Sports
Ohio Baseball splits doubleheader with Miami, bounces back from 18-2 drubbing in game two
By: Marc Goldstein, Thomas Henry
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — As the onslaught began and Ohio again was preparing to stare down the barrel of a large deficit, a murder of crows descended upon Bob Wren Stadium. In what feels like a perfect microcosm of the season for the struggling team, a mercy-rule loss against its biggest rival likely adds to that feeling.
Blake Gaskey got the nod in the first game of the weekend. After the contest on Friday night was rained out, Gaskey’s start was pushed to the first game on Saturday. In the first inning, Gaskey gave up a single on the first pitch of the game, but otherwise pitched well and emerged with a scoreless inning. That would be the last scoreless frame for Ohio in the game.
The Bobcats would do something they have done multiple times this season: score multiple runs in the first inning. Jackson Cauthron and Blake Reed hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. Those would be the only runs scored by the home team in the first game.
Gaskey would, however, preserve the lead in the second. He gave up a single run on an RBI single by Dominic Krupinski. The lead was only one as Ohio went in order in its half of the second.
The third, though, was when the floodgates began to open. Gaskey would start the inning by giving up four hits, three of them for extra bases. The spurt by Miami was punctuated by a mammoth two-run homer by Evan Applewick that made it 5-2. Gaskey would get out of the inning, only allowing the four runs, but the damage was done at that point.
In the fourth, he came back out and gave up a two-run dinger to Ryan Novak that barely made it over the wall, making it 7-2. Another run scoring would make it 8-2 and end the day for Gaskey as he went 3.1 innings, giving up 10, all of them earned and surrendering 13 hits. Jacob Tate came in to relieve him as Ohio needed some length from him to attempt to save the bullpen. He did no such thing, giving up another pair in the frame. By the end of the fourth, the score was 10-2 in favor of Miami.
Tate came back out for the fifth but gave up another three runs. Miami simply was able to hit the ball hard to all fields, regardless of the count, pitcher, or score.
The final score of 18-2 paints the picture of a massively lopsided game as two rivals are clearly going in opposite directions. Miami popped 20 hits during the game, with three of them leaving the yard.
Miami starter Cooper Katskee got into a smooth rhythm after the rough first frame. He went the distance for the second time this season. He scattered four hits across his seven frames while striking out seven batters.
For the second time this week and the fourth time in five games, Ohio lost via mercy rule. The season, already looking like a lost cause, reaches a new low as the big loss to a rival is a sign of the times for Ohio.
Game 2
Following a disappointing 18-2 loss to the Miami RedHawks, Ohio bounced back with a 12-9 win in game two of the Battle of the Bricks doubleheader at Bob Wren Stadium on Saturday evening.
Righty Hudson Boncal got the start for the Bobcats in this one and turned in a quality start for Ohio, tossing five innings with three earned runs, five walks, and three strikeouts to give the Bobcats’ bats a chance to go to work against Miami. The Bobcats found themselves down early, facing a 2-0 deficit in the first inning before they had even had a chance to hit.
“I was trying to come out and just attack the strike zone early. I was trying to get off to a fast start.” Boncal said after the game. “I know I gave up two in the first, but just trying to steady the game for us and let the offense get going a little bit. Just going out there and attacking the strike zone is the key.”
Ohio responded with eight runs across their next two turns at the plate, highlighted by a pair of home runs by catcher Jackson Cauthron in the first, a two-run shot, and a three-run home run by Bobcats first baseman Trae Cassidy that put Ohio up 8-2 at the time. Miami would cut into Ohio’s lead in the third inning where they plated a pair of runs to make it 8-4, but Cassidy’s second long ball of the day swung the momentum right back in Ohio’s favor in the bottom of the fifth, putting the home team ahead, 9-4.
From there, Ohio head coach Craig Moore and his staff turned the game over to the bullpen, starting with right-handed reliever Jack Geyser. Geyser’s outing did not go his way, as Miami knocked him around for four runs on four hits, two of which were home runs, to draw to within one run to make the game 9-8 in Ohio’s favor. Ethan Stewart relieved Geyser in the seventh and turned in two solid innings, allowing only one run as Ohio was able to tack on three more runs to give themselves some insurance, in large part due to a throwing error by Miami on a bunt in the bottom of the eighth that allowed two runs to score. In the top of the ninth, Julian Robertson came on for Ohio and survived a bases-loaded jam, inducing a foul pop out to Cauthron to secure the victory and earn Ohio its tenth victory. After the mercy-rule loss earlier in the day to the RedHawks, Moore was encouraged by how his team behaved and played in the second contest.
“Coming back after game one, how we responded was really good to see from the team,” Moore said after the game. “I didn’t say much to the team after the first game, I let Nick Dolan take the lead and lead the post meeting, and he had our guys ready to go.” Said Moore. “For them to bounce back like they did in game two was very impressive.”
The Bobcats will attempt to carry the momentum from their close win over their rivals into tomorrow’s series finale against the RedHawks. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Bob Wren Stadium.