The University of Akron Athletics
Baseball Drops Weekend Opener To Western Michigan 7-6
April 07 | Baseball
April 7, 2006
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron baseball team (7-18, 2-5) dropped its series opener against Western Michigan (13-12, 2-5) on Friday afternoon, 7-6 at Lee Jackson Field. The Zips scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to pull even at 6-6, but the Broncos plated a run in the ninth for their first road conference win of the season.
In the top of the eighth inning, a pinch-hit two-out double by Neal Miller drove in three runs and broke a 3-3 tie. However, Akron quickly answered with three runs on three hits and one error. Charlie Lenhard (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) drove in the third run with a single past the third baseman, which scored Marcus Geiselman (Canton, Ohio/Canton McKinley), who doubled in a run earlier in the inning.
In the ninth, freshman Frank Turocy (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) came into to pitch for senior Ross Liersemann (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington). He struggled walking the first two batters he saw. However, catcher Kurt Davidson (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) helped him out picking the runner off of second base for the first out of the inning as he strayed a little to far off the bag. With two outs and a runner on third, an infield single by Nathan Marquardt scored the winning run for WMU.
After falling behind 2-1 after one inning, the Zips took a 3-2
lead in the fourth when Chase Liggett (Malvern, Ohio/Florida CC)
and Lenhard had back-to-back doubles and Ryan Frazee (Gahanna,
Ohio/Westerville) singled in the go ahead run, all three hits came
with two outs.
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The Broncos tied the game at 3-3 with an unearned run in the fifth as the Zips allowed just one hit, but committed two defensive errors.
Liersemann pitched eight innings giving up six runs, one unearned, on eight hits. He recorded seven strike outs and walked three. Turocy, who falls to 0-3 on the season, pitched one inning, allowing one run on one hit and a walk.
Drew Mahan pitched 1 2/3 innings for the win as he allowed just one hit and one walk, improving to 1-1 on the season. Dan O'Brien started and went 7 1/3 innings giving up six runs, four earned, on 10 hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.
For Liersemann the eight innings makes him the Zips all-time leader in innings pitched. In his career, he has now thrown 287 and 1/3 innings, which tops Tim Dobos's (1985-88) 279 2/3 innings. Liersemann also moves into a tie for ninth all-time with Andy Finley and Ben McCailey as he made his 50th career appearance on the mound.
The Zips will look to bounce back from the late inning loss on Friday when they continue their series with Western Michigan on Saturday, April 8 at 1 p.m. (EDT) at Lee Jackson Field. The weekend action will conclude on Sunday, game time is set for 1 p.m.
