April 26, 2009

Box Score

ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University baseball team erased an early five-run deficit, but couldn't find the go-ahead runs late, falling to No. 25 Kent State in the series' rubber match, 8-5, Sunday afternoon at Bob Wren Stadium. With the win, the Flashes (32-9, 13-4 Mid-American Conference) claimed the weekend series and handed the Bobcats (20-16, 13-5 MAC) their first MAC series loss of 2009.

Despite the loss, Ohio out-hit KSU 12-11, registering double-digit hits for the seventh-straight game. Senior right fielder Hayden Johnston (Strattanville, Pa.) went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while blasting his eighth home run of the year, doubling his career total (of four) entering the 2009 campaign. He also extended his hitting streak to 10 games and has now recorded multiple hits in eight of the contests during his hit streak.

Senior catcher Chris Klimko (McKeesport, Pa.) collected a pair of hits and RBIs each, giving him seven RBIs in the series, while sophomore center fielder Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Junior third baseman Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) tallied a pair of hits, including a double, and scored a run to move him into fifth place all time at Ohio with 152 runs scored, while senior second baseman Brandon Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio) had two hits for the third-straight game and jumped into a tie for 10th on Ohio's career hits list with 211.

Senior reliever Zach Fairbanks (Martins Ferry, Ohio) was saddled with the loss, despite tossing four and two-thirds innings of strong relief, shutting down a Kent State offense that had scored 41 runs in the first 19 innings of the series. Fairbanks gave up just two runs on six hits, but fell to 1-3 on the year. Junior Jon Pokorny (4-2) picked up the win, working two and two-thirds innings of three-hit, no-run baseball in middle relief.

A 45-minute first inning saw both teams bat around and combine for nine runs. For the second time in the series, Kent State sent five runs across the plate in the opening stanza, but like the first two games of the series, Ohio scored in the bottom of the frame, tallying four runs Sunday, capped by Klimko's two-out, two-RBI single.

The Bobcats evened the game at five in the fifth when Johnston sent sophomore starter Kyle Hallock's full-count offer sailing over the left field wall for his third home run of the series.

Fairbanks kept the Flashes off the board through the fifth frame, but Kent State regained the lead for good in the top of the sixth on senior Ryan Mitchell's two-run blast to left field for a 7-5 cushion.

"We can't spot good teams runs early on (like we did this series) and keep battling back," Ohio head coach Joe Carbone said. "We got down in the first inning, but got four runs right back to get back in the game and tied it up (in the fifth). Mitchell hit a home run on a breaking ball that was a pretty good pitch down, so give him credit for that."

The 'Cats loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with only one out, but were unable to push any runs across the dish, as Ohio remained down by two.

The Bobcats then put runners on first and second with only one out in the eighth, but a strikeout and a groundout thwarted Ohio's hopes of a comeback. KSU tacked on a sac fly in the ninth to make it 8-5 and the Green & White brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in its final at-bat, but freshman closer Andrew Chafin earned a strikeout to preserve the Golden Flash victory and pick up his seventh save of the year.

"I thought Pokorny and Chafin made some good pitches to our guys," Carbone said. "They jammed Hayden (Johnston) with the bases loaded and Robert (Maddox) hit two balls hard down the line that were caught, so we hit some balls at some people and they made a couple good pitches to Hayden, one with the bases loaded and one with men on first and second and we have to get them credit on that."

The Bobcats return to action Tuesday, April 28 as they head north to face the Cleveland State Vikings. First pitch at Pipe Yard Stadium is set for 6 p.m. ET. Live stats will be available for Tuesday's non-conference contest on OhioBobcats.com. CSU defeated Ohio, 16-5, back on March 31 in Athens.