Rudy Rott continued his tear through April with a walk-off home run Wednesday night to give Ohio an 11-10 win in extra innings over Marshall at neutral site Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.
The Bobcats (17-19, 3-6 Mid-American Conference) trailed by a run heading into their 10th inning at-bat after the Thundering Herd converted a sac fly in the top half. Outfielder Spencer Ibarra led off with a solo shot to center, his team-best ninth homer of the season.
Two batters later, Rott stepped up and smacked another home run to put the game away.
In 13 games this month, Rott is 18-for-53 (.340) with 14 runs scored and a whopping 23 RBIs. He’s recorded at least one hit in 11 of those games and is currently on a three-game multi-hit streak that includes five home runs.
Catcher Anthony Mrosla also stood out for the Bobcats, batting 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. Ibarra’s two hits were also both home runs.
Marshall committed five errors in the game. Ohio batted around in the fourth, thanks in part to the Thundering Herd defense extending it.
Having already scored four runs in the inning, one of which was unearned, the Bobcats sent Michael Klein to the plate with two outs and two runners on. His fly ball to left was dropped by the outfielder, which allowed Rott and Ibarra to score.
Then in the fifth, outfielder Tony Giannini doubled — which extended his hitting streak to nine games, a team high this season — and scored on a two-base throwing error.
Ohio held a 9-5 lead after five, but allowed two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth to push the game to extras.
In the ninth, closer Jake Roehn allowed two hits and a walk to load the bases, followed by another single over the middle to bring in two runs. Then, with two runners on and none out, Roehn escaped the inning with a lineout and a pair of strikeouts.
Over the past three games, the Bobcats have allowed 9 runs in the eighth inning or later.
Ohio and Marshall connected for exactly 27 total hits and 21 total runs, oddly, for the second week in a row. The Thundering Herd won 12-9 at home on April 12.
Up next for the Bobcats is a three-game home stand against Miami this weekend, starting Friday at 6 p.m. The RedHawks took two of three games in last year’s series.
