April 26, 2008
Box Score
KENT, Ohio - The Ohio baseball team took an early 4-0 lead Saturday afternoon, but Kent State rallied back for a 6-5 victory at Schoonover Stadium, evening the series and retaking a half-game lead over the Bobcats in the Mid-American Conference East Division standings. Ohio drops to 20-21 overall and 9-8 in the MAC, while Kent State improves to 23-17 and 8-6 in conference play.
Kent State used four long balls to score all six of its runs, including a two-run shot by Greg Rohan in the bottom of the eighth inning that gave the Golden Flashes their first lead of the game at 6-5, one they would not relinquish.
Ohio scored the first runs of the game in the top of the third inning, bringing four across the plate. Freshman Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) scored first on a passed ball and then sophomore Jeremie Rehak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) belted a two-run double down the left field line, scoring senior Matt Stiffler (Bellbrook, Ohio) and freshman Matt Keen (Beavercreek, Ohio). Junior Brandon Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio) then drove in Rehak with a sacrifice fly to right center, giving Ohio the early 4-0 lead.
Kent State slowly chipped away at Ohio's lead, as Greg Rohan and Chris Tremblay hit solo-home runs in the fourth and fifth innings to trim the margin to 4-2. Freshman Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) answered for Ohio in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring freshman Robert Maddox III (Euclid, Ohio) to lift the lead to 5-2. Maddox III led off the inning with a single, but that would turn out to be one of just two hits for Ohio over the final six innings.
As Ohio's bats cooled off, Kent State's got going. Kent State got its third home run of the game with a two-run homer by Jared Humphreys in the bottom of the sixth inning brining the score to 5-4. Rohan's two-run knock in the bottom of the eighth, his second of the game, then proved to be the difference.
Junior left-hander Zach Elmer (Delaware, Ohio) was solid in the start for Ohio, working 5.2 innings, striking out five while allowing four runs on seven hits.
Junior righty Kevin Mementowski (Parma, Ohio) came on in relief of Elmer and gave up just two hits and no earned run in 1.1 innings on the hill before the Golden Flashes got to junior Matt Schlarb (Lexington, Ohio). The right-hander allowed just one hit in his one inning of relief, but that hit was Rohan's two-run home run, dropping his record to 0-1.
Reid Lamport (3-2) earned the win after giving up no earned runs on one hit and striking out two in 2.0 innings of relief of Kent State starter Chris Carpenter. Carpenter pitched the first 7.0 innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking four.
Ohio was out-hit 10-6, with Rehak the only Bobcat recording a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored. Stiffler, Besl, Eldemire, and Maddox III each recorded one hit for the Bobcats.
The Bobcats and Golden Flashes play the rubber game Sunday afternoon with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
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Wes Liles is the baseball contact in the Ohio media relations office. He can be reached via email at liles@ohio.edu.
