May 2, 2009
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Senior Brandon Besl and sophomore Gauntlett Eldemire each drilled three-run home runs, but the Ohio University baseball team fell to Bowling Green, 13-7, Saturday afternoon at Steller Field. In the game, the Bobcats (22-18, 13-7 Mid-American Conference) knocked three home runs out of the park, giving them 32 round-trippers in their last eight games, and totaled 16 hits, extending their double-digit hit streak to 11 games.
The Falcons (22-18, 12-7 MAC) did most of their damage in two innings, tallying 12 of their 13 runs in the second and sixth frames. Junior starter Rex Ingham (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was handed the loss and fell to 6-2, after allowing eight runs in five-plus innings of work. Sophomore Matt Malewitz (4-1) garnered the win, tossing six and two-thirds innings of four-run ball.
Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) each went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, as Besl stretched his hitting streak to a season-long nine games, while senior catcher Chris Klimko (McKeesport, Pa.) was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Junior Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio), senior Hayden Johnston (Strattanville, Pa.) and sophomore Robert Maddox III (Euclid, Ohio) each collected a pair of hits on the day. Johnston hit his 17th double of the season, moving him into a tie for ninth on Ohio's single-season list, and extended his hitting streak to a career-long 14 games with a single in the sixth.
For the second-straight day, the Falcons used a big second inning to take the early advantage. Junior Dennis Vaughn singled to plate the first two runs, while a sac fly and a two-run home run by senior Ryan Shay, his team-leading 11th of the year, capped the five-run outburst.
Klimko led off the top of the third with his second round-tripper of the year on a full-count offering to make it a 5-1 contest. The Bobcats then loaded the bases in the fifth, but were unable to capitalize.
Besl belted his second three-run round-tripper of the series in the sixth frame to bring Ohio within one at 5-4. Bowling Green answered right back, however, with seven runs in the bottom half of the inning on seven hits, including freshman Jon Berti's three-RBI triple to center field, for a 12-4 edge.
Eldemire clubbed his three-run blast, his second homer of the series and 15th on the year, in the eighth, but BGSU tacked on a run in the bottom of the frame to close out the 13-7 win. Freshman Michael Dillon (Bel Air, Md.) was solid in relief for the 'Cats, hurling two and two-thirds innings and conceding just a run with a strikeout.
Ohio and Bowling Green will conclude their series Sunday, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. ET. Live stats will be available for Sunday's contest via Gametracker on OhioBobcats.com, while the game will also be broadcast on WATH 970 AM in Athens and streamed live on OhioBobcats.com. The "Voice of the Bobcats" Russ Eisenstein will call the action beginning at 12:45 p.m. ET with pre-game coverage.
Notes: During Besl's nine-game hit streak, he has seven multi-hit games ... With five at-bats, Besl now ranks sixth on Ohio's career at-bats ledger with 706 ... Eldemire has clubbed seven home runs in his last eight games and is second in the MAC (behind Krauss' 19) with his 15 four-baggers ... Eldemire also now has a season-long tying 10-game hit streak ... Krauss now has 131 total bases on the season, which replaces himself (from last year with 130) in 10th on the Bobcats' single-season list.
