Sports
Ohio Baseball wins high-scoring affair in home opener
By: Andrew Rowan
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ATHENS, OHIO (WOUB) — The Butler Bulldogs (3-5) traveled down to Athens to face the Ohio Bobcats(2-6) on a windy Friday afternoon for the start of a three-game series, which was also the home opener for the Bobcats. The last time these two faced off was in 2017, when the Bulldogs took home the win, 5-4. The outcome was different this time around, as the Bobcats took home the win 13-9.
The first inning saw action right away, as starting pitcher Blake Gaskey struck out the first batter he saw, finishing the night with 4 strikeouts. A single into right-center from sophomore Trae Cassidy drove in freshman Matt Ineich for the first run of the game, which was then followed up by a three-run home run into left field from sophomore Caleb Karll.
Second inning, Ohio capitalized off errors made by Butler to get men on base, putting them into position to tack on to the early lead with a sacrifice fly out in right field. The Bulldogs scored their first run off a single from freshman Harry Carr. It wouldn’t amount to much though, because at the start of the third, the Bobcats kept the bats hot, as sophomore Ben Slanker smoked one over the center field wall.
“We talked about you know kind of coming out and jumping on them early.”, said head coach Craig Moore when asked about the importance of his guys being efficient at the plate early on.
Butler looked to not go down without a fight, as junior Jack Bello gave the Bulldogs their first home run of the night. Despite their troubles in the field, they shook the cobwebs off their bats in the sixth, rallying behind a 2-run homer from senior Zach Munton.
Their momentum fizzled out quickly, however, as the errors came back to haunt them, as a wild throw on a pickle play allowed Bobcat runners to make it around the bags, making the deficit even greater.
The game’s final play came from a fastball down the middle from redshirt freshman Dylan Eggl for the strikeout, giving Ohio their first home win of the season.
The two will continue the series Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.