Bobcat starters are struggling to stay in games past the fifth inning.
The baseball term known as a “quality start” is defined as an instance when a pitcher completes at least six innings and allows three or less earned runs.
When Ohio welcomes Marshall (7-15) to Bob Wren Stadium on Wednesday, the Bobcats will search for just their second quality start in the past eight games. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and Evan Geist (2-2, 6.95 ERA) will start for Ohio.
Bobcats’ coach Rob Smith identified the issue of starting pitchers not going deep in games as something the team has dealt with most of the year.
“(Poor starts) make it tough on the bullpen and we’ve had to use some guys more than I would like to and extend them longer than you’d like to,” Smith said.
With a team batting average above .300, the Bobcats’ offensive firepower has kept the team in many of its contests this season.
Run production has dipped in recent games for the Bobcats, however, which means the offense won’t be able to support the struggling pitchers forever.
Tuesday’s 9-5 loss to Xavier was a prime example. The Bobcats put up ten hits on the Musketeers but scored only five runs while stranding 12 runners on base.
“We aren’t putting up as many runs as we were in the beginning of the year,” outfielder Tyler Wells said, “but hopefully we can take these ten hits (from the Xavier game) and put up more (against Marshall) and get some runs.”
Ohio (12-9) started the year on a torrid pace offensively, averaging over ten runs per game to get off to a 6-1 start. Smith knows that that kind of production isn’t sustainable and has put the focus on the pitching staff to do its part.
“We have to be able to keep the game a little bit tighter and not let it get to 8-2 (as it did against Xavier),” Smith said, “because then it gets real tough on the offense that way.”
In 21 games this year, the Bobcats have been outscored 58-34 in the first three innings of play. Trailing early on makes it hard for a team to stay energized during games.
Wells, a senior, is looking for more energy out of his team against Marshall on Wednesday because Ohio isn't fond of the former Mid-American Conference rival.
“As a team, they’re kind of one of our rivals and we never like playing them,” Wells said. “We don’t really like the way they play so we’re gonna come out with a little more fire hopefully tomorrow and pick up a lot more runs.”
jh950614@ohio.edu
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