Ohio was tasked with playing against arguably the best team in the Mid-American Conference for its first MAC series of the season last weekend at Bob Wren Stadium.
Central Michigan boasted two of the best hitters and one of the best pitching staffs in the MAC, and the Bobcats, who struggled nearly everywhere in their first two months of play, still managed to pull out one win in the three games to avoid a sweep.
Here are three takeaways from the series:
Cleaner defense needed
Every time Ohio committed an error against Central Michigan, the Chippewas capitalized and scored later in the inning.
The errors made a difference in the Bobcats’ losses Friday and Sunday. A fifth inning error Friday cost Ohio one unearned run, and a fourth inning error Sunday resulted in two unearned runs, which allowed CMU to take a 2-1 lead.
When Ohio won 12-11 on Saturday, a first inning throwing error from Joe Rock allowed runners from first and second base to score. The Chippewas added two more runs that inning and built an early 4-0 lead that forced the Bobcats to play catch-up the rest of the game.
The errors weren’t the only reason Ohio lost two games, but cleaning up the defense will go a long way toward the Bobcats’ improvement. Ohio owns a rough 5.70 team ERA, so the Bobcats can limit their pitching struggles and frequency of big innings by cutting down errors and keeping innings as short as possible.
Offense improves
The Bobcats entered the weekend with the worst offenses in the MAC. With a team batting average below .200, Ohio’s offense ranked last in the conference and looked like an easy matchup for any pitcher seeking to improve their stats.
Ohio improved its batting average up to .200 this weekend. It’s still last in the conference, but it was an improvement nonetheless. The Bobcats also scored their highest run total of the year in Saturday’s win and relied less on bunting and stolen bases to advance runners.
The Chippewas boast the third-best pitching staff in the conference and a team ERA of 3.84, so coach Rob Smith was encouraged to see the Bobcats improve their hitting against a stout pitching staff.
“I think our hitters competed well throughout the weekend,“ he said. “We’ve been struggling on offense quite a bit, but we got a lot better throughout the course of the weekend.”
Ohio has an opportunity to continue that improvement next weekend with three games against Bowling Green. The Falcons own a 5.41 ERA and swept Toledo last weekend despite allowing five or more runs in the three games.
Pitching limits CMU’s hot bats
Ohio needed to limit CMU’s run production by stopping Zach Gilles and Jacob Crum. Gilles led the MAC with a .431 batting average, and Crum led the conference with an incredible .731 slugging percentage.
The duo went just 5-for-25 (.200) with a home run and five RBIs, all from Crum, against the Bobcats last weekend. Ohio deserves credit for shutting down the top weapons of Central Michigan’s stacked lineup, and the Bobcats’ young starting pitchers showed maturity by keeping Ohio in each game.
Rock, a freshman, never gave up a run after the Chippewas scored four runs in the first inning, and Jack Liberatore, a redshirt freshman, allowed just one earned run in five innings. Kenny Ogg, a senior with the most pitching experience, showed the most consistency when he lasted five innings and allowed only two unearned runs.
The most impressive performance, however, came from Liberatore. The right-hander never pitched a clean inning but still found ways to work out of trouble when runners advanced into scoring position in four of his five innings.
Liberatore proved capable under pressure, and that’s a positive sign Smith looks for in the development of young pitchers.
“It’s easy to recognize guys’ ceilings,“ Smith said. “But when a guy shows you his floor, and you look up and you still got a good shot at winning the game, I think he’s in a good spot.”
What’s next
Ohio (5-16, 1-2 MAC) will play Marshall (14-8) on Tuesday at Bob Wren Stadium before hosting Bowling Green (7-12, 3-0 MAC) its next conference series.
