Ohio entered the 2017 season with plenty of question marks.
Many of those question marks were met head-on in the Bobcats (3-1) opening weekend series, and the team will look to continue its hot start in its upcoming four-game series in Emerson, Georgia, against Southern Illinois (2-2).
The Bobcats' hot start came from big contributions from the pitching staff, one of the team's biggest question marks. The trio of starting pitchers is made up of redshirt juniors Gerry Salisbury and Michael Klein and junior Butch Baird, who, combined, are to throw 15 1/3 innings, strike out 16 batters and allow just three earned runs on three walks and 10 hits.
Coach Rob Smith knew pitching would be a big concern for the team's success this year, so he made some sizable changes prior to the weekend's season opener.
Needless to say, Smith was pleased with the early results.
"The weekend completely played out the way I thought it would in terms of what I saw," Smith said.
Smith will likely roll out the same set of arms to start against Southern Illinois this weekend and combat what he thinks will be an active offense.
"They're going to try to hit-and-run, and they'll use the bunt game," Smith said. "They'll be a creative offense that we'll have to manage."
What to look for
Klein, who won MAC East Player of the week for his dominant pitching and batting performances last weekend, will look to continue his hot start to the season as he currently leads the team in batting average (.400), slugging percentage (.867), hits (six), home runs (two), RBIs (five) and total bases (13).
If Klein continues to post numbers identical to the opening weekend, there's "no question" the right-hander will stay in both offensive and defensive roles, according to Smith.
The bullpen also showed its reliability last weekend, as it tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings in the opening game against La Salle and five shutout frames in the shutout win against Butler on Sunday.
To preserve the 4-0 shutout win against Butler, Smith tossed seniors Tom Colletti and Jake Rudnicki and brought on redshirt junior Jake Roehn to close out the game. The trio struck out eight and allowed three hits.
Smith will likely continue to utilize the same set of veterans in close-game situations.
