Trial and error: Griffs baseball learns lessons in loss to Falcons

By Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

On a pit stop headed toward Massachusetts, the Bowling Green Falcons stopped in Buffalo to face the Griffs on a warm afternoon at the Demske. Though the Griffs suffered a 9–3 loss, they learned more about themselves and the capabilities of the team.

Making his third appearance of the season, grad transfer Kyle Finn took the mound to kickoff a trial and error game for Matt Mazurek’s team. The ball was flying early as the Falcons hammered back-to-back homers in the first inning, giving them a 3–0 early lead. Finn was able to get out of the inning, but was pulled with one out in the second when he got into trouble. 

Sophomore Brian Smith would go the longest of any Griff pitcher, following Finn’s 1 1/3 performance with a 2 2/3 of his own. Smith showed excellent composure during the second inning as he got out of a two runners on and one out situation with just one pitch as Andrew DiLodovico grounded into a double play.

Smith ended his day when freshman Matt Boffalo took over in the fifth. With the score now 3–2 after senior Owen Silliman slammed his fifth homer of the season, driving in two, the Griffs turned to Boffalo to continue the strong pitching. However, DiLodovico got his payback, hammering the first of what would be two home runs on the day for the freshman from Michigan. 

Boffalo bounced back, but a single with two outs brought Mazurek out of the dugout to make a pitching change, bringing in the best lefty in the Griffs bullpen; Weston Elkovitch. The sophomore native of Victor, N.Y. came in with a 2.87 ERA, the second-highest mark on the entire pitching staff. T.J. Takats, the next batter up, was ready for the lefty-lefty matchup as he powered a two-run homer, putting the Falcons up 6–2. Elkovitch allowed a double before getting out of the inning.

Most of the trial and error was on the pitching side, but the batting lineup began to change as the Falcons pulled away for the 9–3 victory. In the sixth, freshman Grady Brown came in defensively at second base while senior Mason Cisco, redshirt junior Ronan Glassford and redshirt sophomore Michael Kelly all pinch hit. Freshman Jake Cagna entered the game in the eighth after redshirt sophomore Tyson Kaufman left the game with an injury. By game’s end, 15 batters and eight pitchers played in Wednesday’s contest.

As the Griffs move forward in conference play this weekend with the Quinnipiac Bobcats coming to town, Mazurek was able to put guys in spots that showed him what each guy is capable of. The Griffs will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 p.m. before wrapping up the series on Sunday with first pitch at noon.

Brayden Hy at the plate (via Lindy Feider)