May 14, 2009
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - Sophomore Gauntlett Eldemire opened Thursday night's game against Buffalo (20-33, 6-18, Mid-American Conference) with a home run and crushed the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the eleventh inning over the fence at Bob Wren Stadium to propel the Ohio baseball team to a walk-off 6-5 victory. With the win, the Bobcats (26-22, 16-9 MAC) kept their hopes of a MAC regular season title alive, as Ohio remained a game and a half behind Bowling Green, who was victorious Thursday over Akron, and jumped over Kent State, who fell to Miami, for second place in the East Division with two games remaining before the MAC Tournament.
The 'Cats have already qualified for the eight-team conference championship (May 20-23 in Chillicothe, Ohio) and would be the third seed if the tourney started tomorrow. The 16 league wins by Ohio are its most since the 2001 Bobcats finished 16-11 in the MAC.
The contest, which started 45 minutes late due to a rain delay, was just Ohio's second extra-inning affair this season. The Bobcats improved to 2-0 on the year in overtime, as they knocked off Akron April 18 in 13 frames, also on an Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) walk-off blast.
Eldemire finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and RBIs each, all coming on his two round-rippers. It was his third multi-homer game of the season (and career) and gave him 20 homers on the year, which tie for second in a single season at Ohio. The sophomore now has three game-ending home runs in 2009, with his first coming back on March 4 against Pittsburgh in the bottom of the ninth.
"He's a guy with great talent," Ohio head coach Joe Carbone said. "He shows flashes of brilliance. Once he learns to be a better two-strike hitter, he's going to be an outstanding player. He came up big today though. It was a tough time hit a ball out of the ballpark and he got all of it (in the eleventh). He's got some big time power."
Junior Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) added to his school record with his 23rd four-bagger of the season, moving him into a tie for third in MAC history for single-season home runs, while walking twice, which places him in a tie for fifth on Ohio's single-season free passes list with 40. Sophomore Robert Maddox III (Euclid, Ohio) went 2-for-4 for his fourth-straight multi-hit game and tallied an RBI, while senior Brandon Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio) continued his tear with a 3-for-5 day.
Junior reliever Bryce Butt (Omaha, Neb.) nabbed the win to move to 5-6 (to go along with five saves), after tossing the final four and two thirds innings without allowing a run, including two perfect extra innings. He fanned five Bulls in his 23rd appearance of the year, which moved him into Ohio's single-season top-10 for pitching appearances. Buffalo freshman Kevin Crumb took the loss, hurling the final four frames, while giving up the tying run in the seventh and the game-winning run in the eleventh. Ohio senior starter Chris Rigo (Westlake, Ohio) went six and a third innings and gave up four earned runs with three punch-outs.
"Bryce and Rigo are warriors. They're competitors," Carbone said. "They go out and get after people and give us a chance. They pound the strike zone. Butt's been our swing guy - we use him early, we use him late, we start him - we're going to wear him out by the time he leave's here. He's been big for us all year."
Eldemire led off the game with his first home run of the day, his fifth leadoff homer of the year, and Krauss went yard two batters later, his third dinger in as many games, but Buffalo evened the game at two in the second on junior Adam Skonieczki's two-run blast.
The Bulls then claimed the lead in the fourth on a two-out fielding error, but junior catcher Kris McDonough's (Pittsburgh, Pa.) sac fly plated Krauss in the sixth to knot the game at three. Maddox's RBI single to right field then put the 'Cats on top 4-3 later in the frame, as he scored Besl. Buffalo answered right back with a pair of tallies in the top of the seventh to regain a one-run advantage. The Bulls would have taken a two-run edge, but Eldemire used his defense to help Ohio, as well, as he threw out junior Rob Lawler at home to end the top of the seventh.
Freshman Bobby Martin (Crystal Lake, Ill.), who reached on a walk, later trotted home on a wild pitch to again level the score at five in the home half of the seventh. Butt and Crumb kept the opposition at bay in the final two stanzas of regulation and in the tenth, but after Butt put the Bulls down in order in the top of the eleventh, Eldemire ended the game the way he started it - with a shot out of the park.
With stormy weather expected for Saturday's scheduled finale, the Bobcats and Bulls will now conclude their three-game series, and hence the regular season, Friday, playing a pair of nine-inning contests starting at 2 p.m. ET at Bob Wren Stadium. Friday will be Senior Day, as Ohio's 10 seniors will be honored between the two games. The game will also be Scout Day and will be followed by the annual Camp-out with the 'Cats. Live stats will be available for both of Friday's contests on OhioBobcats.com and the games will also be broadcast on WATH 970 AM in Athens and streamed live on OhioBobcats.com. The "Voice of the Bobcats" Russ Eisenstein and Brian Boesch will take to the air at 1:45 p.m. ET with pre-game coverage.
Notes: The game featured four ties and five lead changes ... Ohio now has 90 home runs on the year, its most since the 122 it hit in 2001, with 52 of those coming in its last 16 games ... Krauss and Eldemire became the first Bobcats to each hit 20 or more home runs in the same season ... Krauss and Eldemire rank first and second in the MAC in home runs, respectively ... With five at-bats Thursday, Besl is now tied for second on Ohio's career at-bats list with 740 and his three hits put him in a tie for fourth in Bobcat history with 234 ... Krauss now ranks tied for fifth in Ohio history with 158 RBIs and has 62 RBIs this year, which puts him in sole possession of second on the single-season ledger ... Rigo moved into fifth in Ohio history for innings pitched with 268.1 and jumped into seventh for career strikeouts with 194.
