Sports
Ohio Beats Dayton in Midweek Contest
By: Mary Ryznar
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For the first time since 2015, Ohio Baseball is on a four-game winning streak. The five-game losing streak for Ohio has been put on to a halt after the Bobcats swept this past weekend’s series and came out with a 5-2 win against in-state rival Dayton on Tuesday.
Ohio took an early lead in the second inning against the Flyers. Senior Connor Callery led off with a walk then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. After a single from freshman Tanner Piechnick moved him to third, junior Evan Bourne grounded into double play but sent Callery home. Ohio held a 1-0 lead until Dayton went ahead with a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning.
However, this lead did not last long once the Bobcats took their turn at the plate. Sophomore Devon Garcia led off with a bunt single and advanced to third on a single by senior Spencer Ibarra. A sacrifice fly from sophomore Rudy Rott sent Garcia home to tie up the score 2-2 and Ibarra scored on a double from senior Ty Black.
Ohio sealed the win in the bottom of the eighth. Senior Tyler Finkler drew a one-out walk before stealing both second and third and scored on a passed ball. A triple by Piechnick set Ohio up for another run and a pinch-hit RBI single by Nick Bredeson scored Piechnick to put Ohio up 5-2
“There was a lot of positive momentum coming in,” Ohio head coach Rob Smith said. “Obviously, we played extremely well in the weekend and we carried that out tonight. We didn’t swing it quite as well over the weekend but these mid-week games tend to be more of a challenge. We hung in the game. We got the runs when we needed them. We got the hits when we needed to get them. It was a good all-around effort.”
Some major hits were recorded while the Bobcats were at bat. Piechnick collected his first career double and triple. Ibarra who went 2-for-4 with a run scored, showing why he was named the Mid-American Cconference East Player of the Week on Tuesday (April 4).
A total of seven pitchers took the mound for Ohio. Redshirt sophomore Nick Kamrada started the game but was relieved by junior Logan Jacik in the second. Senior Cory Blessing relieved Jacik with two outs in the second remained on the mound for 2.1 relief frames. Blessing struck out two and only allowed two runs to pick up the win, improving his record to 3-1 this year.
The remaining innings were thrown by senior Matt Mikolajczak, sophomore Kenny Ogg, senior Tom Colletti, and redshirt junior Jake Roehn, who closed the ninth. Roehn struck out two and gave up a walk to earn his sixth save of the year. Roehn’s 13 career saves are the third-highest total in school history.
Ohio baseball will remain at The Wren to host Central Michigan in the first home MAC series of the 2017 season. The first game is on Friday at 6 p.m. followed by a 3 p.m. game on Saturday with the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.