April 10, 2009
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. - Eastern Michigan used seven unanswered runs in the middle third of the ballgame to knock off the Ohio University baseball team, 7-1, Friday afternoon at Oestrike Stadium in the Mid-American Conference series opener. The loss is the Bobcats' (14-14, 7-3 MAC) first of the year in a MAC series opener and keeps head coach Joe Carbone stuck on 599 career wins, one shy of becoming just the second MAC coach to ever record 600 career victories.
Ohio managed a season-low four hits to EMU's 11 and tied a season low with the single run, while grounding into a season-high four double plays. Sophomore center fielder Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) registered his 12th multi-hit game of the year, going 2-for-3, while senior second baseman Hayden Johnston (Strattanville, Pa.) and junior first baseman Jerod Yakubik (Byesville, Ohio) had the 'Cats' other hits.
Senior starter Chris Rigo (Westlake, Ohio) suffered his first loss in league play to fall to 3-2 on the year, as he tossed seven innings and allowed seven runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts, despite setting the Eagles down in order through the first three innings. With the start on the mound, he also moved into a tie for eighth on Ohio's career pitching appearances ledger with 57.
"Rigo didn't pitch that badly," Carbone said. "(Matt Skirving) hit a home run off him, but the other (EMU) base hits were ground balls we couldn't get to. We just have to give Eastern Michigan credit. They got some two-out base hits and we didn't mount enough offense towards the end of the game."
Sophomore Corey Chaffins (2-2) picked up the win for EMU (8-23, 3-7 MAC), going seven innings and allowing just a run on four hits with three walks and five ring ups.
"I thought Chaffins pitched a good game," Carbone said. "We hit some balls hard at some people, but we hit into two or three double plays early in the game. Zach Keen had a hard line drive into left field with the bases loaded (and two outs), but it was caught."
Ohio struck first, as Johnston led off the fourth with a single and scampered home on an RBI double down the line by Yakubik for a 1-0 Bobcat lead, but Ohio struggled from there. Eastern Michigan broke up Rigo's perfect start in the bottom of the fourth, as sophomore Matt Skirving sent a two-run shot over the right field wall to put the Eagles on top, 2-1.
Redshirt junior Jim Gulliver then made it 4-1 EMU in the fifth with a two-out, two-RBI single through the right side. The Eagles used three singles and a walk to plate three more runs in the sixth, opening up a six-run advantage they wouldn't relinquish. Senior reliever Sean Hoffman came in and held the Bobcats hitless over the final two innings to secure the win.
The two teams will do it all over again on Saturday, with first pitch slated for 3:05 p.m. ET at Oestrike Stadium, as Carbone will try again to earn career victory 600. Live stats are scheduled to be available for tomorrow's contest on OhioBobcats.com.
