Ohio has lost five of its past seven games, all by three runs or fewer.
Even with a few helpers from Ohio State, Ohio’s offense remained quiet for yet another game.
The Bobcats took advantage of Ohio State's errors but couldn’t capitalize enough in scoring situations. They fell to the Buckeyes 6-3 Tuesday night in front of a season-best 2,348 fans at Bob Wren Stadium.
Ohio out-hit the Buckeyes, but it came up short because of its 1-for-10 showing with runners in scoring position and 11 stranded base runners.
“I think we just need to have a better approach at the plate,” leadoff hitter Manny De Jesus said. “Just swing at more strikes and work the pitchers.”
Ohio fell behind 4-0 in the first two innings and struggled to gain offensive traction. In the fifth — at the top of the lineup, with runners on the corners and one out — the Bobcats couldn’t get any runs across.
In the sixth, Ohio loaded the bases with one out but came up short again. A deep flyout to center by Tony Giannini got one run for the Bobcats, but they stranded three.
Ohio chipped away in the seventh to make it 4-3, but only because of two Ohio State mistakes with two outs.
First, Cody Gaertner struck out on a slider in the dirt that bounced to the backstop and scored De Jesus. Gaertner finished 0-for-5 with three strikeouts to snap his 20-game hitting streak, which is Ohio’s best all-time.
Next, Rudy Rott’s slow grounder skipped over the second baseman’s glove to score Mitch Longo from third base.
The Bobcats and their offense sputtered on both sides of the sixth and seventh innings. Ultimately, the early four-run deficit was enough to sink them.
Logan Jacik, a right-handed reliever making his first start for Ohio this season, ran into a jam in the first inning by dealing a four-pitch walk and a single to the first two batters. A groundout and sac fly brought in both runners.
In the second, Jacik (2-1) gave up a two-run home run to left field. In two innings he gave up four runs, three hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
"I’ve seen him throw the ball much harder,” Ohio coach Rob Smith said. “I’ve seen him throw the ball much more aggressively and he just wasn’t able to do that tonight.”
The Bobcats are used to early deficits in games. They’ve given up 49 runs in the first two innings of games so far this season.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="74c01c62-f60f-11e5-b1a4-2b5bde695829"}}
But Ohio (10-14) is struggling in key situations at the plate right now and the quick hole was too deep for it to climb out of.
“We’ve been good enough to be competitive,” said Smith, whose team has lost five of its past seven by no more than three runs in each loss. “But in every ballgame there’s a time you have to make a pitch, have to make a play, have to get a hit and we’re just not doing that right now.”
@JordanHorrobin
jh950614@ohio.edu
