Sports
Ohio Baseball suffers mercy-rule loss against Akron to open Alumni Weekend in Athens
By: Thomas Henry
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — With the season beginning to wind down, the Ohio Bobcats baseball (8-33) opened Alumni Weekend at Ohio University with a three-game series against Akron (18-24) on a gorgeous evening at Bob Wren Stadium. Despite the good weather, Ohio’s performance in the field was anything but, as they fell to Akron 21-7 in an ugly mercy-rule loss that saw the game end after just seven innings with Akron pounding five home runs.
Prior to the first pitch, Ohio held a special tribute for former player and Ohio alumni, Jake Rohen, who was an integral part of Ohio baseball’s MAC Championship season in 2017 and is the university’s all-time saves leader with 29. Sadly, Rohen passed away in 2025.
Before the game, his family gathered at home plate with a bouquet of flowers, and a moment of silence was held, with both teams standing outside of their respective dugouts applauding in a beautiful tribute to the Ohio baseball legend.
After a unique first inning that saw Ohio starter Mason Gass (L, 3-3) face the minimum even after giving up two singles in the frame thanks to two Zips runners being thrown out at second base attempting to steal, Ohio fell behind early, 1-0, in the second inning. Akron jumped all over Gass in the second inning with two more home runs, highlighted by a three-run shot by Akron designated hitter Easton Amundson.
After entering the game having given up only four home runs all season, Gass gave up four in 2 1/3 innings pitched in a particularly rough night for Ohio’s pitching staff.
Following a three-run rally in the bottom of the third inning that made it a competitive 5-3 ballgame, the game appeared poised to be a competitive one for the rest of the evening. Akron erased these hopes with a nine-run fourth inning, featuring a grand slam from Zip left fielder Prince DeBoskie. Entering the contest, DeBoskie had not gone yard during the whole season, but crushed two home runs, including his grand slam, in the fourth inning alone to put the game away early. By the end of the fourth, Ohio was down 14-3.
From there, Akron proceeded to score in every inning, something that they did in every frame except for the first. Ohio scratched across a run in the fifth inning thanks to a home run from left fielder Cameron Boyd, and third baseman Dylan Shepherd drove in three runs with a two-out opposite-field double in the bottom of the seventh just before the game concluded. In the later stages of the game, tensions rose between the two teams and the umpires, with Bobcat reliever Julian Robertson getting tossed after throwing behind an Akron batter.
Both benches were warned, and Ohio head coach Andrew See exchanged words with home plate umpire Ronnie Whiting, but no other ejections occurred. The Bobcats’ 21 runs given up to Akron were the most runs that they have given up all season, surpassing a 20-12 loss to Western Michigan earlier in the year.
With their 33rd loss of the season, Ohio is creeping ever closer to the all-time school record of 40 losses in a single season, set by the 2014 team that posted an 11-40 record. With 14 games remaining in their season, the Bobcats will have to go .500 or better to avoid breaking the record.
The Bobcats will look to bounce back Saturday in game two against Akron that begins at 4 p.m. at Bob Wren Stadium.