Sports
Ohio Baseball Splits Doubleheader Saturday
By: Nick Ursini
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After an Opening Day win for the Ohio Bobcats, the team continued their young season with a split in a doubleheader against La Salle and Butler.
Saturday morning, the Bobcats picked up right where they left off in their second game of the season. The ‘Cats smacked the La Salle Explorers 14-5 in their first game of the day.
Ohio started the game down as lefty Butch Baird took the mound for the Bobcats and surrendered a double in the bottom of the second inning, giving La Salle a 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats quickly erased their lead with a big five run fourth inning. Ty Black led off the inning reaching base due to an error. Sophomore Rudy Rott came to the plate and roped a single, setting up Michael Klein with two runners on and no one out. Klein grounded out and Evan Bourn drew a walk to load the bases.
Shortstop Tyler Finkler reached on an error, scoring both Black and Rott to give Ohio the lead, 2-1. Following a walk that scored run number three, Spencer Ibarra singled right back up the middle, scoring two more, and increasing Ohio’s lead to 5-1.
The Bobcats continued to pour it on as they added four more runs in the top half of the fifth. Klein doubled, Bourn singled, Finkler walked, and Connor McMann singled to left to score Bourn after Klein was thrown out at the plate. Nick Bredson singled to right, scoring two runs and putting the game out of reach.
Despite being up 9-1, the Bobcats were not done scoring. Ohio added five more runs in the top of the seventh, pushing their lead to 14-1.
Baird earned his first victory of the season, going six strong inning only surrendering one run.
Nick Kamrada pitched the seventh, Josh Petersen and Christian Botter split the eight inning and surrendered two runs. Matt Mikolajczak capped it off in the ninth inning.
Ohio might have taken care of La Salle easily, but the Butler Bulldogs presented a bigger challenge for coach Rob Smith and his Bobcats on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Logan Jacik got the start for Ohio and did not last very long. Jacik surrendered two runs in the bottom of the first after a single, a walk, a sac bunt, and an error on Jacik. Butler crossed the plate two more times to put the Bobcats in a 4-0 deficit after the first inning.
Jacik finished with 1+ innings, and four earned runs.
Butler continued to pour it on the Bobcats as they added five more runs in the second inning. After a single and a walk, junior Tyler Houston blasted a moonshot over the wall, increasing the Bulldogs lead to seven. Butler added two more following a single and a double with two outs.
The bottom of the fourth was the same old story, four more runs for Butler and a 13-0 lead. A bases loaded hit-by-pitch, a two-run single by Michael DiViesti, and a wild pitch continued the onslaught for Butler.
Ohio finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth with four runs. Finkler and Tony Giannini walked and Tanner Piechnick blooped a single scoring both runners. Ibarra hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring Piechnick. Rott capped off a 12 pitch at-bat reaching on an error by the second basemen scoring Connor Callery.
The Bulldogs added two more runs in the fifth and the seventh innings to complete their dominance over Ohio, 15-4.
Ohio returns to the diamond Sunday for a 1 p.m. first pitch against Butler. Redshirt junior Michael Klein is the projected pitcher for Ohio while junior Garrett Christman is projected to start for Butler.