Baseball Hosts Toledo For Mac

March 29, 2007 ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio baseball team hosts its first Mid-American Conference series of the season this weekend when the Bobcats welcome Toledo for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. In Bob Wren Stadium. Game two of the series will be Saturday, with first pitch again coming at 6 p.m. The three-game set will conclude with a 1 p.m. Start time on Sunday.

Ohio (9-11, 0-3) has posted a 9-2 record at home this season but has lost its last five games, including a three-game sweep last weekend in the Mid-American Conference opening series at Northern Illinois. Toledo (7-10, 0-3) was swept by Miami in its conference-opening series last weekend and is also looking to break into the win column in MAC play.

Baseball Hosts Toledo For Macy's

The Bobcats were rained out Wednesday against Marshall and were last in action in a 14-7 home loss to Youngstown State on Tuesday. Ohio allowed five runs on two home runs in the first inning and never recovered. Freshman Marc Krauss (Deshler, Ohio) homered three times in the loss for his first three career home runs. He became the first Bobcat since March 9, 2003 to hit three home runs in one game. Prior to the loss to the Penguins, Ohio was swept in three games last weekend in the Mid-American Conference opening series at Northern Illinois. The Bobcats dropped a 6-4 decision to the Huskies in the opener on Friday after allowing five runs in the third inning. Ohio battled for four runs in the final four innings and had the tying run at the plate in the ninth but could not complete the comeback.

The Bobcats fell in game two of the series by a score of 5-4 in 10 innings. Ohio carried a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning but could not hold on.

The `Cats scored three times in the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead and added an insurance run in the eighth, but NIU tied the contest in the eighth and won it with a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th. The Bobcats dropped a 7-2 decision in the series finale Sunday and stranded eight men on base in the contest. Ohio jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning but managed just one run the rest of the way. The Pitching Probables (Ohio's probable listed first) Fri. 3/30 - Toledo, 6 p.m.

Baseball Hosts Toledo For Macy

#14 Matt Smith (Jr., LHP, 6-3, 190) 2-2, 6.92 ERA, 26 IP, 20 ER, 28 K, 19 BB #10 Kyle Rawlings (Jr., LHP, 6-2, 186) 0-2, 5.40 ERA, 21.2 IP, 13 ER, 16 K, 9 BB Sat. 3/31 - Toledo, 6 p.m. #25 Zeke Isaacs (Sr., RHP, 6-2, 190) 0-0, 5.62 ERA, 24 IP, 15 ER, 23 K, 10 BB #20 Mike Inselmann (So., RHP, 6-3, 192) 1-2, 4.05 ERA, 20 IP, 9 ER, 13 K, 9 BB Sun.

4/1 - Toledo, 1 p.m. #39 Dan Weiss (Sr., LHP, 6-2, 205) 2-3, 5.00 ERA, 27 IP, 15 ER, 21 K, 14 BB #18 Todd Thomas (Sr., RHP, 6-5, 200) 3-2, 6.38 ERA, 24 IP, 17 ER, 6 K, 7 BB The Coaches Ohio's Joe Carbone is in his 19th season at Ohio and has posted a 542-446-2 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.

Baseball Hosts Toledo For Mac

Toledo's Cory Mee is in his fourth season as head coach of the Rockets and has posted a 68-111 record heading into play this weekend. Quick Hits - Ohio owns a 28-22 advantage in the all-time series against Toledo since Carbone became Ohio's head coach in 1989. Toledo took two of three from the Bobcats in Toledo last season. Ohio was 8-7 in MAC play at home in 2006.

Ohio is 9-2 at home this season and 6-2 at Bob Wren Stadium. Junior Matt Stiffler (Bellbrook, Ohio) is hitting.405 at home this year, with 12 of his 19 RBI coming at home. Stiffler's 21 walks leads the MAC while Krauss' 16 is good for second. Krauss' last nine hits have gone for extra bases dating back to March 10. An Ohio starting pitcher has not gone more than 4.1 innings in the last six contests (1-5). Fun at the Ballpark This weekend's series will feature a pair of promotions at the ballpark. Friday is Autographed Baseball Day, with the first 50 fans through the gates receiving a free baseball autographed by a Bobcat player.

Sunday is Pack the Park Day, with all tickets just $1 and the first 50 fans through the gates receiving a voucher for free ice cream from Sonic.