Sports
Ohio Baseball goes from Worst to First, Wins MAC Tournament
< < Back to ohio-baseball-goes-from-worst-to-first-wins-mac-tournamentAfter being predicted to finish dead last in the Mid-American Conference at the beginning of this year, the Bobcats have officially proved everyone wrong, winning the conference crown with a 6-2 victory over the Ball State Cardinals. The MAC title is Ohio’s first since 1997, ending an 18-year drought.
The bulk of the Bobcat runs came early in the game after Jake Madsen singled through the right side of the infield tying the game up at one. After that, it was all Ohio, as Tyler Wells belted a solo home run putting the ‘Cats up 2-1 in the second inning. Following a Garrett Black RBI sacrifice fly, Cody Gaertner and John Adryan both launched solo home runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning putting Ohio up 5-1.
Jake Miller, who pitched a complete game just four days earlier, earned the win throwing 5.1 innings of one-run work giving him a total of 14.1 innings pitched. He allowed just two earned runs in that time. Miller got into trouble in the sixth inning leaving the bases loaded for the MAC Pitcher of the Year, Logan Cozart, who got out of the jam with a strikeout and a fly out.
Cozart continued to dominate as he finished off the final 11 batters of the game but saw his consecutive scoreless inning streak end at 24. Ball State was able to get a runner on second after a John Adryan throwing error and he eventually came around to score on an RBI groundout.
Ball State’s first run came on a RBI groundout in the first inning by Cardinal right fielder Alex Call. Call finished with both of Ball State’s RBI’s.
John Adryan had the best day at the plate for the ‘Cats as he went three-for-four with one RBI coming on his solo home run. Ohio finished with four home runs off of Ball State pitching after Ty Black homered in the bottom of the 6th inning.
Logan Cozart was selected as the Tournament MVP pitching 9.2 innings with no earned runs allowed and seven strikeouts. The win officially seals Ohio as the team with the biggest win improvement from last season, from 11-40 to 36-19.
However, the ‘Cats will have to wait until Monday to find out where they are headed for the beginning of the NCAA Tournament. Regionals will begin on Friday, with times also depending on location.