Sports
Ohio’s bullpen woes continue in 13-6 loss to VMI
By: Thomas Henry
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) —Ohio Baseball (9-24) fell to Virginia Military Institue (22-14) on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 13-6 at Bob Wren Stadium. The Bobcats entered today’s contest looking for a series victory after picking up a series-opening win in last night’s game.
Hudson Boncal took the mound for Ohio and was solid for the first six frames, allowing only three earned runs and keeping the Bobcats in the game. Boncal ultimately finished the day with 6.1 innings pitched and four earned runs allowed with four strikeouts to two walks. Ohio’s offense went to work early, tagging Keydet starter Jaxson Lloyd for three runs across the first two innings, highlighted by Ben Slanker’s solo home run in the first, which got the scoring started. Slanker had another big moment in the fifth when he tripled in a run to extend the Bobcats’ lead to 4-2 after both starters had settled down following an eventful first two frames which saw a combined five runs cross the plate.
Ohio’s slim lead was not to last, however. After recording the first out of the seventh inning, Boncal was removed in favor of reliever Jacob Tate, who gave up two runs of his own, including an opposite-field game-tying home run after picking a man off at first base. From there, the Keydets batted around against the Bobcats’ bullpen, scoring six runs and pulling away, taking a commanding lead. Ohio attempted a comeback, scratching two runs across, but they came up short in the end. The Bobcats deployed four relievers out of their bullpen after Boncal’s departure but could not stem the bleeding. After the game, Ohio head coach Craig Moore reflected on the bullpen’s performance, speaking to how the relievers needed to change their mentality on the mound.
“Well, we need them to bounce back,” Moore said. “You know, again, we need them to build confidence, we need them to build, you know, some moxy, some demeanor out there on the mound. Like, they’re going to not let this guy at the plate beat them, you know? And I don’t see that out of several of our guys that are coming out of the pen, and that was something that we had talked about afterward.”
With the loss, Ohio falls to 5-12 at home. The Bobcats will look to improve that record tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Bob Wren Stadium for the three-game series finale between the two teams. Hunter Winston will get the start for Ohio, according to coach Moore.