Oct. 26, 2008

ATHENS, Ohio - After Friday's scheduled opener of the Green and White Series was rained out, the Ohio baseball team finally took the field at Bob Wren Stadium for the first game of the intra-team series Saturday afternoon, with the White team taking a 12-2 victory.

"The White team came out ready to swing the bat," head coach Joe Carbone said. "They were very aggressive, hitting the ball well and running the bases well. They took advantage of some miscues to easily defeat the Green team."

Green took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, when freshman shortstop Bobby Martin (Crystal Lake, Ill.) scored an unearned run on an error. The lead didn't last long however, as the White squad pushed five runs across the plate in the next half inning. Freshman second baseman Julian McWilliams (New York, N.Y.) drove in two runs on a single and senior center fielder Hayden Johnston (Strattanville, Pa.) hit a three-run home run to left-center field.

The White team tacked on another run in the third inning and two more in the fourth, as sophomore first baseman Robert Maddox III (Euclid, Ohio) scored two runs when he went deep to give White an 8-1 lead though four innings.

An unearned run in the bottom of the fifth closed the gap for the Green team at 8-2, but the White squad was not to be outdone, as they closed the door with a four-run seventh inning. Junior third baseman Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) smashed a two-run home run to left field to cap off the outburst, after sophomore left fielder Gauntlett Eldemire (Shaker Heights, Ohio) and Johnston drove in runs.

The eight-inning scrimmage lasted roughly two and a half hours and saw nine pitchers take the mound. Freshman Nick Egan (Wheaton, Ill.) pitched two innings of shutout baseball for the White team, allowing two hits, while striking out two batters. Junior Bryce Butt (Omaha, Neb.), another newcomer to the Bobcat program, was impressive as well for White, pitching two innings of no-hit baseball.

The White squad smacked 16 hits, while the Green team had just four. Johnston and Krauss led the way for White, as Johnston went 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs and two runs, while Krauss was 3-of-5 with 2 RBIs and two runs. McWilliams finished 3-of-4 with a pair of runs and a pair of RBIs, while Eldemire had two hits, an RBI and two runs.

The Bobcats will complete their Green and White Series Sunday at 2 p.m. at Bob Wren Stadium. Sunday is also Scout Day, as players will work out for Major League scouts starting at 1 p.m.