ELON, N.C. - First baseman Jerod Yakubik had three base hits and drove in four runs as Ohio University (1-2) banged out 18 hits en route to a 13-6 victory over the Tigers (1-2) in the final round of the Elon University Classic on Sunday afternoon.
The Bobcats, who never trailed in the game snapped a 5-5 tie with three runs in the sixth and nailed down the verdict with a five-run eighth inning.
"We didn't play well," said Towson Coach Mike Gottlieb. "It was very strange. Our pitchers struck out 12 batters but we gave up 18 hits. It's hard to win that way."
Ohio University, which lost its first two games of the Elon Classic, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when they reached Tiger junior Spencer Patton for three runs on five hits. RBI singles by Yakubik, Tyler Backstrom and Seth Streich gave the Bobcats a 3-0 lead.
In the second inning, a two-out double by Gauntlett Eldemire and a run-scoring single by Robert Maddox upped the lead to 4-0.
In the bottom of the second, senior first baseman Steve Yarsinsky put the Tigers on the scoreboard when he led off with a solo homer down the leftfield line.
The Bobcats increased their lead to 5-1 with a run in the third inning. After Streich doubled, he came around to score on an infield grounder.
In the bottom of the third, the Tigers rallied for three run to cut their deficit to 5-4. Junior second baseman Chris Wychock opened the inning with a walk and advanced to second base on a base hit by junior Austin Harclerode. A run-scoring single by Steve Rice drove home Wychock to make it a 5-2 game. Freshman Cody Reeves followed with another RBI single to pull Towson to within 5-3 before another base hit by catcher Brian Wyman narrowed the deficit to 5-4.
The Tigers tied the score in their half of the fourth inning. After back-to-back walks to Kevin Collins and Harclerode, Yarsinsky singled home Collins to tie the score.
The Bobcats re-gained the lead in the sixth inning by scoing three runs with two outs. Kris McDonough singled and stole second base with two outs against relief pitcher Wes Shifflett. After a walk to Eldemire, Yakubik singled to centerfield, scoring Eldemire and giving Ohio a 6-5 lead. When Maddox followed with a two-run single, the Bobcats owned a 8-5 advantage.
Ohio University received excellent relief pitching from Brett Barber and Marck Paliotti, who shut out the Tigers until the ninth inning.
The Bobcats added some insurance runs in the eighth inning by scoring five runs on five hits.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Tigers cut their deficit to 13-6 when freshman Kurt Wertz drew a leadoff walk and scored on a sacrifice fly by Collins.
"We had plenty of chances to score more runs," said Gottlieb. "But we couldn't get a key hit. We had 12 hits and drew 11 walks. That's 23 base runners and we only scored six runs."
Junior shortstop Nick Natoli went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks while Yarsinsky had two hits and drove in two runs. In his first college game, Reeves went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Rice also had two hits.
Shifflett suffered the loss for the Tigers by allowing two earned runs on three hits in two innings. Junior righthander Drew Permison pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief and allowed one walk.
TIGER TIDBITS: After playing two errorless games in the tournament, the Tigers made three errors against Ohio University ... The Tigers left 17 runners on base in the loss to the Bobcats ... Towson will be idle until next weekend when the Tigers play a four-game series at Arizona State.
