Two years ago, Middle Tennessee State swept Ohio’s baseball team. Despite a completely different roster, the sweep still remains a part of history the Bobcats would like to forget.
The Bobcats take on the Blue Raiders three times this weekend in Murfreesboro, Tenn. They lost two out of three games to UNC-Wilmington last weekend. Middle Tennessee State comes into the weekend contest having fallen twice to Lipscomb in a doubleheader on the road.
Coach Joe Carbone said he was decently pleased with the results last weekend, but stressed the need for improvement. He said the team will have to play its best baseball to beat the Blue Raiders, a fundamentally sound team.
“You have to build on what you did well and get better at what you didn’t do well, and we’ve worked real hard this week on getting that done,” Carbone said.
Junior pitcher Seth Streich said the series against UNC-Wilmington was something to build on going in to this weekend, even if the results were not ideal.
“First of all, we’re not satisfied with only winning one out of three games,” Streich said. “Obviously the number one thing is you want to win more than you lose, and we didn’t do that, so we didn’t get the job done.”
Carbone said that the pitching rotation would consist of junior Seth Streich Friday, senior Brent Choban Saturday and senior Jason Moulton Sunday.
Unlike teams that play in warmer climates, Ohio cannot host as many games. The early part of the season is meant to help the team find its stride before the Mid-American Conference schedule begins.
Streich said that just like every other game, Ohio will have to bring its “A” game if it wants to come back to Athens with a series victory.
“They’re another good team and it’s going to be a battle, and hopefully we can come back with more wins than losses this time,” he said.
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