For Ohio, the only source of electricity in Tuesday’s game was provided by the severe storm that passed above Bob Wren Stadium.
Ohio (23-21, 12-6 Mid-American Conference) lost a rain-shortened game 5-1 to the Pittsburgh Panthers (22-21, 6-12 Big East) at home.
Bobcat starter Tyler Backstrom (0-4) ran into trouble early in the game.
Pittsburgh scored first with an RBI triple from Anthony Defabio. Rick Devereaux later grounded out, scoring Defabio for a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Ohio’s offense got off to a slow start as Pittsburgh starting pitcher Alex Caravella stymied the Bobcats for the first three frames.
Ohio third basemen Dan Schmidt, who managed one hit off Caravella, said the team knew coming in that the Panther starter would not blow batters away with speed, but would rely on movement in the zone to be effective.
“He was a slow guy, kept the pitches away,” Schmidt said. “My approach was try and take the pitches to right field and stay back on the pitch.”
Ohio’s Jensen Painter drew a walk in the fourth inning and catcher J.R. Reynolds dropped a hit in shallow center to put runners on the corners. Ethan Newton’s seeing-eye single through the left side of the infield plated Painter for the first and only run of the game.
Backstrom appeared to be settling in on the mound until the top of the fifth, when Defabio smacked a homerun to right field to push the lead to 4-1.
Reynolds said that Pittsburgh batters were feeding off the high pitches that Backstrom was throwing.
“(Backstrom) started off leaving pitches up in the zone, his changeup was up. They got two hits off that. His fastball was up,” Reynolds said. “He depends on movement and arm angle. At the start of the game his arm angle was not in place.
“(Pitching coach Andrew) See told him to get his arm lower and get that sinking action on his fastball.”
The Panthers added one more run before lightning was spotted in the area.
The game went into a 30-minute delay and the tarps were pulled out. Pittsburgh skipper Joe Jordano made it clear before the game that they Panthers would leave if the delay was prolonged, but that would not matter as the game was called in the sixth inning.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
