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FINAL: Ohio 6 (35-19), Bowling Green 0 (25-29) - Avon, Ohio (All Pro Freight 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), Ty Black (2B), Nate Squires (DH), Connor Sitz (P)

BOWLING GREEN STARTERS: Kory Brown (CF), Brandon Howard (2B), Trey Keegan (C), Matt Smith (LF), Greg Basalyga (DH), Nick Glanzman (3B), Jesse Rait (RF), Tyler Greiner (1B), Brian Bien (SS), Trevor Blaylock (P)

THE BASICS
Junior right-handed starting pitcher Connor Sitz (Westerville, Ohio) threw the first no-hitter in Mid-American Conference Championship history and the first in program history since 1996 as the No. 3-seeded Ohio baseball team (34-19) eliminated No. 6-seeded Bowling Green (25-29), 6-0, on Saturday (May 23) in a bracket final at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.

The Bobcats advanced to the league title game for the third time in program history and first time since 1997. Ohio went on to win the MAC crown and advance to the NCAA Championship in '97 with a 7-6 win over Kent State, a year after falling to Akron, 15-6.

Ohio's victory marks the first time the Bobcats have won three games in the MAC Championship since 1997. Ohio took down Bowling Green, 6-2, on Wednesday (May 20) behind a complete game from junior right-handed starting pitcher Jake Miller (Westerville, Ohio), then defeated No. 7-seeded Western Michigan by a 4-1 margin in 11 innings courtesy of a six inning shutout performance by righty relief pitcher Logan Cozart (New Philadelphia, Ohio) and three 11th-inning home runs on Thursday (May 21).

With Saturday's win, the Bobcats have won 35 games in a season for the first time since 2003.

The 'Cats will take on No. 5-seeded Ball State in the 2015 MAC Championship Game on Sunday (May 24) at noon ET. Ohio will meet Ball State for the first time in 2015. The two squads will be meeting for the first-time ever in the conference title game. The Bobcats have taken five of the previous six meetings from the Cardinals in the league tournament. 

Ball State used a 3-2 win over No. 4-seeded Toledo in the opening round of the 2015 MAC Championship on Wednesday, then took down No. 8-seeded Akron, 9-6, on Thursday to advance to the bracket final. The Zips overcame an 8-1 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning by scoring eight runs for a 9-8 win over the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon to force a winner-to-the-title-game elimination game. Ball State answered by scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth Saturday evening to rally for a 9-8 win, punching a ticket to the MAC Championship Game.

Because Ohio has not lost a MAC Championship Game and Ball State has one loss, should the Cardinals beat the Bobcats in the noon ET game on Sunday, a winner-take-all second 2015 MAC Championship Game will be played approximately 40 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.




HOW IT HAPPENED
- Sitz pitched the first no-hitter against a NCAA Division I opponent in Ohio baseball history, twirling nine shutout innings. He allowed five walks while striking out four. Sitz improved to 7-2 on the season.
- Sophomore Mitch Longo (Mayfield, Ohio) was 3-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk.
- Redshirt junior Cody Gaertner (Pittsburgh, Pa.) went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
- Junior John Adryan (Delran, N.J.) finished 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Junior Manny De Jesus (Caguas, Puerto Rico) went 1-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and one run scored.
- Senior Jake Madsen (Cincinnati, Ohio) doubled, walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
- Senior Tyler Wells (Lexington, Ky.) doubled and picked up an RBI.
- Senor right-handed starting pitcher Trevor Blaylock suffered the loss on the mound for Bowling Green, giving up three earned runs on seven hits and a walk in 2.1 frames. He fanned three.
- Freshman southpaw reliever Kody Brown allowed two earned runs on two hits and three walks in one inning for the Falcons. He struck out one.
- Bowling Green redshirt sophomore right-handed reliever Rob Zenas gave up one earned run on four hits and two walks over four innings.
- Redshirt senior Brandon Howard and redshirt sophomore Tyler Greiner each drew two walks for the Falcons.
- Ohio struck for two runs in the bottom of the second inning on a two-run single by De Jesus, scoring both sophomore Ty Black (Waynesville, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Nate Squires (Plain City, Ohio). Both Black and Squires reached base on two-out singles and advanced to second and third base, respectively, via a wild pitch.
- The Bobcats tacked on another run in the third when Wells doubled home Madsen, who had hit a one-out double and advanced to third on a single by Gaertner before the Wells hit drove him in.
- Ohio loaded up the bases in the top of the fourth with three consecutive singles by De Jesus, redshirt senior Garrett Black (Lima, Ohio) and Longo. Madsen followed that up with a sacrifice fly to deep right, scoring De Jesus. Gaertner then poked a single through the right side to bring home Garrett Black and provide the Bobcats with a 5-0 lead through four innings.
- Longo added to the lead in the bottom of the sixth as the 2015 MAC Player of the Year put a solo blast over the right-center field wall -- his team-leading seventh round tripper of the year.
- After forcing Bowling Green to strand two in the eighth, Sitz came back out to toss the ninth. He got Keegan to ground out to short for the first out and junior Matt Smith to fly out to right for the second. He then fanned sophomore Greg Basalyga to complete the no-hitter and punch Ohio's ticket to the MAC title game.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Ohio has won 20 of its last 28 games -- including 16 of its last 21.
- Third-year head coach Rob Smith picked up his third MAC Championship victory and joins Joe Carbone as the only head coaches to guide Ohio to a league championship game berth.
- Sitz's no-hitter marked the first by a Bobcat since Bob White baffled Ohio Wesleyan in 1996. It also marked the first no-hitter by a MAC pitcher since April 10, 2009, when Kent State's Brad Stillings blanked Toledo.
- Ohio finished with double-digit hits for the 26th time in 2015
- Longo recorded his team-leading 23rd multi-hit game of the season and ninth with at least three hits.
- Gaertner tallied his 20th multi-hit game of the year and fifth with at least threen hits.
- De Jesus posted his seventh multi-RBI contest of the season.
- Madsen, a 2015 First Team All-MAC pick, upped his program all-time hits record total to 282.
- Garrett Black has hit safely in a team-high 13 straight games and has reached base safely in a team-high 16 straight games.
- Wells has reached base safely in 13 straight games while Ty Black did so for the 12th straight game.

QUOTABLE
Third-Year Head Coach Rob Smith:
"It was good for us to get on the board early. I think you come into these games and when you get momentum quickly, it gives a good vibe in the dugout. The more momentum you continue to get, the more believeable it became that we could win that game, and then, obviously, as the game continued with what Connor was doing, I think our confidence grew."

Junior Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Connor Sitz:
"It's surreal. I'm still shaking a little bit. I think I'll stop when we get on the bus or in the locker room, but I definitely didn't wake up this morning and expect to see that. I'm just glad we got the win. That's the goal."

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