Robert Maddox III made sure there would be no offensive decline in Gauntlett Eldemire's absence.
The junior left fielder's nine hits and eight RBIs paced an offense that scored 35 runs en route to winning two of three games against Northern Illinois (12-22, 5-7 Mid-American Conference) this weekend in DeKalb, Ill.
The Bobcats (10-23, 6-6 MAC) have won seven of their last eight games and reached .500 in the MAC for the first time since the opening weekend of conference play.
We feel fortunate to come in here (and win) - the trip is so long and it's really a tough place to play
said coach Joe Carbone. We won two games against what we think is a pretty good team.
Maddox homered in the first two games of the series and fell just a double short of hitting for the cycle Saturday, as the offense continued to produce runs without its leading hitter.
Robert pretty much carried us Carbone said. We had some other guys pick up the slack but (Eldemire) is still not ready to play.
Eldemire, widely considered one of the top players in the MAC, pinch-ran in the seventh inning yesterday and finished the game in center field. The junior had not played at all in the previous five games after being hit in the wrist by a pitch last Friday.
Carbone said he used Eldemire for defensive purposes and that he hopes his center fielder will be ready to play next weekend.
The Bobcats' comeback fell short Friday. After falling into a 7-1 hole, Ohio rallied and almost overtook the Huskies. Maddox's three-run home run in the seventh made it 7-5.
Ohio scored another in the ninth to close within 7-6, but catcher Kris McDonough flew out to centerfield with two men on base to end the game.
But the Bobcats responded with 17 hits and 20 runs Saturday. They broke the game open by scoring seven runs apiece in both the third and sixth innings and won 20-9.
In the rubber match, the Bobcats scored in every inning from the fourth to the seventh and held off a ninth-inning rally to win 9-7 and also win their second-consecutive series.
We swung the bats pretty well this weekend
but there's no guarantee (the hitting) can continue next weekend
Carbone said. Hopefully it does carry over - but we are showing some thorough promise at the plate.
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Sports
Vince Nairn
