BOWLING GREEN — The 2024 Bowling Green State University baseball season was significant in numerous ways to those who were involved with the program.
For Rigo Ramos, Jack Krause, and Tyler Ross, it was perhaps a little more special.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs. But, with this year being the final year for me, Tyler Ross, Jack Krause, the three guys who were here back in 2020 when the program got cut, it just means a little bit more,” said Ramos, a 2019 Archbold High School graduate.
“The day we clinched the [Mid-American Conference] championship at Eastern [Michigan], it was cool but it didn’t quite settle in until after the fact.
“You have our families that have been with us every step of the way too, having them getting emotional and coming up to us and just congratulating us, it means a lot. But it means a lot to have the group of guys we have we did it with. This group is special.”
The BGSU trio went through one of the toughest days in the history of the program when baseball was cut on May 16, 2020, in an effort by the school to shave money off the athletic department’s budget following the coronavirus pandemic. Ramos, Krause, and Ross were freshmen for the Falcons that year after arriving to campus in the fall of 2019.
“This past year, especially, a lot of conversations whether they were team meetings or just little conversations here or there with the young guys to let them know that what we’ve built is special, but what we had to go through to do it sucked, honestly,” Ross said. “Don’t lose sight of that and not take it for granted, but push to see where you can take this thing because there is another level to it.”
Four years later and, after an alumni-backed fundraising effort to bring the program back shortly after it was eliminated, the fifth-year Falcons went out on a high note as MAC regular-season champions.
“They’re special because they’re the ones that helped really bring it back,” fourth-year BGSU coach Kyle Hallock said. “They were on the call, they experienced one of the worst days you can experience, and then they’ve also experienced one of the best days you can experience at this point.
“It’s meant a lot because they’ve been through a lot, and the middle part of that book, the middle part of that story in this run wasn’t glamorous; 2021, 2022, and 2023 weren’t glamorous, but there was progress. The members of those teams get to share in the experience because you get a lot of text messages from those guys towards those three saying, ‘We’re really happy for you, and we knew it was going to happen.’ For these guys to hang out and grind it out and get to experience this, they’re very deserving of it.”
Ramos, Krause, and Ross were critical in helping BGSU win its first MAC regular-season title since 2009 and reach its first MAC tournament since 2015. The Falcons (33-20 overall, 24-6 MAC) had their 15th 30-win campaign in program history, including their first since 2010 (31-23-1) and their most wins since 2005 (33-18).
Within the conference, BGSU’s 24 victories were a program record, and its 17-0 start in league play set a MAC record.
“That was my goal my whole five years here was to win a MAC championship, make it to the MAC tournament, and compete, and we did just that,” Krause said after the Falcons fell to Ball State in the MAC tournament on Saturday. “I can hang my hat knowing we gave it our all.”
Each player had arguably their best season in their final year with the Falcons. Krause set career highs in batting average (.317), runs (53), hits (57), home runs (11), and RBIs (51), while Ross had career bests in batting average (.331), runs (46), hits (53), doubles (10), triples (three), home runs (seven), and RBIs (37).
Ramos went 3-1 with 58 strikeouts, both of which were his best with the Falcons.
“When he came in in the fall of 2019, he’s 6-foot-6, about 175 pounds, and the work he’s put in to become the pitcher he’s gotten to is a testament to him,” Hallock said of Ramos. “He hasn’t given away a day.
“He’s worked hard on everything he’s tried to get better at, and it shows up. … We’re just really proud of the growth he made, and the credit goes to him for the hard work he put in every single day.”
The trio’s impact stretched to the younger players as well.
“I’m grateful to call those three teammates,” BGSU freshman T.J. Takats said. “Obviously, with the program being cut, they could have gone somewhere else and entered the portal. But no, they stuck it out and stayed at Bowling Green.
“Those are the three that really put this place on the map, and it’s going to be special for years to come.”
One of the biggest goals for Ramos, Krause, and Ross was to help establish a winning culture at BGSU. After a combined 58-94 record from 2021 to 2023, the trio did just that.
“We always were just focusing on changing the trajectory of the program,” Krause said. “What we went through when we were younger, a lot of tough years, just losing tough games and we just wanted to really change that narrative and encourage everybody to be together.
“This is probably the closest team I’ve been on my whole career — for sure, it was — I love everybody on my team. Us three being the three coming back for all five years, we knew we had to be leaders this year, and I feel like they did a great job stepping up. I’m just so grateful for them and for those opportunities we got.”
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