Gauntlett Eldemire raced around third base and touched home plate as a clutch hit by Robert Maddox III sealed a Bobcat victory.
The junior left fielder's two-out RBI single to center field in the 11th inning gave the Bobcats (11-23) a walk-off 2-1 win against Cincinnati last night at the V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
It was a two-strike base-hit against their closer
a guy that throws real hard said coach Joe Carbone. (Maddox) did a great job hitting in that situation.
Eldemire started for the first time in seven games. The junior center fielder wasted no time reminding everybody why he was a preseason All-American, homering in his first at-bat to give Ohio a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
But his base-running prowess at the end of the game helped secure the victory.
Cincinnati pitcher Andrew Strenge retired the first two Bobcats in the bottom of the 11th inning before Eldemire stepped to the plate. He singled to left field and stole second base a few pitches later.
Eldemire advanced to third on a wild pitch by Strenge, and a walk to Jerod Yakubik brought Maddox to the plate.
It feels good to have (Eldemire) back in the lineup Carbone said. He's got that combination of speed and power
which does so many things for you offensively - plus he covers a lot of ground defensively.
He's one of those special players you need to have in your lineup all the time.
The Bobcats celebrated their eighth victory in their last nine games. Despite going into extra innings, the contest took just 2 hours, 43 minutes to complete.
Ohio's pitching staff dominated Bearcat hitters all night. The Bobcats allowed just two hits. Carbone used seven relievers after starter Michael Dillon pitched just 1 1/3 innings.
Bearcat first baseman Kevin Johnson led off the fifth inning with a solo home run off Brock Trimbur to tie the game at one, but the Bearcats (18-17) did not manage another hit for the rest of the game.
Trimbur combined with Brent Choban, Rex Ingham, Andrew Danko, Brett Barber and Tyler Backstrom to no-hit Cincinnati through the final 21 outs of the game.
Backstrom recorded the final two outs in the 11th inning to record the win.
(The pitchers) all did a very good job
Carbone said. They all came in and threw strikes for the most part
and did a good job in the amount of time they were in there.
Cincinnati matched the Bobcats pitch-for-pitch for most of the game. After Eldemire's home run, only one Bobcat reached as far as second base until the last two innings of the game.
It was a good college baseball game - both teams played hard
Carbone said. We feel good about the win.
Yakubik extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a double to center field in the sixth inning.
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Sports
Vince Nairn
