OHIO Baseball
Freshman bopper puts on another show in walk-off win
Bobcat baseball blog
By Zach Swartz, Staff Writer
April 27, 2007 | 1:28 p.m.
Considering the Bobcats’ trend this season of coming up with a rally too little and too late, it didn’t look very promising when the green and white failed to score in the eighth inning with bases loaded and two outs, trailing by two to Marshall on Wednesday.
When Marc Krauss stepped to the plate with one out in the ninth and a runner on first, it seemed only a matter of time before he would do what he does best. He slammed a game-tying home run 400 feet over the left-center-field wall, propelling the game into extra innings. In the 11th, Matt Stiffler rocketed a double to right, and Jared Willis drove him in when the ball he knocked to left rolled under the left fielder’s glove.
The ‘Cats finally found a way to win.
“It was big,” Krauss said. “We finally got some things going our way, and hopefully we can continue doing that and continue working. We’ve always battled back when we’ve been down, and a lot of times we’ve been coming up short, but we battled back, and we came through in the 11th, and it’s going to be nothing but a boost of confidence coming up to the weekend.”
A boost of confidence couldn’t have come any sooner. The Bobcats (15-23, 3-12 MAC) lost two of three games to the abysmal Buffalo Bulls (7-25, 6-9 MAC) over the weekend, including a heartbreaking loss on Sunday when they scored nine runs in the seventh inning to make it a one-run game, only to lose the game 13-10. Ohio trailed 5-0 after the first four innings of Wednesday’s game, but this time, their rally did not fall short.
Krauss’ ninth-inning home run was his second of the game and his eighth of the season, which leads the team, and the freshman has emerged as the elite power-hitter on his team. The former high school football phenomenon leads the Bobcats in batting average (.366), home runs (8), doubles (15), RBIs (32), slugging percentage (.679) and on-base percentage (.478). He is also second on the team in hits (48) and runs scored (30). On March 27, Krauss became the first Bobcat since 2003 to hit three home runs in one game.
When asked if he was surprised about Krauss’ performance thus far, head coach Joe Carbone responded no. “I’ve always felt he could do that,” he said. “I felt if he gave up football, he would get a lot better in baseball. I’ve always felt that about him, and I think he can get better than what he is right now.”
Krauss’ performance overshadowed Ohio’s bullpen, however, which stepped up its game immensely on Wednesday by throwing eight innings and allowing only four runs. Cody Neyman, who had not seen game action since April 1, threw two and a third innings while giving up just three hits and an earned run, and John Angelicchi gave up just one hit in 1.2 innings of work. Matt Schlarb, who took the mound in the 10th and got the win, struck out two and allowed just a single in his two innings of work.
This came from a pitching staff whose total ERA is 5.36 and which has six pitchers with ERAs over six. Starters Matt Smith and Zeke Isaacs are out with injuries. Nevertheless, Bobcat pitching finally found a way to get the job done.
Marshall’s starting pitcher Adam Dobies worked into the eighth inning and gave up eight hits and four runs while striking out six.
Ohio center fielder Willie Walker went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, and second baseman Bryant Witt went 2-5 with two RBIs.
The win, no matter how exciting, was a little bittersweet, Krauss said. “I’d rather be hitting .250 and us be the first place team in the MAC than be hitting as well as I am and us struggling in the MAC,” he said. “But everybody’s got to keep working. You can’t control all of that…. When you do something good, you’ve got to pat yourself on the back because seven out of 10 times, you’re not doing something good, so you’ve got to kind of savor the bigger things.”
This could be the game that gets them off the snide.
“It was more of a relief of ‘Hey, I tied the game up,’” Krauss said. “That was a good relief. Basically I wasn’t worried about if I did get a home run or not, but it worked out that I got a couple, and we got a win so it was a great day.”
The Bobcats travel to Kent State this weekend to take on the Golden Flashes (17-22, 8-7 MAC).