May 8, 2008

ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio baseball team plays its final home series of the 2008 season this weekend when it welcomes rival Miami to Bob Wren Stadium for a three-game set. Ohio (22-27, 9-12) will be looking to end a five-game Mid-American Conference losing streak and put itself back in contention for the MAC Tournament. First pitch for the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday.

Ohio Baseball This Weekend
- Ohio vs. Miami - Friday, May 9 (6 p.m.)
Friday's game is "Camp-Out with the `Cats" where kids 8-14 are invited to camp out on the field after the game.

- Ohio vs. Miami - Saturday, May 10 (3 p.m.)
At Saturday's game the Bobcats will welcome back members of the 1968 Ohio baseball team for the team's 40 year reunion. The '68 team went 23-6 and a perfect 9-0 in the MAC on its way to the conference championship. The '68 team's perfect record in MAC play remains the only unbeaten record in conference play by an Ohio team.

- Ohio vs. Miami - Sunday, May 11 (1 p.m.)
Sunday will be Senior Day for the Bobcats, where seven Ohio seniors will be honored. The game will mark the final home contest for seniors John Angelicchi, Zach Hartle, Kyle Heppeard, Cody Neyman, Jason Selhorst, Matt Smith, and Matt Stiffler.

Fans can listen to pitch-by-pitch action of Friday and Sunday's game on WXTQ Power 105 radio in Athens, and can listen to a broadcast of Saturday's game on WATH 970. Caleb Troop and Brian Boesch will have the call. Live stats for all three games will be available at OhioBobcats.com.

Pitching Probables
(Ohio's Listed First)
Friday
#33 Chris Rigo (Jr., RHP, 6-3, 205)
4-3, 5.79 ERA, 73.0 IP, 47 ER, 62 K, 32 BB

#30 Matt Erwood (Sr., LHP, 6-7, 240)
3-4, 4.48 ERA, 64.1 IP, 32 ER, 48 K, 12 BB

Saturday
#1 Zach Elmer (Jr., LHP, 5-11, 185)
3-3, 3.21 ERA, 56.0 IP, 20 ER, 35 K, 35 BB

#32 Chris Niro (Sr., RHP, 6-2, 205)
0-6, 5.56 ERA, 55.0 IP, 34 ER, 33 K, 30 BB

Sunday
#14 Matt Smith (Sr., LHP, 6-3, 190)
4-2, 4.91 ERA, 55.0 IP, 30 ER, 29 K, 22 BB

#3 Tyler Melling (Fr., LHP, 6-1, 146)
1-2, 5.72 ERA, 28.1 IP, 18 ER, 19 K, 10 BB

Scouting Miami
Miami enters this weekend's series with a 17-30 overall record and a 7-14 mark in conference. The RedHawks are batting .280 on the season, led by Tommy Nurre's .365 average. Nurre has been hot at the plate as of late, as he enters this game on a 14-game hitting streak. Nurre has 18 doubles and five home runs on the season, while teammate Jordan Petratis has 18 doubles and a team-high six homers. Miami's opponents are batting .288, including blasting 39 homers compared to just 20 RedHawk long balls on the season. On the hill, Miami has been led by Steve Antoniotti who has a 3.64 ERA and a 3-0 record this year.

All-Time Series
Ohio holds a 115-93-1 lead in the all-time series against Miami. Last year the RedHawks traveled to Athens and the Bobcats won two of three, marking the first time Ohio had won the season series since 2001. Ohio Head Coach Joe Carbone is 40-37 against Miami during his 20 seasons with Ohio.

Stiffler Streaking Again
Senior Matt Stiffler enters this weekend's series on a nine-game hitting streak. During the streak, Stiffler is batting .342 with 11 runs scored, five RBI, one double, one triple and three home runs. Earlier this season, Stiffler put together a 26-game hitting streak, the longest in Ohio baseball history.

Angelicchi Starts Again
Senior right-hander John Angelicchi has been a relief pitcher for Ohio through the majority of the season, making 17 appearances out of the bullpen, but over the last two weeks he has started two mid-week games for the Bobcats. On Wednesday Angelicchi made his most recent start, working 4.0 innings and allowing just four hits and two earned runs while striking out two. The right-hander went the first three innings without giving up a hit.

Multi-Home Run Games
Four times this season the Bobcats have had a player hit two home runs in one game. Freshman Robert Maddox III hit two long balls against UNC Greensboro (March 8) and senior Matt Stiffler has done it three times this year (Toledo/March 5, Cincinnati/April 22, Dayton/May 7). Stiffler leads the team with 13 home runs this season, one shy of breaking into the top 10 for a season at Ohio.

Seven-Game Skid Ends
The Bobcats ended a seven-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 13-9 win over Otterbein and then followed that victory with a 12-3 rain-shortened victory against Dayton. During the losing streak Ohio batted just .259 and had a team ERA of 7.25. Over the last two Ohio victories the Bobcats have bounced back, batting .365 and posting a 6.45 ERA to opponents' 13.15 ERA.

MAC Standings
Ohio enters this weekend's series in fourth place in the MAC East Division standings with a 9-12 record. The Bobcats are just behind Akron (7-8) in the third spot in the division. The top eight teams in the MAC qualify for the conference tournament in Chillicothe, Ohio. The top three teams in each division qualify and the final two spots will be filled by the two teams with the next best record, regardless of division. Ohio is currently in 10th in the overall MAC standings with a .429 conference winning percentage, but is just behind Western Michigan (8-10, .444) and Toledo (8-10, .444) in eighth and ninth place.

Stiffler in the Top 10
Matt Stiffler has already set the Ohio mark for career triples with 15, but he is also climbing the career records in several other categories. Entering this weekend, Stiffler is third in career runs scored (162), tied for sixth in total bases (338), ninth in hits (214) and 10th in doubles (40).

I'll Take Two Please
Junior third baseman Brandon Besl is having an outstanding season this year. Besl is leading the team in batting (.379), slugging percentage (.652), and is tied for second in homers (8). The Cincinnati, Ohio, native is also leading the Bobcats in doubles this season with 18, which is tied for the fifth-most in Ohio baseball history. Last year as a sophomore Besl totaled 17 doubles, and for his career he has 40 doubles, 10th-most all-time.