With the pop of Ohio center fielder Ethan Newton’s glove and a collective groan from the Akron dugout, the Bobcats finally let out a sigh of relief.
The Bobcats (26-25, 15-9 Mid-American Conference) broke a nearly two-week losing streak with a convincing sweep against the Zips in their final MAC road trip of the season. Ohio clinched its first trip to the MAC Tournament in two seasons and built momentum for the final week of its regular-season schedule.
Ohio starting pitcher Brent Choban threw his fourth complete game of the year, winning Friday’s contest in a dramatic fashion.
After the Zips (17-35, 10-14 MAC) were able to close the gap off a sacrifice fly, Choban’s mettle was put to the test in the ninth inning with two runners inscoring position and as many outs on the scoreboard.
The senior left-hander didn’t worry about overpowering batters, forcing Akron’s Brady Stewart to line out to Newton in center to take the 4-3 win.
“Really, I think we made it closer than what it needed to be in the ninth, but it was great to come out with that win,” Choban said. “That momentum carried us through the weekend and getting all three wins is really good for our confidence going into our Miami series next weekend.”
Heading into the Akron series, Ohio had won only four of 12 games this season where the final score was decided by one run. The Bobcats improved upon that mark, though, winning each game by a single tally.
“I think it shows the character of the team,” Ohio coach Joe Carbone said. “We could have easily pouted, and I thought we bounced back and beat a good Akron team.”
Saturday’s matchup featured a barrage of Bobcat scoring in the first four innings, during which Ohio plated eight runners.
The Zips’ bats were relatively quiet until late in the game, but Akron almost found a way to go out with a bang.
After scoring four in the eighth to lessen the margin to three runs, the Zips loaded the bases in the final frame. They quickly cashed in a pair of runs off relief pitcher Brett Barber.
With one out and Akron’s Jared Turocy at the plate, Ohio catcher Cody Gaertner let a passed ball sneak behind him. The freshman catcher scrambled to the backstop, while Akron’s Bryan White attempted to make the 90-foot dash down the third baseline.
With the flick of his wrist, Gaertner flipped the errant pitch to Barber at home and caught the Zips’ base runner red-handed.
Turocy then grounded out to the pitcher’s mound to squash the rally attempt.
The Bobcats completed the sweep Sunday with a 3-2 win. Neither of the Zips’ runs were earned in Seth Streich’s complete-game performance.
Streich bounced back from an unimpressive outing last weekend to go the distance, allowing eight hits and only one walk. He also struck out six and stranded seven Akron players in scoring position.
“You can’t always play with fire and come out the winner, but I think it’s a great stepping stone for us and shows a lot of maturity from us,” Streich said.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
