Sports

Ohio flounders, going 1-3 against weaker competition with four home games looming

By: Marc Goldstein
Posted on: Tuesday, April 8, 2025

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Ohio (8-22, 4-11 MAC) had a chance to make a huge jump this past week against some weaker competition. Facing the lightest part of its remaining schedule, the Bobcats did not take advantage of the opportunity, going 1-3, including dropping a series on the road against a Northern Illinois team that entered the weekend with a single MAC win. Now, the task of getting into the MAC Tournament seems like, at best, a longshot. 

This week, Ohio plays four games at Bob Wren Stadium, a venue that has been (slightly) more forgiving than the road. Being 4-10 at home is far from ideal, but so is being 4-12 on the road. All four of the matchups this week will come against non-conference opponents, so there is no chance at changing the conference record, but building some confidence with a couple wins is a distinct possibility if things break properly. 

Pitching, pitching, pitching

The same old story has continued to plague Ohio: bad pitching and a lack of situational awareness. There are a pair of teams, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, with worse staff ERAs than Ohio in the MAC. That being said, a mark of 8.01 for the entire team is far from promising.

Simply put, the fact that this team got, in many sense, beaten up by Northern Illinois this weekend is a letdown. The scoring margin over the three games was 38-24 in favor of Northern Illinois. The fact that Ohio surrendered an average of nearly 13 runs per game this weekend is a step backwards for a pitching staff that did not need any. 

Blake Gaskey started on Friday night and was solid, going 5.1 innings and giving up four runs. He might not have been dazzling, but he pitched well enough to keep his team within striking distance. On Saturday, Hunter Boncal got roughed up for the first time in weeks, giving up seven runs in his 5.2 innings of work. Granted, all of those runs came in the final couple of innings of his start. On Sunday, Tyler Peck got the nod as Ohio was missing Dillon Masters after his injury. Peck proceeded to give up seven runs in 2.2 innings. 

For a team without a reliable bullpen, it creates a dilemma without any winning. The Bobcats are forced to make a decision: ride it out with their starters and hope for the best or turn the game over to a bullpen that has blown countless leads this season. In many cases, like on Saturday, sticking with a starter means keeping them in the game well after they have lost their effectiveness. 

The fact of the matter is that the pitching staff as a whole has given up 260 runs in 260.1 innings this season. It does not take a statistician to tell that is a poor metric. Ohio has given up four runs or less in just seven games this season. Even more puzzling, the team has gone 2-5 in those games where the pitching is solid. 

Slanker, Ohio swinging it 

It is not all doom and gloom for the Bobcats. Sophomore right fielder Ben Slanker has performed very well this season. Over the weekend, he swatted a trio of homers, including two on Saturday. This performance brings his total to 14 on the season. Not only does he lead the MAC in long balls and RBI, but he is tied for fifth nationally in the former. Slanker has been a revelation after only hitting .179 in limited action last season. 

Additionally, the weekend, while forgettable for the pitchers, was a boom for the hitters. Ohio, while being outscored mightily, did average eight runs per game this weekend all while being shut out in one of those games. That is impressive on its own. Trae Cassidy seemingly broke out of his slump, collecting a pair of hits in each game of the series. The offense, as a whole, was rather productive this week after a pair of bad performances in the first two games this week. 

Looking ahead

Ohio will play its four aforementioned games this week against non-conference foes. The first is a midweek matinee against Marshall. Ohio will be looking to return the favor for a heartbreaking loss on the road to Marshall earlier this season where a walk-off grand slam lifted the latter to a victory. Marshall is riding high after getting a series win at home over No. 13 Southern Miss this past weekend. Marshall has a very strong rotation, although that might not come into play during the midweek game.

The weekend set against VMI is fascinating. Ohio will bring its struggling pitching staff against one of the best offenses in the nation. VMI plays a somewhat experimental brand of baseball. VMI hits insanely well. The team leads the country in walks drawn, on-base percentage by 19 points, runs by 23, runs/game (10.8), steals (167) by 61. Individually, VMI has four in top ten in runs, two in top ten for RBI including Boston Torres leading the country with 57 and two of the top three in steals, led by Own Prince’s 40 ripped bags. To say that VMI will test Ohio this weekend is an over-justification. Some of the scores put up by VMI this season look like football scores and Ohio does not exactly shut down its opponents. 

A successful week likely includes, at minimum, two wins. Yes, Ohio can improve its standing in the conference without even winning if some MAC teams fall in the standings this weekend, but gearing up for the stretch run is key. Ohio still has a series against each of the top three teams in the conference left on the schedule, so winning now can set it up to have a fighting chance at one of the final spots in the MAC Tournament.