Sports
Ohio Baseball Drops Road Game To Kentucky, 6-3
< < Back to ohio-baseball-drops-road-game-kentucky-6-3The Ohio baseball team (3-11) traveled to Lexington, Ky. on Tuesday, looking to upset No. 9 Kentucky (14-2), but came up short. Despite holding the Wildcats scoreless after the third inning, the Bobcats couldn’t put together a late game rally, losing 6-3.
Kentucky jumped on Ohio pitcher Sean Kennedy early with four runs in the second inning, leading off with Kyle Barrett, who singled through the left side for one of his two hits on the day.
A Zac Zellers single advanced Barrett to second and Kennedy was in a tough situation with runners on first and second with zero outs. Matt Reida came through with the sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position with just one out.
Zach Arnold singled to right field to score Barrett easily, but an error by right fielder Nick Squires allowed Zellers to score and advanced Arnold to second base.
For the moment, it appeared Kennedy had a chance to escape the inning with little harm, but J.T. Riddle and Max Kuhn each hit two-out doubles to score two more runs before the inning was over. Just like that, the Bobcats were down 4-0 heading into the third inning.
Kennedy came out in the bottom of the third, but once again struggled. Barrett singled up the middle and Zellers came through again, knocking a home run over the left field fence to give Kentucky the 6-0 lead.
Kennedy’s day was done. He lasted 2.2 innings and allowed six earned runs on seven hits. Out of the 20 batters faced, he only struck out two, walked four and allowed two doubles and a home run.
Ohio’s bullpen kept the Wildcats in check with zero runs, allowing Ohio to make a small comeback throughout the final six innings. The combination of Brad Przebieda, Brett Barber and Logan Cozart combined for 5.1 innings pitched, two hits allowed, and five strikeouts.
The offensive struggles continued for the Bobcats, as they went a combined 9-for-34 and scored three runs. Jake Madsen continued his strong start to his sophomore season, going 2-for-4 with one run scored.
Madsen’s single to start the sixth opened a two-run inning for the Bobcats. The bottom of Ohio’s lineup couldn’t come through, though, as Dan Schmidt struck out swinging to end the inning with two runners left in scoring position.
Ohio will return back from their one-game road trip to begin a series with Canisius on Friday, March 15 at 4 p.m. The home series will be played at Bob Wren Stadium.