Bowling Green Reinstated Its Baseball Program After Former Players Raised $1.5 Million To Save The Team From Being Dropped Due To Coronavirus

Advertisement

[AP] - Called out, Bowling Green has saved its baseball program, which had been cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Athletic department spokesman Jason Knavel said that baseball is back immediately after “our passionate baseball alumni and donors have committed $1.5 million over the next three years.”

The Ohio school announced last month it was dropping baseball because of a projected $2 million athletic budget shortfall stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. Former players immediately began a “Save BGSU Baseball” campaign and managed to raise the funds to rescue a program that produced former All-Star pitcher Orel Hershiser.

Remember when the NCAA Tournament got canceled? Remember how college shut down due to a global pandemic? That seem so fucking long ago, but this is what had to happen when colleges lost that money. They had to start cutting programs. The MAC was especially hit hard. They changed the college hoops conference tournament, they cut 8 conference championships and a school like Bowling Green cut programs - including the baseball program.

That was until former players raised nearly $1.5 million to cover the program. That's awesome. It sucks to think that programs across the country were getting cut for budget reasons. You had kids from literally across the world at these programs getting this pulled out from under them with no warning. 

This is a program that gave us Orel Hershiser and Roger McDowell. They won the MAC last in 2013 and have 4 conference championships. It's awesome to see the players be able to raise this sort of money and save the program for at least three years. It just sucks tremendously we got this point. Either way, this is awesome. Shout out everyone who helped save at least one program.