BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (Interstat) — Hunter Winston delivered a dominant start and Taylor Harris provided a critical late home run as the Ohio Bobcats snapped a five-game losing streak with an 8-5 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons in Mid-American Conference baseball Saturday at Warren E. Steller Field.

The win, which came after a 7-0 defeat to the Falcons a day prior, improved Ohio’s record to 4-19 overall. Bowling Green fell to 6-11.

The most important part of the game was Winston’s performance on the mound, which stifled the Falcons early and provided stability for a Bobcats team in desperate need of it. The right-hander pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one earned run on zero hits. He walked three and struck out one. This outing marked a significant rebound for Winston, who had allowed three earned runs over 5 1/3 combined innings in his two previous appearances, both losses.

Ohio’s offense, which mustered only two hits in Friday’s shutout, broke through in the second inning against Bowling Green starter Nate Kress. The Bobcats sent nine men to the plate, scoring four runs on four hits. Harris drove in the first run with a double, Tyler Stack followed with an RBI double of his own, Colton Shirley ripped an RBI triple and Cam Hill added a sacrifice fly.

The Bobcats extended their lead to 6-0 in the fourth via small ball and a Bowling Green error. After a single and a steal by Stack, Shirley singled him to third. With Hill batting, Shirley stole second, and on the throw, Stack stole home. Shirley later scored on an error by relief pitcher Ty Roder.

Bowling Green got on the board in the fourth on an RBI single by Andrew DiLodovico and added an unearned run in the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-2.

Harris provided the decisive blow in the seventh inning. After Andrew Heffernan entered in relief for the Falcons, Harris launched a two-run homer to left field, pushing Ohio’s lead to 8-2. Harris finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

The Falcons mounted a serious comeback attempt in the bottom of the seventh. Following two singles, Pauly Mancino connected for a three-run home run off Ohio reliever Mason Gass, suddenly bringing Bowling Green within three runs at 8-5 and bringing the tying run to the plate.

Ohio manager Craig Moore then turned to Dillon Masters, who extinguished the threat by striking out Griffin Scheiderer and Sam Seidel to end the inning. Masters was flawless in securing the win, pitching the final 2 2/3 innings without allowing a hit or a run, striking out four.

The Bobcats’ bullpen, backed by an 11-hit offensive attack, sealed the victory after the Falcons had rallied. Shirley went 3-for-5 with an RBI, and Stack was 3-for-4 with an RBI. For Bowling Green, DiLodovico was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Mancino drove in three runs with his home run.

Roder provided strong relief for the Falcons, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit allowed and one strikeout.

The victory defied pregame projections. Interstat’s game simulator had predicted a 3-2 Bowling Green win, and its ELO system gave the Falcons a 71.8% probability of victory.

The teams conclude their three-game conference series Sunday afternoon at Steller Field.