After pitching a complete game against Akron last Sunday, Ohio was counting on another clutch performance out of starting pitcher Connor Sitz.
The freshman was well on his way to sending the Bobcats their first series victory of the season Sunday, after opening the game with five scoreless innings. But the game started to fall apart for Sitz and Ohio in the sixth inning.
Sitz was pulled by coach Rob Smith after allowing a two-run double to Northern Illinois junior first baseman Jeff Zimmerman, and the Huskies used that inning to propel themselves to a 10-3 victory.
Before the Husky outburst, Sitz (1-6) was pitching an efficient game, with his pitch count below 60 entering the sixth inning. The righty finished with three earned runs, along with five hits and one walk.
“I thought Connor did a good job,” Smith said. “He was solid out there and threw strikes. He changed speeds and he’s getting better, and that’s what I want to see out of some of these young pitchers.”
The performance also built confidence in the freshman, who feels he’s finally getting into a groove.
“I’m starting to get more comfortable with the guys (and) finding my spots,” Sitz said. “Hopefully I can just stay with it. I’ll have the same mentality with everything going out there. It’s just another building block.”
It was another afternoon of wasted opportunities, as Ohio (9-28, 5-10 Mid-American Conference) stranded 14 runners on base and played as much a part in killing its own rallies when the game was close as Northern Illinois’ (16-21, 11-4 MAC) pitching did.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Ohio senior third baseman Ben Otto worked the count to 3-2. But he waved and missed on the payoff pitch that was out of the zone.
In the sixth, with runners on first and third and one out, junior designated hitter Kyle Dean struck out swinging, while junior right fielder Scott White’s lead was too big from first and he was picked off by junior Husky catcher Nate Ruzich for an inning-ending double play.
At that point, Smith was struggling to figure out how to cure the inconsistent Ohio offense.
“It’s a good question,” Smith said in reference to his team’s inability to capitalize on scoring opportunities. “You just have to have guys that are able to execute in that setting.”
The Bobcats shot themselves in the foot on defense as well, with two Ohio errors contributing to a three-run seventh inning for the Huskies. Seemingly routine throws for freshman second baseman Nate Squires (to first) and Otto (to home) never reached their intended targets.
“I was very disappointed with the defensive play we had,” Smith said. “I thought those were very troubling plays and disappointing plays because those should be made at this level. And they weren’t. We just have to continue to get better at that and not allow it to happen.”
After the Bobcats won on Friday 5-4, Northern Illinois outscored Ohio 21-5 in the final two games of the series.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
