April 12, 2008
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio baseball team lost in extra innings for the second-straight game Saturday evening, falling to Eastern Michigan, 15-13, in an 11-inning marathon game at Bob Wren Stadium. Ohio falls to 15-15 and 7-3 in the Mid-American Conference, while Eastern Michigan improves to 9-21 and 6-1 in MAC play.
A rain delay forced first pitch to be delayed 2 hours and 43 minutes, and once the two teams finally took the field, a combined 32 hits, 28 runs, and 11 innings made for a 4-hour, 5-minute game.
Eastern Michigan's Todd Graves broke an 11-11 tie in the top of the 11th inning with a three-run pinch-hit home run over the left field wall. The Eagles added one more insurance run on a sacrifice fly to take a 15-11 advantage.
Ohio loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the 11th, after back-to-back singles by junior Chris Klimko (McKeesport, Pa.) and freshman Robert Maddox III (Euclid, Ohio) and freshman Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) got hit by a pitch. Freshman Zach Keen (Beavercreek, Ohio) then drove in a run, followed by a sacrifice fly by senior Zach Hartle (Toledo, Ohio), bringing the score to 15-13. On the sacrifice fly Eldemire got caught in a run down on his way to third base, where he was tagged out for the second out of the inning, bringing senior standout Matt Stiffler (Bellbrook, Ohio) to the plate with two outs. Stiffler, who had already extended his school-record hitting streak to 25 games, was unable to come up with a hit, giving Eastern Michigan the victory.
The two teams went back and fourth all night, as there were six lead changes. Ohio's four errors in the field led to five unearned runs for Eastern Michigan and proved to be the difference in the game.
Stiffler prolonged his hitting streak by going 2-for-5 with his team-leading seventh home run on the season and three runs scored. Ohio junior Brandon Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio) went 2-for-5 with his first collegiate grand slam in the sixth inning, which gave the Bobcats a brief 9-7 lead. Klimko went 3-for-6 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Eldemire, Keen and sophomore Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) each had two hits apiece for the Bobcats. Krauss, who hit his third home run of the season in the second inning, extended his hitting streak to 13 games and has now collected at least two hits in each of the last seven games.
Junior right-hander Kevin Mementowski (Parma, Ohio) pitched well in his first two innings in relief for the Bobcats, but the Eagles finally got to him in the 11th. For the game, Mementowski (0-3) worked 3.1 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits, while striking out three to take the loss.
Eastern Michigan's Robert Wendzicki (3-3) earns the victory after going 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out four.
The Bobcats and Eagles continue their series Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Bob Wren Stadium. Saturday's game is Strike-Out Cancer Day, where all ticket proceeds will be donated to the American Cancer Society for Lung Research in honor of the late Ohio baseball coach Bill Toadvine.
