ATHENS, Ohio - On the strength of an eighth inning rally that included a three-run homer from Jon Vondrell (Centerville, Ohio), the Ohio baseball squad clinched their second straight Mid-American Conference series victory with a 7-4 decision over Marshall Sunday afternoon at Bob Wren Stadium.

Trailing 4-3 with two at-bats left, a Willie Walker (Marysville, Ohio) single with the bases loaded in the eighth tied things up and Vondrell?s first career home run over the left field wall sent the Bobcats to victory.

?Jon came up big for us today,? said Ohio Head Coach Joe Carbone. ?I couldn?t be happier for someone who is a walk-on tryout guy who has been working hard and every time he?s had a chance to play he?s done a good job.?

John Angelicchi (Woodmere, Ohio) worked three innings in relief and allowed just two Marshall hits and no runs to earn the victory.

The Bobcats (15-14, 6-4 MAC) have now won 12 of their last 14 games and six of the last eight league contests.

Marshall struck first with a tally in their second at-bat as a single through the right side by Bubba Pfaff brought home Roddy Steiger for a 1-0 Marshall lead.

The Bobcats were quick to answer, however, as Ben Crabtree (Roxbury, Conn.) led off the home half of the second with his seventh home run of the season. Walker tripled down the right field line with one out, but the Bobcats were unable to bring him home.

Two runs crossed in the bottom of the third as Ohio took the lead. Bryan Buck (Hudson, Ohio) was hit by a pitch with one out and Dusty Hammond (Bellefontaine, Ohio) followed with a double off the wall in left center field that scored Buck from first. After a groundout that moved Hammond to third, Crabtree drove a pitch to left field for his second RBI of the game and a 3-1 Ohio advantage.

The Herd threatened in the fourth, but came away empty handed. With two outs, Marshall loaded the bases with a single, a hit batsman, and a walk, but Ohio starter Anthony Gressick (Lancaster, Ohio) caught Adam Frederick looking for the third out.

Gressick found himself in a bases loaded jam again in the fifth. A two out walk loaded things up, but Gressick struck out Pfaff to keep the score 3-1.

The Marshall lineup didn?t wait until there were two outs to try and get on the scoreboard in the seventh. Joe Glevenyak led off the frame with a homer over the left field wall to cut the Ohio lead to 3-2. Back-to-back singles brought an end to Gressick?s day on the mound. With Angelicchi (3-0) on in relief, a fielder?s choice caught the lead runner at third for the first out, but the Bobcat right-hander walked Pfaff to load the bases and pinch hitter Tommy Johnson singled up the middle to bring home Aaron Levinson and Steiger for the first Marshall lead of the game at 4-3. Pfaff was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play to end the rally.

Consecutive walks to start the Ohio eighth to Brian Colopy (Columbus, Ohio) and Crabtree and a Gressick hit by pitch loaded the bases with no outs. Walker singled to center to plate Colopy with the tying run and Vondrell followed with his blast two batters later for a 7-4 lead.

Gressick (1-1) got his fourth no-decision of the year after six innings of work. The junior allowed five runs ? four earned ? on eight hits with five strikeouts before yielding to Angelicchi in the sixth.

?They (Gressick and Angelicchi) grinded it out. I don?t think either one of them had their best stuff, but they were out there throwing strikes and just battling,? Carbone said. ?They kept us in the ballgame.?

The second inning home run by Crabtree moved him into eighth place on Ohio?s all-time list with 29 and his two hits in the game moved him up to third place on the career hit list at 237. The senior catcher hit .636 (7-for-11) in the series with two home runs and seven RBIs.

Hammond went 3-for-4 at the plate for the second day in a row to improve his season batting average to .293, second on the team only to Crabtree?s .339.

Reliever David Slovak (1-4) took the loss in relief for Marshall, who has lost four of its last five outings.

After two non-conference contests this week against Dayton and Duquesne, the Bobcats will take to the road the next two weekends for league series at Buffalo and Western Michigan.

?We?re going to try to get better at some things against Dayton and Duquesne and try to get ready for Buffalo,? Carbone said. ?They?ve always been tough up there so we?ll have to play our best baseball.?

Ohio will hit the final leg of its 10-game home stand Tuesday against Dayton of the Atlantic 10 Conference. First pitch at Bob Wren Stadium is slated for 6 p.m.