May 21, 2009
Box Score
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - The Ohio University baseball team scored 12 runs in the final four innings Thursday at V.A. Memorial Stadium to continue its run in the Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 15-6 win over Ball State. The third-seeded Bobcats (29-23, 1-1 MAC Tournament) staved off elimination, improving to 5-0 all-time against the second-seeded and West Division-champion Cardinals (26-25, 0-2 MAC Tournament) in the conference championship, while ending Ball State's season.
Ohio was out-hit 16-13, but senior right fielder Hayden Johnston (Strattanville, Pa.) was a perfect 5-for-5, setting a career-high for hits and a Bobcat season high, including a Bobcat season-high three doubles and his first-career grand slam. He now has 25 doubles on the season (second in Ohio history for one season), which ties for third in MAC history in a single season, and has 90 hits in 2009, one shy of tying the Bobcats' single-season mark. The four RBIs also tied a career high, while the senior crossed home three times.
"Hayden's been a great player for us for four years. He's been a great team leader and done a great job this year in right field, throwing people out," Ohio head coach Joe Carbone said. "Today he came up big for us and I couldn't be happier for anybody more than Johnston."
Junior substitute left fielder Jeremie Rehak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and ripped his third homer of the year, while sophomore center fielder Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) also tallied a pair of hits and RBIs each, including his 21st round-tripper of the season, putting him in second on Ohio's single-season chart, while scoring four runs in the game.
Junior starter Bryce Butt (Omaha, Neb.) garnered the win to move to 6-6 on the year, after starting the season 0-5, as he went five innings and allowed three runs, while BSU starter Kolbrin Vitek (4-3) took the loss, tossing six innings and allowing seven runs, but just two earned, with five strikeouts. Vitek led Ball State at the plate too, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Senior reliever Adam Goodpasture (Columbus, Ohio) closed out the game with four innings of three-run ball to pick up his third save of the season, while fanning a season-high six Cardinals. It was Goodpasture's 80th career appearance, one shy of tying Ohio's career record for pitching appearances.
"We threw our two guys that are the best at holding runners on base against Ball State, who stole 114 bases (best in the MAC) this year," Carbone said. "Both those guys did a great job and it gave us a chance so the Cardinals couldn't just take off running. (Senior catcher Chris) Klimko did a great job throwing people out (from behind the plate), as well, so those three did a great job to take Ball State's running game away a little bit."
The Bobcats came out swinging after a disappointing outing Wednesday in the Tournament opener, bringing home two runs in the first frame. Eldemire reached on an error and Johnston doubled to open the contest, as both crossed the plate - Eldemire on junior Marc Krauss' (Deshler, Ohio) RBI ground out and Johnston on a sac fly by senior Brandon Besl (Cincinnati, Ohio).
The Cardinals looked to answer in the bottom of the first, putting runners on first and third with one out, but Klimko (McKeesport, Pa.) threw out Nate Fields stealing second to help get out of the jam unscathed, keeping the 'Cats on top 2-0. The lead didn't last long, however, as Vitek used his bat to even the game at two in the third on a two-RBI double.
Ball State took its first lead of the game in the fourth as Ryan Chenoweth scored when Butt's pickoff attempt to third sailed wide, after the redshirt junior was caught in a rundown. The Cardinals had runners on first and second later in the inning with one out, but Klimko again gunned down a Cardinal at third stealing to keep BSU from doing more damage.
Ohio then used a pair of Ball State errors in the fifth to knot the count at three and regained the lead in the sixth on a two-out, two-run blast down the right-field line by Rehak in his first trip to the plate, after entering for sophomore Zach Keen (Beavercreek, Ohio), who left with an injury. Ball State had men on first and third with no outs in the bottom of the frame, but managed just one run, as Goodpasture struck out the side to keep Ohio on top, 5-4.
The Bobcats gave themselves some breathing room with three tallies in the seventh on RBIs by Krauss, Besl and Klimko, but Zach Dygert led off with a solo shot, his ninth of the season, to put the Cardinals within three at 8-5. Ohio put the game out of reach in the eighth, however, as Eldemire's two-run bomb off the scoreboard made it 10-5 and Johnston's grand slam in the ninth, Ohio's third of the year, capped the 'Cats' scoring, while Goodpasture locked up the 15-6 victory with a strikeout of T.J. Baumet.
With the win, the Bobcats return to V.A. Memorial Stadium Friday for a 12:30 p.m. ET meeting with the loser of tonight's Toledo-Eastern Michigan contest, as Ohio will again be battling for its Tournament life.
Notes: With his three doubles, Johnston is now tied for third in single-season MAC history with 25 doubles and has come a triple shy of the cycle three times this season ... He also moved into a tie for third place on the Ohio single-season total bases ledger with 162 and eighth on the Bobcats' runs scored list with 60 ... Eldemire moved into seventh on the runs scored list with 61 ... Butt's start gave him a team-best 24 appearances on the year, which ties for fourth in a single-season in Bobcat history ... With its three home runs against Ball State, Ohio now has 101 on the year, including 63 in its last 20 ballgames ... Ball State entered the game 114-for-138 in stolen bases, by far tops in the MAC, but Klimko threw out four Cardinals, as BSU was just 1-for-5 on base-stealing attempts ... The two teams combined for seven errors in the game.
