Baseball

As the school year winds down, so does the college baseball season. But for the first time in five years, the Ohio Bobcats are still playing in late May, as they prepare for their first Mid-American Conference Tournament since 2003.

The Ohio Bobcats' baseball series against the Bowling Green Falcons last weekend was a classic example of Murphy’s Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

While Ohio University’s Robert Maddox III just missed the opportunity to fulfill his lifelong dream of making baseball a career this past summer, the Bobcat freshman first baseman still has plenty of time.

In eight of the last nine Ohio University baseball games, the Bobcats have scored at least 13 runs, and in the last two games the temperature has been at least 70 degrees.

It took 14 runs, 14 hits and over four hours, but the Ohio Bobcats (16-16, 8-4 Mid-American Conference) were finally able to pull out a win Sunday afternoon against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-22, 7-2 MAC) after losing their last four games.

The bad news for the Ohio University baseball team is that it lost a nonconference game to the Xavier Musketeers 8-5 on Tuesday night. The good news is senior Matt Stiffler extended his hitting streak to 23 games.

Over the past decade or so, the sport of baseball has undergone an evolution. Collegiate and even Little League levels have gotten national exposure on ESPN, and NCAA baseball video games have been released. With all the added hype, however, smaller teams like OU have yet to find their place on the main stage.

The Ohio Bobcat baseball team entered Sunday's series finale against Miami University with the hopes of completing a sweep over their rival, but it didn’t take long for those plans to get spoiled. The Bobcats allowed six runs in each of the first three innings, creating an insurmountable lead for the Bobcats that led to their 18-4 defeat on Senior Day.

After beginning the season 1-16 away from Bob Wren Stadium, the Bobcats finally found a way to put together a pair of consecutive road wins.

On Tuesday Ohio (17-26, 3-15 MAC) traveled north and easily defeated Cleveland State 8-0 after the game was called on account of lightning in the sixth. Wednesday’s trip to Pittsburgh brought the Bobcats another victory, and the team came back to Athens with their first two-game road win streak of the year.

Marc Krauss' game-tying, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth was his second of the game, and it helped propel the Bobcats to a walk-off win after Jared Willis knocked a single in the bottom of the 11th inning.

While most Ohio students were out lying on the beach, the Ohio baseball team was out on the diamond looking to extend its pattern of victory after winning nine out of its last 10 games.

It’s no wonder freshman Marc Krauss has had such an immediate impact on the Ohio baseball team. Coming out of high school, he was one of the best players in the state...at football.