Vanderbilt Edges Ohio, 3-0
Stiffler records two of Ohio's three hits
Contact: Jason Cunningham
5/18/2005
 Ohio Univeristy President Dr. Roderick J. McDavis threw out the ceremonial first pitch. |
ATHENS, Ohio ? Making their first collegiate starts, freshmen Cody Neyman (Dravosburg, Pa.) and Ty Davis locked horns for four scoreless innings, but it was the Commodores? Davis that eventually won out. The Vanderbilt hurler allowed just two hits over eight scoreless innings to earn a 3-0 victory and the two-game series sweep.
Davis surrendered lone singles in the third and eighth innings ? both to Bobcat left fielder Matt Stiffler (Bellbrook, Ohio)? and didn?t allow a single Ohio (24-23-1) runner to reach third base in his fourth appearance as a Commodore.
?I thought we played pretty well,? said Ohio Head Coach Joe Carbone. ?We just got overmatched with their pitching. We just couldn?t get a big base hit.?
Supplying one-half of an early pitchers dual, Neyman struck out the first two Vanderbilt batters to step to the plate and allowed just three runners to get into scoring position through the first four innings. A leadoff single by Alex Feinburg spelled trouble in the fifth frame. The Commodore third baseman was sacrificed over to second and advanced to third on a groundout before coming home for the game?s first run on a single through the left side by Brian Hernandez for a 1-0 lead.
The Commodores (34-18) were able to tack on a pair of insurance runs two innings later. After Daniel Utts (Circleville, Ohio) relieved Neyman and pitched a scoreless sixth, Vanderbilt tapped consecutive singles to start the seventh inning and Warner Jones? two-out liner to right-center plated both runners to push the visitors ahead 3-0.
Davis survived without a blemish on the scoreboard the entire day. The right-hander induced an average of two ground ball outs per inning over the first seven frames and allowed just two Ohio batters to reach base over that span. Stiffler?s singles in the third and eighth innings and walks to Ben Crabtree (Roxbury, Conn.) and Jon Vondrell (Centerville, Ohio) were the only base runners to be accounted for.
Neyman (0-1) allowed just one run on six hits in five innings of work, but took the loss in his inaugural start. He struck out two and walked one.
?Cody has come a long way,? Carbone said. ?He?s really worked on his breaking ball. That?s why he hasn?t had as many innings. I thought he threw the ball well.?
Utts allowed two runs on three hits in two innings and Yale Silverman (Baton Rouge, La.), who came on for the final two frames, didn?t allow a hit.
Davis (1-0) struck out five and walked two to earn his first collegiate victory. He faced just 27 batters in the outing.
?That?s just the kind of depth that they have as a pitching staff,? Carbone said. ?He was throwing in the 90?s, 92-93, with an outstanding breaking ball.?
Vanderbilt closer Ryan Rote came on in the ninth and earned his eighth save of the season.
Crabtree finished 0-for-2 on the day and 0-for-6 in the series. With three games left on the regular season schedule, he will need six hits to break Ohio?s all-time hits record of 268, set by Ryan Kyes in 2001.
Prior to the start of the final home game of the season, Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
?It was a great day. The president comes out and throws out the first pitch for us. He?s a big baseball fan and has come to 10 or 12 of our games,? Carbone said. ?You never win as many games as you want to win, but I?m very proud of these young men and how hard they?ve played all year.?
The Bobcats will conclude the regular season with a three-game Mid-American Conference set this weekend at Akron. The series will get underway with a 3 p.m., first pitch on Friday. Derek Witt (6-3) will take the ball in the opener for Ohio.
