Sports
Ohio Falls in Extra Innings
< < Back to ohio-falls-in-extra-inningsIn baseball, anyone can be the hero. And for the Ohio State Buckeyes it was the unlikeliest of heroes in their 7-4, 10th inning win over the Ohio Bobcats.
With two outs and runners on second and third, L Grant Davis took the batter’s box with three strikeouts and a pop out on the night. The Buckeyes’ second baseman blasted a three-run shot over the right field wall – the first home run of his baseball career.
Davis was set up by a leadoff single from Ronnie Dawson, and a walk drawn by Ryan Leffel.
After the Bobcats took a 4-3 lead with a two spot in the top of the eighth, the Buckeyes scored their first of three runs off the Green and White’s top pitcher in Logan Cozart. Dawson was again a thorn in Cozart’s side after he drew a leadoff walk. The Buckeye outfielder advanced to second on a groundout and score on an RBI single to tie the game.
Cozart threw 66 pitches in three innings of work, and allowed four earned runs in three innings of work. Before the night his ERA was a miniscule 0.38, and after suffering the loss it ballooned to 1.69.
Ohio manager Rob Smith kept Cozart in the game into the 10th because he felt the Bobcats’ hurler gave Ohio the best shot to hold the game at a tie. Smith was also working with a limited bullpen after sending seven pitchers to the mound before Cozart.
“That was going to be his last inning had we gotten through that situation,” Smith said. “He was not going to go back out again. He’s our guy and we are going to live and die with him. He almost got out of it.”
Down 3-2 in the top of the eighth the ‘Cats capitalized on Buckeyes miscues to take a lead. After a Mitch Longo single and Jake Madsen walk, the two advanced to second and third on a passed ball. Cody Gaertner’s RBI groundout tied the game. Tyler Wells hit a liner to the Craig Nenning that could have ended the inning, but the shortstop mishandled the ball for his second error of the day and allowed the Madsen to score the lead run.
The Bobcats got on the board first with a little bit of small ball. Jake Madsen led off the second with a single up the middle, and Cody Gaertner reached on an error by the shortstop. After Tyler Wells laid down a beautiful sac-bunt down the third base line, John Adyran singled to left to give Ohio a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the second Dawson’s infield single got him all the way to third after pitcher Evan Geist’s poor throw to first. The error bit the Bobcats’ a batter later with a fielder’s choice that tied it up at 1-1.
Dawson picked up two hits in his three at bats and scored three of the Buckeyes’ runs.
The Buckeyes took the lead in the third with a two spot. An error and two walks loaded the bases with one out, and Geist walked in the lead run.
Connor Sapp relieved Geist, and got a the double play balled he needed to end the inning, but Troy Kuhn reached first on a fielder’s choice to score the Buckeye’s third run.
The Bobcats’ dive back into Mid-American Conference play with the Buffalo Bulls for a three-game series. The first game is set for 4 p.m. in Butler, Penn.