Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)

FINAL: Ohio 1 (24-15, 9-7 MAC), Akron 0 (19-20, 9-7 MAC) - Athens, Ohio (Bob Wren Stadium)

OHIO STARTERS: Manny De Jesus (CF), Garrett Black (SS), Mitch Longo (LF), Jake Madsen (1B), Cody Gaertner (C), Tyler Wells (RF), John Adryan (3B), Tyler Wells (RF), David Hamlett (DH), Jake Miller (P)

AKRON STARTERS: Mason Mamarella (CF), Daulton Mosbarger (DH), Joey Havrilak (RF), Brian Lees (C), Dom Iero (SS), Gerrad Rohan (1B), Matt LaRocca (3B), Kris Simonton (LF), Alex Dirienzo (2B), John Valek (P)

THE BASICS
The Ohio baseball team (24-15, 9-7 MAC) was locked into a pitching duel against Mid-American Conference East Division rival Akron (19-20, 9-7 MAC) with the game remaining scoreless into the ninth inning until senior Tyler Wells (Lexington, Ky.) provided a walk-off RBI single to propel the Bobcats to a 1-0 win over the Zips at Bob Wren Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Junior right-handed starting pitcher Jake Miller (Westerville, Ohio) pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, permitting six hits and two walks while tallying four strikeouts.
- Senior right-handed reliever Logan Cozart (New Philadelphia, Ohio) pitched 2.2 perfect innings, fanning three.
- Ohio senior Jake Madsen (Cincinnati, Ohio) went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and scored the game's lone run.
- Wells went 1-for-4 with the game's lone RBI.
- Akron junior southpaw starting pitcher John Valek went 8.1 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and a walk. He recorded one strikeout.
- Akron junior Kris Simonton went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.
- The Zips threatened in the top of the seventh on a trio of singles that loaded the bases with one out, which chased Miller from the game. Cozart came in to put out the fire, recording a pair of strikeouts to keep the game scoreless.
- Ohio manufactured the game's only run in the bottom of the ninth. Madsen got it started with a leadoff single that hit off the glove of Valek. Junior John Adryan (Delran, N.J.) reached on a one-out error at short by Akron sophomore Dom Iero. With runners on first and second, Wells shot a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Madsen and giving Ohio the walk-off victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Ohio has won 10 of its last 13 -- including seven of its last 10 MAC games.
- Madsen is now three hits away from becoming Ohio's all-time leader. His 267 career base knocks rank third in school history as he surpassed the 266 career-hit mark set by Mike Arbinger (1999-02). Madsen recorded his 15th multi-hit game of the year and he's reached base safely in a team-high 11 straight games.
- De Jesus has a team-high eight-game hitting streak going.

QUOTABLE
Senior Tyler Wells:
"I've got to give our team credit. We stuck to it at the end. We got their starter out of the game, which was huge for us because even last year he was getting us to pop up all the time. So, we stuck to it, got a pitcher who threw a little harder at the end and came through in the clutch. It was great to get a win, especially against the team who was in first place in the MAC East."

Third-Year Head Coach Rob Smith:
"(Miller) has a better focus as to what he's doing. He went through some tough times last year, and it was really tough year for Jake on a lot of levels. I think he learned from that. He certainly grew from the difficulties last year and he was really, really good for us. It was a great performance by him and he's starting to find a pretty good rhythm."

UP NEXT
Ohio and Akron square off in the second game of the three-game series on Saturday (April 25), with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. ET. The game was originally slated to begin at 3 p.m. ET but was moved earlier due to impending weather conditions. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free McDonald's breakfast sandwich. 

#BobcatNation