Sports
Bobcats Outlast Marshall in 10 Innings
By: Nick Ursini
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After losing four games in a row and seven of their last eight, the Ohio Bobcats (17-19) bested rival Marshall (18-19) 11-10 Tuesday night in an absolute thriller.
Down two runs in the top of the ninth, Marshall scored the tying run on a single by Billy Sager to draw even at nine.
Connor McMann came in relief for Ohio in the tenth and gave up a one-out triple to Tyler Ratliff. Ratliff scored the next play on a sac-fly from Shane Hanon.
Down by one with three outs left before Ohio would lose their fifth straight game, Spencer Ibarra smashed his second homer of the game over the centerfield wall.
Ty Black grounded out to shortstop and Rudy Rott came to the plate with one out and a chance to be a hero.
Rott crushed a walk-off solo homer to center field, ending the Bobcats losing streak and evening the season series with Marshall.
This game had 21 combined runs on 27 hits.
The Thundering Herd jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after a Hanon RBI single.
The Bobcats retaliated on Spencer Ibarra’s lead-off solo shot, his team-leading eighth of the season. Then the Bobcats went up 2-1 on Anthony Mrosla’s first home run as a Bobcat.
Marshall regained the lead with a four-run third inning. Ohio starter Nick Kamrada pitched just two innings, surrendering three runs on four hits.
Ohio added onto their lead with a huge sixth run fourth inning. Connor Callery led off the inning with a walk. Tanner Piechnick singled to right field. Tony Giannini struck out and Mrosla came up and belted a three-run blast to right-center, his second homer of the game.
Tyler Finkler walked, then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Ibarra came to the plate and reached on an error by the shortstop that scored Finkler. Rudy Rott drew another walk and Michael Klein skied a fly ball to left field that was dropped, scoring Ibarra and Rott, extending the Ohio lead to 8-4.
The Bobcats scratched out another run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
After relief pitchers Matt Mikolajczak and Kenny Ogg pitched scoreless innings, the Thundering Herd jumped on Cory Blessing. Blessing surrendered two runs on one hit.
McMann ultimately went on to get the win after just one inning of work.
Ohio returns to Bob Wren this weekend for a three-game series against rival Miami (15-23). First pitch is set for 6 p.m., Friday night.