Sports
Ohio Baseball comes up short once again in 4-3 loss to Morehead State
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – “We just came up short today,” Ohio head coach Craig Moore said. In what became a perfect encapsulation of the game and the season, the opening response from Ohio’s skipper was almost at a loss for explanation.
The game between Ohio (9-18, 3-9 MAC) and Morehead State (10-16, 1-5 OVC) in early March saw the teams combine for 37 runs in a 20-17 victory for Ohio. Heading into the game, there was an expectation that more of the same would be on the docket.
However, that would not be the case. In the second iteration of the matchup, the combined run total was 30 fewer than it was three weeks ago. Morehead State was able to escape Athens with a 4-3 win that was nearly in jeopardy.
The day started off slowly for both offenses. Ohio starter Hunter Winston tossed a solid first inning, working around a one-out single to retire the side with a pair of strikeouts. His counterpart, Ethan Davis, was just as dominant in his first frame of action, shutting down Ohio in order.
It would remain a scoreless affair until Eagles leadoff hitter Andy Cisneros would deposit a pitch beyond the left field wall for a solo home run. Outside of that, Winston would pitch blemish free over his four innings of work. He pitched four innings, giving up three hits, striking out five and walking just one while only surrendering the single run. The four-inning start would set a new high-water mark for Winston in his freshman campaign.
“He gave us a great chance,” Moore said. “I thought his command was better, his breaking ball was better today than what we had seen. He had more conviction.”
As much as Winston’s start was a ray of positivity for the Bobcats, the offense was still stuck in neutral. Davis was mowing down the Bobcats, only allowing a single hit in his five innings of work. Davis would limit hard contact well and kept the Bobcats off balance.
Entering in the top of the fifth, though, would be Dylan Eggl. He has five losses to this point on the season as a reliever, an odd statistic to hold. Moore was attempting to get him back on the horse in a lower leverage inning than he might be used to by putting him in the 5th. However, Eggl would struggle again, giving up a pair of runs to triple the lead for Morehead State, 3-0.
The offense for Ohio would continue to struggle mightily. Despite Davis exiting, there was still nothing truly to talk about with regards to the bats for Ohio. Leadoff walks in both the fifth and sixth innings would amount to nothing.
In the meantime, the bullpen for Ohio, where a lot of the struggles have come, actually shut down the Morehead State offense that leads the Ohio Valley in home runs. Jimmy Cerha and Adam Beery would both post scoreless frames for Ohio as the comeback hopes rested on the collective shoulders of the hitters.
In the eighth, Ohio finally got some offense going. With two outs, Cam Bryant drove in Matt Ineich on a double to right field to give Ohio some hope that a comeback could be in the works.
Looking for a shutdown inning in the top of the ninth, Julian Robertson would give up a quick pair of doubles to Morehead State to make it a 4-1 game heading into the bottom of the ninth.
With two outs and one on, Blake Reed hit his second career home run, both of which have come in consecutive games, to make it a one-run game. The following batter, Trae Cassidy, would smoke a double into the right field corner that nearly left Bob Wren Stadium as well. That left the game up to Brady Alexander, who torched Morehead State in the previous meeting, going 5/7 with two homers and seven RBI. As the game sat in his hands, Alexander worked the count to 3-2 as Cassidy advanced to third on a wild pitch. With the tying run standing 90 feet away, Alexander waved at a fastball above the zone to end the game.
“The fight was there until the 27th out just like we always preach,” Moore said. “We had a chance there.”
The loss stings on a multitude of fronts. The most obvious one is that there was a chance to, at the very least, tie the game late and potentially steal a win. The second way it stings is that Ohio got arguably its best midweek pitching performance from its entire staff. To not win this game, with this pitching performance by the team, has to feel like two losses.
For as many games that can be blamed on the collective inadequacies of the Ohio bullpen, this one sits squarely on the offense. The vast majority of the season, there has not been a remote concern about the bats getting into form. However, Ohio entered the eighth inning with just one hit and only picked up four on the day. The comeback effort was valiant, but also very late.
Regardless, the Bobcats embark on a long road trip to DeKalb to face Northern Illinois, another team struggling mightily in conference play. Facing some lesser competition for three games, the Bobcats need to find a way to come away with at least two wins this weekend if it has any hopes of staying in the hunt for one of the six MAC Tournament berths.
Moore understands the sense of urgency needs to be picked up by his squad. He repeated the fact that a good practice needs to follow the tough loss on Wednesday and he implored his team not to “go through the motions and execute.” The only question that remains is whether that sentiment by Ohio’s head coach will be answered by his team.