Although bad weather is expected throughout the day, Ohio is set to open its home campaign at Bob Wren Stadium on Wednesday in a game against non-conference rival Marshall after spending three consecutive weeks playing on the road.
The Bobcats, which have 16 freshmen on the roster, are excited to finally play at home in a familiar setting instead of dealing with the ongoing travel on the road.
“We’re glad to be at home and get a chance to get into a rhythm,” coach Rob Smith said. “When you’re on the road so much it can be a challenge sometimes to find a good rhythm.”
Ohio only faces Marshall twice, but similar to the rivalries in other sports, the Bobcats aren’t too fond of the Thundering Herd.
“We only play them twice a year, but we still don’t really like them,” junior outfielder Tyler Wells said. “Coach Smith hates playing them and always wants to win.”
Marshall started its season by winning three of its first five games, before dropping the next six contests. The Thundering Herd picked up its play last weekend as it took two out of three games in the Conference USA opening series, which was its first conference opening series victory since 2009.
Marshall junior pitcher Matt Margaritonda earned the school’s fourth Conference USA pitcher of the week award after throwing a complete game, including a career-high 11 strikeouts in their 5-2 victory against East Carolina on Sunday.
The Bobcats are coming off a four-game series against Longwood in which Ohio dropped three games after recording inconsistent performances. The Lancers outscored the Bobcats 14-12, but won a pair of games by at least three runs.
Ohio has been outscored 83-50 this season and the Bobcat pitching staff boasts an ERA of 5.38.
Smith said sophomore pitcher Jake Miller will get the start against Marshall, despite surrendering six runs on seven hits in one inning of work in Ohio’s first game against Longwood on Saturday. The team plans to use other pitchers against Marshall as well.
“The Ohio-Marshall rivalry is a very good one in all sports and we’re no different,” Smith said. “We know that when they come to town we’re going to have to play really well in order to beat them and we’re looking forward to that challenge.”
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