AVON, Ohio- No. 3 seeded Ohio hit three solo home runs in the top of the 11th to break a 1-1 tie and defeat No. 7 Western Michigan 4-1 Thursday, sending the Broncos into the one-loss bracket. WMU (22-29) will face No. 6 Bowling Green (24-28) Friday in an elimination game at 1 p.m.
Western Michigan was the first to get on the board with a run in the bottom of the first. Ohio answered with a run in the top of the second. The score remained knotted until the Bobcats put the game away with the three long balls in the top of the 11th.
Jake Madsen led off with the first home run to right center off of WMU freshman reliever
Jacob Piechota. In the next at bat, Cody Gaertner put a ball out down the right line off of freshman
Peyton Gray. With two outs, Ty Black hit a third home run to left field.
Western Michigan missed its opportunities to pull ahead in the contest, leaving nine runners on base, including a runner on third in the seventh and a runner in scoring position in the sixth, ninth and 10th innings.
Kurt Hoekstra hit a leadoff single in the sixth, knocking Ohio starter Jake Rudnicki out of the game. Logan Cozart came in and retired the next three Broncos he faced.
Nick Vogelmeier drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh and pinch hitter
Drew Farmer dropped a ball down the line in shallow right. Vogelmeier easily advanced to third, but Farmer was gunned down for a costly second out trying to stretch the double. A ground ball by
Grant Miller ended the inning.
Tanner Allison was left stranded at second after a one-out double in the ninth. In the bottom of the 10th, Ohio's Mitch Longo made a game-saving catch for the Bobcats in left field. WMU's
Tyler Frank had taken a free pass with a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sac bunt. Designated hitter
Mitchell Ho hit a ball on the screws, but Longo sprinted backwards and made a leaping catch.
Despite a solid relief appearance, Piechota (2-2) was the tough-luck loser for Western Michigan, taking the loss in 3.1 innings pitched.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher
Keegan Akin gave his eighth quality start of the season, yielding just five hits and one run over 6.2 innings. He struck out six Bobcats and walked only two.
Miller scored WMU's run in the first after being hit by a pitch in the opening at bat. Ho followed with a walk and Hoekstra reached on a fielder's choice. Miller went on to score from third on a wild pitch.
Cozart (7-1) picked up the win in relief for Ohio (34-19), allowing just two hits over six scoreless innings.
GAME NOTES• Miller added to his school single-season record with his 22nd HBP, haven broken the previous record of 16 earlier this season ... he has been HBP 34 times in his career, six shy of trying the school record (40).
• Western Michigan had five hits by different players in the game - Ho, Hoekstra, Allison, Farmer and Vogelmeier.
• The five runs ties the lowest combined total for Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament.
• Western Michigan defeated its upcoming opponent, Bowling Green 7-4 last year in the MAC Tournament, eliminating the then-defending conference champion Falcons. WMU was the No. 8 seed and BGSU was the No. 5 seed.
