COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Bobcat southpaw starter Brent Choban held the Golden Eagles scoreless through 7.1 innings of work, while the Ohio bullpen finished the job to give them the final 4-0 win in Sunday's series finale.
Choban allowed only four hits and three walks, striking out three in 29 batters faced, while the Bobcat offense worked the Tech bullpen for four runs on nine hits. Ben Burgess led the Golden Eagles with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, and Austin Wulf, Casanova Donaldson and freshman Zach Flynn each chipped in with one hit apiece.
Ohio put a run on the board in the top of the first, second and fifth, kicking off the scoring with a single by Bryan Barnes to left center. Barnes advanced to second on a groundout and with two outs, came across the plate on an error.
Kory Burkhart singled and stole second to put himself in scoring position for Wes O'Neill's base hit in the second, and Dan Ward and Trace Voshell each notched hits to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead in the fifth.
Tech's biggest threat of the game came in the bottom of the eighth inning, after Chad Oberacker walked and the Bobcats pulled Choban for reliever Bryan Large. Burgess notched his second hit of the game, putting Oberacker in scoring position. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, while Zach Stephens walked to load the bases with one out.
Marck Paliotto came in to get Large out of the jam, and notched a K on Casanova Donaldson and forced a fly out by Michael Morris to center field to close the inning with three men left on.
The Bobcats notched one more run in the top of the ninth with hits from Newton and Ward. Of the seven players with hits for Ohio, Ward led the team with a 3-for-5 effort, including one RBI.
Senior lefty and designated hitter Chad Oberacker hurled the first five innings of the game for Tech, striking out five and allowing three runs on six hits. Freshman Justin Alexander put in 3.2 innings of work, giving up one run on three hits. Oberacker was credited with the loss on his first start of the season, while Choban's win put his record to 1-1.
Tech will head into a two-game mid-week series with Charlotte on the road with a 4-8 record, while the Bobcats will return home for their next two series' with a record of 4-7.
