Sports
Ohio Baseball Falls to Rival Marshall
By: Mary Ryznar
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It’s been almost a month since Ohio baseball (22-25) played longtime rival Marshall (25-23). The teams competed in early April when Marshall recorded a 12-9 win in on April 12 followed by Ohio pulling out an 11-10 win in ten innings on April 19th to even the series.
However, the Bobcats faced a 5-2 upset while hosting Marshall for their last midweek game of the 2017 season on Tuesday at The Wren.
An early lead was taken by Marshall in the second inning when senior first baseman Tommy Lane led off with a single then scored on a base hit by senior shortstop Leo Valenti.
Followed up with two more runs in the ensuing frame, the Bison jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Junior third baseman Tyler Ratliff reached on an Ohio error by senior third baseman Conner Callery. He then stole second and scored off of a single by redshirt sophomore center fielder Shane Hanon. Hanon was also accountable for Marshall’s third run after he was moved to second on a bunt by sophomore left fielder Andrew Zban then scored on a single by Lane.
However, Ohio put up a fight in the home half of the third that put them on the board and in the ball game plating two runs.
Senior center fielder Spencer Ibarra got on with a one-out single followed with redshirt junior designated hitter getting walked. Both batters were advanced on a passed ball which set them up in scoring position for a double by senior second baseman Ty Black to send them home making it 3-2 by the end of the third.
Unfortunately, Marshall retaliated in the top of the fourth when junior second baseman Will Ray hit a one-out single putting him on base and in position to score one of the two runs plated by the Bison after Ratliff knocked out a homerun. These two earned runs would be the last runs scored for the remainder of the game.
Redshirt sophomore righty Nick Kamrada started on the mound and for the Bobcats allowing one run on five hits and striking out one in two innings. He suffered the loss for Ohio bringing his record down to 0-2 for the season. He was relieved by junior lefty Butch Baird who struck two but gave up four runs on five hits throughout two innings. Senior southpaw Matt Mikolajczak, sophomore Kenny Ogg, and senior righty Jake Rudnicki combined a total of five scoreless frames of relief for Ohio, each striking out two batters.
Black went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two RBIS; he now holds the team season high of reaching base in twenty-three straight games while tallying fifteen multi-hit games, ranking him fourth on the team.
Callery went 3-for-4 with a walk while improving his hitting streak to nineteen-straight games while Rott tallied a pair of singles, bringing him up to sixteen multi-hit games this season. He is now ranked third on the team.
Ohio will travel to Amherst, New York to compete against Mid-American Conference East Division rival, Buffalo, in a three-game series this weekend. The opening game is scheduled for Friday (May 12) at 3 p.m. followed with two games on Saturday (May 13) and Sunday (May 14), both set to start at 1 p.m.