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Ohio Drops MAC Opener
By: Eric Singer
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The Ohio Bobcats dropped their eighth straight game of the season, an 8-5 loss in the series opener with the Toledo Rockets at Bob Wren Stadium.
“We were competitive tonight,” Ohio coach Rob Smith said. “But unfortunately we had some plays that led to some runs for them, which was something we couldn’t overcome.”
Freshman Jake Miller (1-4) got the start for the Bobcats, pitching 5.1 innings, while giving up seven runs — six earned — on 11 hits and walking two batters as well.
Senior Dan Schmidt and freshman Nate Squires led the Bobcats offensively garnering four of the team’s eight hits. Squires scored two runs and Schmidt drove two runners across the plate.
Toledo (8-11, 1-0 MAC) jumped out early in the second inning, taking a 2-0 lead on Ohio on a pair of RBI groundouts by Nate Langhals and Deion Tansel.
Ohio (3-17, 0-1 MAC) answered in the bottom of the second with two runs of it own, highlighted by an RBI-single from redshirt senior J.R. Reynolds.
After the two teams exchanged runs to make it a 3-3 game, Toledo broke the game open in the sixth inning,
After two base hits and an RBI-single from Tyler Grogg, senior Ben Hammer crushed a three-run homerun to right field, giving Toledo a 7-4 lead.
After that inning, Toledo’s pitching kept Ohio from making a comeback, limiting them to only one hit in the final two innings.
Ohio also struggled defensively, committing three costly errors. Two led to runs for Toledo.
“We are trying to change the culture here to be a more defensive-minded, but too many games we are giving bases to the other team and it is costing us games,” Smith said.
The Bobcats will be back at Bob Wren Stadium Saturday for a doubleheader with the Rockets. Game one starts at 1 p.m.