May 7, 2006
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio baseball squad got a near-complete game performance from spot starter Yale Silverman and 15 hits to back him up as it captured the three-game Mid-American Conference series with a 10-4 victory over Akron Sunday afternoon in Bob Wren Stadium.
Making his fifth start of the year, and first in a weekend series, Silverman had a career day on the mound for the Bobcats (18-22, 10-11 MAC). Just one out shy of recording what would have been his first career complete game, Silverman limited Akron to just four runs - three earned - on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 8 2-3 innings. His innings pitched and strikeouts were both career highs.
That performance came on the heels of Anthony Gressick's complete game on Saturday night in which he limited Akron (13-31, 7-14 MAC) to just two runs on nine hits in a 5-2 victory.
"He gave us a real shot in the arm and gave us a chance to win today," Ohio Head Coach Joe Carbone said. "I couldn't be more happy or more proud of a student athlete than I am of Yale Silverman."
Ohio got it done at the plate as well as it banged out 15 hits and scored six runs in the third inning alone. Gressick, Dusty Hammond and Willie Walker finished with three hits apiece and Bryant Witt extended his career-best hitting streak to 19 games.
The Bobcats broke out to an early 7-0 lead after a tally in the first and a six-run explosion in the third. Matt Stiffler led off the game for Ohio with a single to center and scored three batters later on a base hit by Walker. The Bobcats worked over Akron starter Tom Farmer for six hits and four runs before he was pulled in favor of reliever Patrick Gliha. Ohio then got two more runs with Gliha on the mound to forge ahead 7-0. During the third-inning rally the Bobcats got RBI hits from Walker, Brandon Besl and Hayden Johnston and also scored on an Akron wild pitch and a fielding error.
Silverman was masterful in his first turn through the Akron batting order. After hitting the Zips lead-off batter, the Bobcat right-hander struck out the next four batters he faced and retired the side in order in both the second and third frames.
The Zips registered their first hit of the day to lead off the fourth inning in what would spark a brief Akron rally. A double followed and a single through the left side got the Zips their first run of the game. A wild pitch by Silverman with runners at the corners resulted in two scores thanks to a two-base error on a throw by second baseman Dusty Hammond to home plate. The throw was high and catcher Chris Klimko left his feet to make the catch, but had his legs cut out from under him by the sliding Akron runner, causing the ball to scoot to the backstop.
The Bobcats tacked on a run in the fifth on a single through the left side by Hammond to score Stiffler and they got pair in the sixth on a bloop single by Bryant Witt to shallow right field, which extend his team-season-high hit streak to 19 games and push Ohio ahead 10-3.
While the Ohio offense continued to add to its lead, Silverman got past his fourth-inning trouble to keep the Zips off the scoreboard the next four innings. After Akron got its third run of the game, Silverman retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced before giving up a one-out single in the ninth. He then got the second out of the inning on a liner to left center, but walked the next batter and gave up an RBI double down the left field line. Carbone then called on Chris Rigo out of the Ohio bullpen to close the door and he got the third out on two pitches to secure the 10-4 victory.
Tom Farmer (2-8) took the loss for the Zips. The right-hander allowed seven runs - five earned - on nine hits in 2 1-3 innings of work.
No Akron player registered more than one hit in the game.
With Walker's 3-for-4 performance with two RBIs, he has now hit safely in 18-straight games, one behind Witt's current team-season-best streak. Hammond and Johnston also carry double-digit hit streaks after today's results at 11 and 10, respectively.
"We feel fortunate to beat Akron (in the series), they've got a lot of power in their lineup," Carbone said. "I thought Anthony Gressick pitched a great game yesterday, and I thought Yale Silverman pitched a great game today."
The Bobcats will now hit the road for their next five games starting with a non-conference contest at Dayton on Tuesday. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
