March 28, 2009
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Ohio University baseball team rounded out a three-game weekend sweep of Western Michigan by taking a twin bill from the Broncos, 2-0 and 5-1, Saturday at Hyames Field, while also extending its winning streak to a season-best five games. The Bobcats (11-10, 5-1 Mid-American Conference) swept WMU (5-17, 2-4 MAC) for the second-straight year and have now taken seven-straight games from the Broncos, while grabbing control of the all-time series, 53-51.
Ohio has now started league play 5-1 for a second-straight year, as well, and improved to above .500 for the first time all season. The sweep is the 'Cats' first MAC sweep on the road since bringing out the brooms at Toledo in 2003 and their first league sweep overall since taking three from Miami (May 9-10) last year in Athens. Ohio allowed just two runs in this weekend's series (winning 2-1 Friday), marking the team's fewest runs allowed in a three-game conference series since the MAC switched to the three-game format in 2004 (it was four games prior), and also held WMU without an extra-base hit in the three games.
"It's always tough to win on the road, but I think our guys were focused every inning of the games we played this weekend and that's the key, because it's easy to get tired," Ohio head coach Joe Carbone said. "To play two nine-inning games in one day, that's a lot of baseball. I was proud of the way our guys played this weekend."
In the day's opening game, the Bobcats used a pair of sac flies to score both runs, while three Bobcat pitchers combined to toss Ohio's first shutout of the year. The blanking was the 'Cats' first since March 25, 2008 when they defeated Rio Grande 2-0 and first in league play since shutting out Bowling Green in the 2007 season finale.
Junior starter Rex Ingham (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won his third-straight start on the hill, his only starts of the year, to improve to 4-0 on the season, going five and a third innings while conceding seven singles and striking out a pair of Broncos, without issuing a walk. Senior Zach Fairbanks (Martins Ferry, Ohio) pitched an inning of no-hit baseball in relief, before giving way to junior closer Bryce Butt (Omaha, Neb.), who tossed the final two and two-thirds and surrendered just a single while fanning three to pick up his fourth save of the year. The four saves are more than any Bobcat recorded in all of 2008.
"I thought all our pitchers threw very well (all weekend)," Carbone said. "For the most part they were ahead in the counts and they just did a really good job. They also had pretty good defense behind them all weekend."
Western Michigan sophomore hurler Brian Stroud had a strong outing as well, pitching eight innings and allowing just a run on six hits, with four strikeouts, but was handed the loss and fell to 0-5.
Seven Bobcats recorded one hit on the day, while WMU had eight hits in the contest and stranded nine runners to Ohio's four. Juniors Chris Lewis and Kevan Hess each had a pair of base knocks for the Broncos.
The Green & White tallied a run in the first inning when sophomore center fielder Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) singled, stole second, moved to third on senior right fielder Hayden Johnston's (Strattanville, Pa.) single, which stretched his hitting streak to eight games, and crossed home on sophomore designated hitter Robert Maddox III's (Euclid, Ohio) league-leading sixth sac fly of the season. The Bobcats then book-ended their runs when junior third baseman Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) scampered home on senior second baseman Brandon Besl's (Cincinnati, Ohio) first sac fly of the year in the ninth.
WMU threatened in the bottom of the ninth, putting men on first and second with two outs, before Butt fanned Hess to preserve the 2-0 shutout.
In game two, senior starter Zach Elmer (Delaware, Ohio) (1-3) nabbed his first win of the season by throwing a season-long six and two-thirds innings without allowing a run on three singles, while striking out five and walking five. Sophomore Eric Heckaman (2-2) took the loss, conceding three runs in six innings of work, while fanning four.
Ohio out-hit WMU 9-5, as Krauss and junior first baseman Jerod Yakubik (Byesville, Ohio) each went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles in the night cap, giving Krauss his team-best sixth three-hit game this year. He also had a pair of runs and RBIs each for his seventh multi-RBI game of the season, while Yakubik scored once. Maddox stretched his hitting streak to seven games with a single in third and Johnston hit safely in his ninth-straight game with a single in the first. Lewis was the lone Bronco with multiple hits in the game, accomplishing the feat for the second time on the day.
"We faced really good pitching against Western (Michigan)," Carbone said. "Every pitcher they put out there this weekend was a quality pitcher, so they didn't give us much to hit. They pitched Marc (Krauss) pretty tough all weekend, but he came through for us big in the second game today."
Krauss crushed his team-leading eighth homer of the year to left field in the third inning for an early 1-0 lead. Krauss made it 2-0 in the fifth frame when he stole home as part of a double steal, and the Bobcats added another tally in the sixth.
The Broncos scored their lone run of the day, albeit unearned, in the eighth inning, when Lewis trotted home on a sac fly. The Bobcats tacked on two insurance runs in the final stanza and Butt again recorded the game's final out by striking out sophomore pinch hitter Tim Cross.
"It's better to get off to a good start than be struggling at the beginning," Carbone said of the team's strong MAC start, "but we just have to keep rolling pitchers out and get ready to battle and compete each weekend in our conference."
Ohio returns to the diamond Tuesday, March 31, when it hosts Horizon League-foe Cleveland State in a 6 p.m. contest at Bob Wren Stadium. Live stats will be available on OhioBobcats.com. The 'Cats then play at West Virginia Wednesday, April 1, before continuing league play by hosting Toledo April 3-5.
