March 7, 2009
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Junior Marc Krauss blasted two home runs and recorded four RBIs Saturday against Tennessee to extend his hitting streak to seven games, but the Ohio University baseball team was on the short end of a doubleheader, falling 8-6 and 13-6, at the Volunteers' Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Tennessee (5-5) has now taken the opening three games of a four-game set with the Bobcats (2-6).
Despite out-hitting the Vols 13-8 in game one, the 'Cats were doomed by four costly errors and 13 runners left on base. Ohio took an early 3-1 lead and put the tying run on base in the ninth, but was unable to snag the twinbill opener.
Senior starter Zach Elmer (Delaware, Ohio) (0-2) suffered the loss, going just 2.2 innings, while allowing six runs (five earned) on only three hits, and issuing six free passes. Junior Rex Ingham (Colorado Springs, Colo.) pitched well in relief for the Green & White, tossing a season-long 5.1 innings, allowing a single earned run and fanning four Volunteers. Junior reliever Aaron Tullo (1-1) garnered the win for UT, throwing 3.1 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts.
Five Bobcats registered multiple hits in the contest, led by sophomore first baseman Robert Maddox III's (Euclid, Ohio) second three-hit game of the year. Sophomore catcher Trace Voshell (Batavia, Ohio) collected a pair of hits, his fourth-career multi-hit game, and scored twice, while senior infielder Brandon Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) had two hits and two RBIs apiece. Senior Hayden Johnston (Strattanville, Pa.) also recorded two hits to extend his hitting streak to five games.
Ohio jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Besl's blast over the left-field wall for his second home run of the season, giving the Bobcats just their second run in the first inning all year. Tennessee sophomore Josh Liles answered by stealing home in the bottom of the first to knot the score at one.
With the bases loaded in the second, UT brought in Tullo who proceeded to walk Besl and plunk Johnston, scoring Maddox and Voshell for a 3-1 edge. Senior designated hitter Chris Klimko (McKeesport, Pa.) flied out to center however, leaving the bags full. Liles, who finished the game with four RBIs, again evened the count with a two-out, two-RBI single in the home half of the second.
The Volunteers took their first lead of the contest when sophomore Cody Hawn plated fellow sophomore Kentrail Davis on a single through the right side in the third. Tennessee added two more runs in the inning on a wild pitch and a walk, taking a 6-3 lead after three. A sacrifice fly by UT junior Cody Grisham padded the advantage to 7-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
Krauss then drove in Voshell for his team-leading seventh RBI of the year on a single in the sixth to make it a three-run game, also extending his hitting streak to six games. After the Vols crossed the plate again in the seventh, Krauss belted his second round-tripper of the year in the next half inning, keeping the margin at three.
In the ninth, Maddox and Voshell hit back-to-back singles and advanced a base on a wild pitch. Junior pinch hitter Kris McDonough (Pittsburgh, Pa.) then singled to score Maddox with only one out, forcing Tennessee to bring in senior righty Danny Wiltz. Sophomore Tyler Chadwell (Amesville, Ohio) grounded into a double play however, ending the Bobcat rally and giving the Vols the 8-6 win, with Wiltz getting his first save of the season.
In game two, the Vols scored early as Liles scampered home on a sacrifice fly and senior Cody Brown scored on a Hawn double in the first. Ohio responded by plating two in the second as McDonough crossed home on a two-base throwing error and junior first baseman Jerod Yakubik (Byesville, Ohio) scored on a wild pitch.
UT regained the lead, 3-2, in third on a Hawn double and tacked on another tally in the fourth on a sac fly by Liles. The Vols padded their advantage in the fifth with four more runs, including a pair of deep balls off senior reliever Kevin Mementowski (Parma, Ohio), to gain an 8-2 lead. Sophomore catcher Blake Forsythe put the game out of reach with a grand slam in the sixth off Mementowski, making it a 12-2 ballgame.
Sophomore center fielder Adam Gecewich (Strongsville, Ohio) tagged a two-RBI double down the left field line in the seventh and Krauss followed that with a two-run bomb, his third homer of the year and second of the day, to cut the deficit to six for Ohio, but it was not enough.
After another Tennessee four-bagger put the count at 13-6, the 'Cats loaded the bases in the eighth, but Klimko hit into a double play, thwarting any hopes of an Ohio comeback, as the Green & White fell by the same 13-6 count.
Bobcat senior starter Zach Fairbanks (Martins Ferry, Ohio) (0-1) took the loss, surrendering three runs in three innings of work, while sophomore reliever Bryan Morgado (1-0) claimed the win, despite conceding four runs and four walks in four innings pitched. He did register seven strikeouts, however.
Ohio gave up a season-high 19 hits, while totaling just eight themselves in game two, but did not commit an error in the contest for the first time all season.
Gecewich finished the night cap with two doubles and a pair of RBIs, giving him his second-career multi-hit game and third-career multi-RBI game. His two two-baggers equaled his season total from his freshman campaign.
The Bobcats and Volunteers will conclude their four-game series Sunday, March 8, with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Live stats are scheduled to be available for the series finale on OhioBobcats.com.
