April 19, 2005

Box Score

Eastlake, Ohio - An eight-run Cleveland State lead in the ninth was seemingly in doubt as Akron rallied for five runs before the Vikings put the rally to an end for a 9-6 win at Classic Park on Tuesday (April 19) night.

The win sends the Vikings to 6-20 on the season and ends a six-game losing streak. The Zips fall to 13-21 on the year.

The game remained a close battle for the first five innings with CSU leading 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Following a lead off walk by Dominic Erney, Kolin Kelly lined a double to right center that scored Erney from first. The Vikings would tally four more runs on three hits and a walk to extend the advantage to 8-1 before adding a single run in the eighth.

CSU entered the ninth with an apparent assured win in hands, but Akron would not go quietly, tagging the Vikings for five runs on six hits and an error before Gary Ball worked out of a bases loaded situation by inducing a force-out at second for the final out.

Cleveland State got on the board in the first as senior Mike Ochwat led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and came in on an RBI single to center by Marc Sikora.

Erney put CSU up 2-0 in the fourth on his fourth home run of the season, a towering drive to center field. A sac fly by Ochwat in the fifth plated Josh Geric from third for a 3-0 lead.

CSU right-hander Nathan Schaefer held the Zips in check for the first five innings of his first career start, allowing only three hits and a walk. Akron ended the shutout in the sixth against Schaefer on an RBI single to Doug Kruthaupt that tallied Andy Capraruolo from third.

"Schaefer did an excellent job in his first start to keep us in the ballgame," head coach Jay Murphy said, "while our offense gave him the support he needed to come away with the win. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into tomorrow and through the weekend."

Schaefer earned his first win of his career, allowing one run on five hits in 6.0 innings of work. Lefty Vasili Pahoulis pitched a strong seventh and eighth inning, but was unable to get the final out in the ninth before Akron closed to within three. Ball registered his second save after recording the final out.

Geric produced his finest performance at the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Sikora added two hits and three RBI of his own.

Bob Dubovec took the loss to fall to 0-3 despite yielding only two earned runs in five innings. Capraruolo went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Vikings will take on IPFW at 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday (April 20) in Fort Wayne, Ind. before heading to UW-Milwaukee for a four-game Horizon League series beginning on Friday (April 22).