase Keeney inherited a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth and allowed just one Falcon to score while navigating their 2-3-4 hitters.

A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Keeney has not given up a hit or run in four appearances (3.2 innings) this season while striking out four.

Wednesday was a bullpen day for Bowling Green, as well, as the Falcons used seven pitchers, with Napoleon, Ohio sophomore right-hander Landon Willeman, who worked the fifth inning, picking up his first career win.

Archbold, Ohio freshman DJ Newman, a fellow righty, started and went the first three for Bowling Green, giving up one run on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Canadian senior shortstop Ryan Johnston drove in a game-best three runs for the Falcons, with Powell, Ohio senior left fielder Adam Fallon and Greenwich, Ohio freshman second baseman Sam Seidel also tallying multiple RBI.

Graduate student first baseman Gabe Lux, who went 2-4, plated junior catcher Brandon Heidal for the Golden Grizzlies' first run and senior right fielder Ian Cleary knocked in freshman center fielder Reggie Bussey with a single in the eighth, his team-leading 30^th RBI of the year.

Bussey had his third career two-hit game Wednesday and first since the clash with the Wright State Raiders on March 26, and Heidal collected multiple knocks for the sixth time this season.

UP NEXT
Returning to Horizon League play, Oakland will head to Wisconsin for a three-game set with the Milwaukee Panthers (20-22, 9-11) from Friday-Sunday, May 5-7 at Franklin Field.

A pivotal conference series with these two teams distanced by just one game in the loss column, all three of this weekend's contests will be broadcast live on ESPN+ (subscription required).

The Golden Grizzlies took two of three from Milwaukee in their first home Horizon League series of the season from March 31-April 2.