Sports
Bats Come Alive As Ohio Beats High Point, 10-7
< < Back to bats-come-alive-ohio-beats-high-point-10-7The Ohio Bobcats earned their second victory of the season Tuesday, defeating the High Point Panthers 10-7 in a game that needed all nine innings to decide. The Bobcats (2-7) finally got their bats going, ending the game with 15 hits.
Ohio had just 16 hits in its previous three games with 10 of those hits coming against Massachusetts. Cody Gaertner, Tyler Wells and Taylor Emody had three hits apiece to lead the Bobcats.
The game looked as if it would be business as usual for Ohio when the ‘Cats were blanked in the first inning. High Point (5-7) plated two runs to open the scoring in the bottom half of the frame.
After winning Mid-American Conference East Division Pitcher of the Week honors, freshman Jake Miller made it through just one out Tuesday. Miller walked one, allowed three hits and two earned runs in facing just five batters. Ohio’s relievers came to the rescue, however, over the next four innings, holding the Panthers scoreless.
Wells scored on a past ball in the top of the second to put the Bobcats on the board after leading off the inning with a single. Wells kick-started Ohio again in the fourth with a single to right. Alex Corna brought in Wells on a sacrifice fly after Emody moved him to third on a single. Wells finished the game with three runs.
Ohio led 5-2 through five and a half innings, but High Point refused to go away. The Panthers plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth with help from two Ohio errors.
The Bobcats and Panthers each nabbed three more runs in the seventh and blanked in the eighth to put the score at 8-7 heading into the final inning.
Dan Schmidt, previously 0-2, stepped to the plate with one out. Schmidt blasted a homer over the right field fence to pad Ohio’s lead, his only hit of the game. Nick Squires scored on a sacrifice fly by Wells later in the inning.
Logan Cozart remained in the game for the Bobcats and shut down High Point in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory. Cozart allowed only one hit and struck out three in two innings pitched.
The Bobcats face High Point again Wednesday as a part of a two-game series. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.