FINAL: Ohio 9 (9-10), Purdue 2 (4-12) - Kokomo, Ind. (Kokomo Municipal Stadium)

OHIO STARTERS: Manny De Jesus (CF), Tyler Finkler (SS), Mitch Longo (LF), John Adryan (3B), Cody Gaertner (DH), Rudy Rott (1B), Spencer Ibarra (RF), Anthony Mrosla (C), Mateus Vakuda (2B), Connor Sitz

PURDUE STARTERS: Cody Strong (2B), Jack Picchiotti (C), Kyle Johnson (CF), Jacson McGowan (DH), Kyle Wood (1B), Nick Dalesandro (LF), Mike Kornacker (3B), Alec Olund (RF), Harry Shipley (SS), Tanner Schumacher (P)

THE BASICS
Behind a big day at the plate by freshman first baseman Rudy Rott (Holmen, Wis.) and a strong effort on the mound by senior right-handed starting pitcher Connor Sitz (Westerville, Ohio), the Ohio baseball team (9-10) knocked off Purdue (4-12), 9-2, on Sunday (March 20) at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo, Ind.

The Bobcats clinched the weekend series win over the Boilermakers with Sunday's victory. Ohio recorded a 6-4 victory in the series opener between the two teams on Friday (March 18), then fell to Purdue in 15 innings on Saturday (March 19), 5-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ohio's bats tallied 11 hits while the pitching staff limited Purdue to just five hits.
• Rott recorded two doubles, walked once, posted three RBI and scored a run.
• Junior left fielder Mitch Longo (Mayfield, Ohio) and senior center fielder Manny De Jesus (Caguas, Puerto Rico) each totaled two singles. Longo drove in a run and scored a run while De Jesus walked and scored a run.
• Sitz scattered five hits over seven frames and allowed two earned runs. He struck out four en route to improving to 2-1 on the year.
• Sophomore right-handed reliever Logan Jacik (Omaha, Neb.) fanned two over two perfect frames of work.
• Redshirt junior right-handed starting pitcher Tanner Schumacher took the loss on the mound for Purdue, falling to 1-3 on the season. He surrendered four earned runs on three hits and two walks in 0.1 innings.
• Junior shortstop Tyler Finkler (Olmsted Falls, Ohio) coaxed a one-out walk, then advanced to second on a Purdue miscue to get things started. Longo followed by legging out an infield single to third. Senior third baseman John Adryan (Delran, N.J.) plated the game's first run by shooting a double down the right field line to score Finkler. After redshirt senior designated hitter Cody Gaertner (Pittsburgh, Pa.) drew a walk to load the bases with Bobcats, Rott stroked a three-RBI double down the right field line to put Ohio ahead, 4-0.
• The Bobcats made it 6-0 with two more runs in the third. Gaertner drew a leadoff walk, then Rott doubled down the right field line for a second time. After junior right fielder Spencer Ibarra (Fort Collins, Colo.) coaxed a walk to load the bases, junior catcher Anthony Mrosla (Coon Rapids, Minn.) doubled home Gaertner and Rott with a hit to left center.
• Ohio's lead swelled to 7-0 in the sixth when junior second baseman Mateus Vakuda (Sao Paulo, Brazil) beat out an infield single to short, advanced to second one out later on a walk by Finkler and then scored on a base hit through the left side by Longo.
• The Boilermakers got runs back in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings. Senior second baseman Cody Strong hit a one-out single down the right field line and later scored on a wild pitch to break the shutout in the sixth. Redshirt senior first baseman Kyle Wood smacked a leadoff home run to right in the seventh -- his sixth dinger of the season -- to cut Ohio's lead to 7-2.
• The Bobcats made it a final score of 9-2 with a pair of runs in the eighth. De Jesus got the frame started with a single through the right side. He moved to second after Finkler was hit by a pitch, then to third on a fly out to right by Longo. After Finkler stole second and Adryan walked, Gaertner brought home both De Jesus and Finkler with a base hit through the right side.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio earned its third weekend series win in five tries in 2016.
• The Bobcats have finished with double-digit hits in 12 of 19 games this season.
• Ohio's pitching staff did not surrender a walk for the first time this year.
• Rott leads the Bobcats with eight doubles. He has tallied a team-high six multi-RBI games this year and is tied for third on the team with De Jesus with seven multi-hit games. Rott has driven in at least three runs a team-high four times this year.
• Longo has now notched eight multi-hit games this year to rank second on the team.
• Mrosla recorded his first multi-RBI contest of the season and first double of the year.
• Adryan has now logged seven doubles on the year to tie for second on the team with Finkler.

UP NEXT
Ohio opens a five-game homestand on Tuesday (March 22), taking on Youngstown State (4-12) at Bob Wren Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.

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