May 15, 2008
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Ohio junior right-hander Chris Rigo (Westlake, Ohio) scattered just five hits and struck out seven in nine innings on the mound to lead the Bobcats to a 6-3 win against Buffalo Thursday afternoon at Amherst Audubon Field. The win, coupled with Akron's loss to Bowling Green, assures Ohio (26-27, 13-12 MAC) third place in the Mid-American Conference East Division and a berth in the 2008 MAC Baseball Tournament.
Rigo (5-3) was perfect through the first three innings on the hill and entered the bottom of the sixth inning with a 3-0 lead. Buffalo (13-37, 6-18 MAC) took advantage of an Ohio fielding error in the sixth to score three unearned runs and tie the game. Rigo went right back to controlling the game in the next three innings, however, allowing just one more hit en route to his second complete-game victory of the season.
The score remained 3-3 until the top of the ninth, when RBI-singles by sophomore Jeremie Rehak (Pittsburgh, Pa.), sophomore Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) and junior Brandon Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio) gave Ohio back the lead for good at 6-3.
Krauss went 4-for-4 on the day with two doubles, giving him 19 on the season. Senior Zach Hartle (Toledo, Ohio) was 3-for-4 with one RBI, one run scored, and his seventh double of the season. Rehak finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and senior Matt Stiffler went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to extend his current hitting streak to 13 games.
The Bobcats jumped on the board first in the top of the second inning on an RBI-Single by Hartle. Ohio's lead grew to 3-0 in the third inning off an RBI-single to right field by Krauss and a run driven in by Besl.
Two weeks ago Ohio was on a seven-game losing streak, but the Bobcats have since turned it around, winning six-straight games, their longest winning streak of the season.
Now that the Bobcats have locked up a spot in the conference tournament in Chillicothe, Ohio, they will be looking to improve their seeding in the final two games of the regular season against Buffalo. The two divisional winners receive the top two seeds in the tournament and all other seeds are based on conference winning percentage, regardless of division.
The Bobcats and Bulls play the second game of the series Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.
----------------------------
Wes Liles is the baseball contact in the Ohio media relations office. He can be reached via email at liles@ohio.edu.
