Sports
Ohio Baseball splits doubleheader with Butler, wins weekend series
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — With the temps reaching down below freezing, one of the last things someone thinks about doing is playing two baseball games. However, that was exactly what Ohio (3-7) did with Butler (4-6) on Sunday afternoon. The teams tangled for a pair of seven-inning affairs after a postponement on Saturday derailed the original schedule for the weekend series.
Throughout the two games, one thing became rather apparent: these teams were very evenly matched. The stats almost exactly line up and the teams both had many chances to claim superiority. Despite the series going to Ohio after the teams split the doubleheader, the programs traded blows during the three games and each had moments of dominance and moments of struggle.
Game 1:
The day started about as well as Jacob Tate could have hoped. By striking out the leadoff hitter, AJ Soloman, on three pitches, it appeared as if the control issues that had plagued Tate for the majority of his first two starters might have been in the rearview mirror and all he needed was to be back on his home mound.
Then, the rest of his start unfolded.
Tate would walk the next batter, a strategy that did not look too bad considering that batter, Jack Moroknek, entered the game with a .444 average and six homers. Jack Bello would follow his at-bat by jumping on a fastball that snuck through the right side of the infield for a single, putting runners on the corners. Danny Barbero would not overcomplicate things with a sacrifice fly to plate the first run of the game making it 1-0, Butler. Tate would, however, not give up anymore despite walking another pair of batters.
The response from Ohio, like in Friday’s game, came via the long ball. Pauly Mancino would deposit a pitch from Butler starter Marcus Goodpaster beyond the left field wall. His blast would make it 2-1, Ohio as the tumultuous inning for Tate was put in the past.
Pitching with the lead did not change much in the results category for Tate. In the second, he would start by giving up a leadoff bomb by Ryan Drumm to tie the score at two apiece. Tate walked the next two hitters before being given a quick hook from Ohio head coach Craig Moore. In 1.0+ innings, Tate walked five and gave up four runs, all of which were earned.
Relieving Tate would be Hudson Boncal, who had some control issues of his own in the second. He walked the first hitter then surrendered a pair of fly balls, one of which drove in a run to make it 3-2, Butler. Boncal would proceed to lose his control entirely, walking the next two hitters before hitting one, the latter two would result in runs to make it 5-2. Drumm, hitting for the second time in the inning, would rope a double down the left field line, clearing the bases, making it 8-2, Butler after an inning and a half. Moore discussed the control issues that plagued Ohio in the first two innings of Game 1.
“(We) obviously didn’t have the start we wanted and we put our team in a bind,” Moore said. “I think the strike zone was a little smaller than what we’re accustomed to which, I think, played a little bit with the mindset of having to be too perfect and trying too hard.”
Like the Bulldogs on Friday, the Bobcats were staring down the barrel of a large early deficit. With nothing to do besides chip away at the lead for the Bulldogs, the Bobcats would start a rally in the third. Trae Cassidy would notch a single to bring home one before Mancino hit into a potential inning-ending double play that was foiled by an error by the second baseman on the throw, scoring another.
Quietly, Boncal was starting to get into a groove on the mound, shaking off the early control issues to collect outs. His effort on the mound provided length on a day when Ohio could have easily been forced to use a lot of its bullpen. After the second inning, Boncal would post nothing but zeroes.
Meanwhile, Nick Dolan pummeled a baseball out to left field for his first dinger of the season, drawing Ohio closer at 8-5. As Boncal kept on dominating on the bump, Ben Slanker hit his second round-tripper of the weekend, a two-run shot to right that made the deficit just one for Ohio.
Boncal remained in the game in the sixth and kept the score right where it was, giving his squad a chance to make a late comeback in the first of two games. The Bobcats forced Goodpaster out of the game after five innings. The Bulldogs brought in their first baseman, Jack Bello, to close out the game. A blooper from Blake Reed fell into right, putting the tying run in scoring position. Regardless, the Bobcats stranded the runner and went into the seventh and final inning down by one.
Tyler Peck continued to completely dominate during the early part of the season, getting a 1-2-3 frame. Bello would begin the seventh by walking Cam Bryant, who came in for Matt Ineich after he exited with an injury, and throwing a wild pitch, again putting the tying runner in scoring position. Two walks later, with one out and the bases loaded, it looked as if Ohio would be able to emerge with, at minimum, a tied ball game. However, expectations are only matched when they come to fruition. Caleb Karll would get the count to 3-0 before striking out and Jackson Cauthron popped out, ending the game in a disappointing fashion for Ohio.
Game 2:
After the letdown of an ending to Game 1, the start to Game 2 was not promising either. With Ohio’s ace through two weeks of the season, Dylan Masters, toeing the rubber, Butler exploding for three runs in the first inning was far from expected. Two straight singles before an RBI double from Barbero put Butler on the board quickly. A single and sacrifice fly would put the crooked number on the scoreboard before Ohio even had a chance to respond.
A response, however, would come. The Bobcats used an RBI double of their own, this one from Mancino, to get one on the board before Mancino was driven home by Slanker on a sacrifice fly, making it 3-2, Butler, after one.
Those two runs Ohio scored were erased after Butler cashed in for a pair of tallies in the top of the second. Entering the game, Masters had an ERA of 1.00 in nine innings. He gave up five earned runs in just two frames on Sunday.
“They didn’t really get hard hits,” Moore said. “They were hits that found holes or bounced in front of our outfielders, so I’m very proud of him sticking with it. It would have been very easy for him to get down on himself, but that’s not Dylan Masters… He is going to be competing every single pitch and that’s what kept us in the game.”
Outside of a Trae Cassidy RBI single in the third, Ohio’s offense fizzled in the middle innings. Heading into the 5th, Butler still remained ahead, 5-3. However, the star of the weekend offensively, Slanker, made sure to put another stamp on his strong weekend. Slanker would crush a third homer of the weekend, this one a two-run blast to right field to tie the score at five.
With the Bulldogs taking a lead in the sixth, the Bobcats were able to take advantage of the Bulldogs losing some command to take the lead on a seeing-eye single by Cassidy and a passed ball.
After a quiet bottom of the seventh, the game headed to extra innings. Moore elected to play matchup ball, bringing in Adam Beery for the two left-handed hitters at the top of the order for Butler then having Dylan Eggl face the right-handers. The strategy did not work as Beery gave up a double to the second batter and Eggl allowed that runner and an additional runner to score, giving Butler a 9-7 lead.
Then, the wheels fell off completely for the Bulldog pitching staff.
Cade Vota entered and could not find the plate, walking a batter, hitting another, and giving up a blooper to load the bases. A wild pitch brought the game within one run before a walk would tie it. Nick Dolan stepped up to the plate with a chance to be the hero for Ohio. He would be exactly that, putting on his cape and delivering a win with a single through the drawn-in infield.
“A lot happened throughout the game,” Dolan said. “We were doing a great job of getting on base, putting runners in scoring position. All I wanted to do in that situation is put the ball in play and force the defense to make a play on it.”
The win for Ohio might not be the most awe-inspiring baseball played, but the results are hard to argue. Moore and Ohio have conceded the fact that this team is the most talented, but it can be one of the toughest to beat if it plays with this level of competitiveness and resiliency.