Sports

Lorenzo Papa didn’t need anyone on base to help his team get on the scoreboard in the fourth. Trailing 5-0, Papa hit a long, high homerun over the right field wall to cut into the lead.

 

“When I first hit, I knew it was gone right away,” said Papa. “It was funny, I was just jogging up the first base line and the first base coach Rex was telling me to spring because he didn’t think it was gone. Once it went over the fence though, it was a relief.”

 

Unfortunately, that was one of very few offensive highlights for the Copperheads. They left men on base and missed out on prime scoring opportunities throughout the game. In the second inning, Nikithser doubled, but wouldn’t score. In the third inning, the Copperheads had runners on first and second but Aaron Novak struck out and left them on base.

 

The Copperheads also had some troubles defensively. In the first inning, Blaise Salter tried to catch Selby Chidemo stealing second with a runner on third. Shortstop Matt Glomb wasn’t able to tag out Chidemo and tried to throw back home to get the runner at home, but overthrew Salter and allowed the Steam to take take a 1-0 lead.

 

They’re both problems,” head coach Chris Moore said on the errors and stranded runners. “One isn’t more important or less important than the other, both of them hurt your chances to win.”

 

In the second inning, after Max Andresen walked and stole second, he was able to score on a routine groundball after another throwing error from Glomb, who tried to get a runner out at first. The runner on first reached second.

Josh Ungebuehler then increased the Steam lead to 4- 0 with a two-run homerun off of Brandon Boyd, one of the new Copperheads pitchers.

 

After the Steam made it 5-0 in the third, the Copperheads were able to stop the bleeding and try to make a comeback. Papa cut the Steam’s lead to four in the fourth, and in the sixth the Copperheads had another great chance to cut into the 5-1 lead. Southern Ohio had runners on first and second but a groundout from Glomb quickly ended the rally. The Copperheads left a total of nine men on base in the game.

 

The Steam had an offensive rally of their own in the top of the 7th, taking advantage of another Copperheads fielding error and scoring two runs and making it 7-1. That would end up being the final score and give the Cheads their third straight loss.

 

“We don’t do anything different. We just go out and do our business the way we do every single day,” Moore added. “(Whether it’s) a 10 game winning streak or a 10 game losing streak, I don’t want to approach the game any differently.”

“We were doing well two weeks ago, everyone was on fire,” added Papa. “Now we’re in this slump. That’s baseball for you. We’ll turn it around.”

 

It’s always important to at least earn a split of a double header, especially at home and late in the season. That’s exactly what the Copperheads were able to accomplish Wednesday evening with their 13-0 win over Cincinnati.

After losing game one against the first place Cincinnati Steam, the Cheads came back with vengeance in game two.

 

Michael Mestdagh and the bullpen combined to limit the Steam to just four hits while Matt Glomb had a home run and four RBIs to lead the Cheads offensive explosion. 

 

Matt Borgschulte started the scoring in the first inning with an RBI double into the gap in left-center to score Matt Lopez. Dan Schmidt added an RBI single to score Borgschulte to give the Cheads a 2-0 lead.

 

Mestdagh, who was making his first start of the season after pitching in relief all summer, was fantastic. The righty from Michigan State pitched five shutout innings, allowing just two while striking out five to earn his first victory. 

 

The offense made sure Cincinnati would have no chance to comeback against the Cheads’ bullpen when they posted a six-run fifth inning to break the game open. Blaise Salter ripped a hanging breaking ball into center to score Lopez.

Schmidt hit a sacrifice fly to knock in Borgschulte just before Aaron Novak smashed a two-run bomb into the trees next to the scoreboard for a 6-0 lead.

 

Matt Glomb added two run more runs when he punched a single to right field.

 

Southern Ohio continued to tack on runs throughout the evening. Glomb smoked a two-run home run to left field for an 11-0 lead in the seventh and Ben Netzel added another run when he blasted a solo home run deep into the night.

The team has a day-off Thursday before facing Xenia on Friday at Bob Wren Stadium. 

 

Michael Garr and Marlowe Alter are interns with the Southern Ohio Copperheads media.