Ohio dropped its second Mid-American Conference series of the season on Sunday, as Western Michigan defeated the Bobcats in the weekend's rubber match by a score of 7-4 at Bob Wren Stadium. Mason McWilliams took the loss for Ohio and watched his record for the season fall to 1-3.
The Bobcats are now 14-11 this season, with a 2-4 record in the MAC.
A rough start by McWilliams forced coach Rob Smith to turn to his pen just one out into the game. A total of four runs scored in the first for Western Michigan, just one of which were earned, with the big blast coming on a two-run bomb by Jared Kujawa.
The Broncos continued to do damage in the second inning, as the Ohio infield committed three errors on consecutive plays and allowed two more runs to cross the plate. In just two innings, the Bobcats had committed four errors, and allowed five unearned runs to score.
Once the defense got settled in, however, the rest of the bullpen began to shine. Evan Geist, Spencer Sapp and Christian Botter all tossed scoreless frames in consecutive innings before Jake Miller came in and held down the Broncos' offense, yielding just one run in four innings of work.
The large cushion in the beginning of the game allowed Western Michigan starter Keegan Akin to control the game throughout his appearance. Ohio wouldn't dent the scoreboard until the fifth inning, when John Adryan launched a two-run homer to left field for his first of the season.
Ohio added one more run in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Jake Madsen, while a Manny DeJesus RBI single provided the lone spark in a short-lived ninth inning rally. That rally would end with the next hitter, however, and despite outhitting the Broncos 11-5, Ohio was unable to pull out its first MAC series win of the season.
Madsen and Adryan each secured 2-for-4 days at the plate, while Mitch Longo followed up a 4-for-4 performance on Saturday with a 3-for-4 performance, including a run scored.
Ohio will look to bounce back on Tuesday when it travels to Columbus for a single game against Ohio State.
