May 10, 2007

ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio baseball team will play in front of its home crowd for the final time in the 2007 season this weekend when the Bobcats host a three-game series with Miami beginning Friday at 6 p.m. in Bob Wren Stadium.

Ohio-Miami Game One Notes
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Ohio (20-28, 5-16) and Miami (26-18, 13-6) will resume the series Saturday at 6 p.m. and play the three-game finale Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games can be heard on WATH 970 AM or online at ohiobobcats.com. Derek Scott will have the call for Friday's game with Andy Howell and Dan Griffin on the call the rest of the weekend.

The Bobcats have been red hot as of late with the bats as the team is hitting .410 over the past seven games and has recorded at least 10 hits in each of those contests. Ohio has won five of those seven games. Miami has won seven of its last nine contests but has lost two of three since putting together a six-game win streak.

Ohio was last in action on Wednesday in a 6-4, non-conference road loss at West Virginia. The Bobcats allowed four runs in the first inning and could not claw back. Ohio was also in action Tuesday when the Bobcat bats exploded for a season-best 20 runs in a 20-3 home victory against Dayton. A total of 13 different Bobcats collected at least one hit while 11 Bobcats tallied at least one RBI and 10 scored at least one run.

The Bobcats were last in MAC action last weekend and took two of three from East Division foe Akron. Ohio put on its hitting shoes with 54 hits and 32 runs scored in the series. The Bobcats took the opener 13-6, erasing an early 3-0 deficit.

Ohio dropped game two of the series by a score of 15-7 but rebounded with a 12-8 win in the rubber match. Ohio led by as much as 8-0 but Akron climbed to within a run before Ohio tacked on some insurance with a two-run home run from sophomore Chris Klimko (McKeesport, Pa.) in the eighth inning.

Players to Watch
Sophomore Chris Rigo (Westlake, Ohio) will get the start for Ohio Friday against Miami ace and 2006 All-MAC First Team selection John Ely. Rigo will make his seventh start of the season Friday and has a 1-3 record and a 5.97 ERA in his six starts this season. He has made five starts in MAC play with a 6.54 ERA. Ely has been lights out again for Miami as he is 7-2 with a 2.83 ERA on the year. Ely defeated Ohio last season as he limited the Bobcats to one earned run on three hits in seven innings.

At the plate, junior Zach Hartle (Toledo, Ohio) carries a nine-game hitting streak into action Friday. He is 16-for-37 (.432) with six RBI and 10 runs scored during the streak from the lower part of the lineup. The nine-game streak is the third longest by a Bobcat this season. Brandon Besl's 13-game streak was the longest.

Junior Matt Stiffler (Bellbrook, Ohio) and senior Willie Walker (Marysville, Ohio) have also been on fire at the plate. Stiffler is 29-for-61 (.475) with three home runs, 16 RBI and 20 runs scored in the last 14 games. Walker has gone 18-for-29 (.586) over the past six games with 14 RBI and six runs scored.

The Pitching Probables
(Ohio's probable listed first)
Fri., 5/11 - vs. Miami, 6 p.m.
#33 Chris Rigo (So., RHP, 6-3, 185)
1-3, 5.10 ERA, 54.2 IP, 31 ER, 31 K, 23 BB

#23 John Ely (Jr., RHP, 6-2, 190)
7-2, 2.83 ERA, 82.2 IP, 26 ER, 78 K, 21 BB

Sat., 5/12 - vs. Miami, 6 p.m.
#27 Kevin Mementowski (So., RHP, 5-10, 190)
3-2, 3.44 ERA, 52.1 IP, 20 ER, 32 K, 17 BB

#36 Connor Graham (Jr., RHP, 6-6, 233)
5-3, 4.19 ERA, 62.1 IP, 29 ER, 64 K, 27 BB

Sun., 5/13 - vs. Miami, 1 p.m.
#30 Matt Schlarb (So., RHP, 6-1, 188)
7-2, 4.72 ERA, 53.1 IP, 28 ER, 35 K, 28 BB

Miami Pitcher TBA

The Coaches Ohio's Joe Carbone is in his 19th season at Ohio and has posted a 553-463-2 record. Carbone is second all-time in the MAC in both overall and conference wins. He passed Stan Sanders for second place on the MAC all-time wins list March 3 with a win over Otterbein. Miami's Dan Simonds is in his second season with the RedHawks and has led them to a 59-43 record heading into play Friday.

Quick Hits
- Ohio is 38-36 all-time against Miami since Carbone became head coach in 1989.
- Miami took two of three from Ohio last season in Oxford. The Bobcats won game one 7-4 but then fell 11-5 and 6-2.
- Ohio has not won a season series against Miami since taking three of four in 2002.
- Matt Stiffler is now in sole possession of 3rd place on Ohio's single season walks list with 41. Stiffler will tie Jeff Rook for second on the list with his next free pass.
- Ohio has recorded at least 10 hits in each of the last seven games. The Bobcats are hitting .410 during that span.

Fun at Bob Wren Stadium
There's a lot going on at Bob Wren Stadium this weekend in Ohio's final home series of the year. Saturday is Strike Out Cancer Day, with all ticket proceeds going to lung cancer research via the American Cancer Society. Saturday is also Scout Day, with any kids in their boy scout or girl scout uniforms earning free admission. The Bobcats will also honor the 10-year anniversary of the 1997 Ohio baseball team on Saturday and will present several returning members of that famous team with their jerseys from that season prior to first pitch.

Sunday will be Senior Day at the ballpark with all 10 seniors on this year's team being honored. Sunday is also Sonic Ice Cream Sunday, with the first 50 fans through the gates receiving a free coupon for ice cream from Sonic.