Tanner Piechnick stood a few feet from Ohio’s dugout at Bob Wren Stadium and took a practice swing. The Bobcats were down 11-8 to Central Michigan, and Ohio’s fate rested on Piechnick’s bat.
Coach Rob Smith selected the catcher to pinch hit with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth inning. Ohio had already scored its highest run total in a game this year, but those efforts were three outs away from meaning nothing.
Then, Piechnick did the unthinkable. His first swing of the at-bat sent a ball over the left field fence for a walk-off grand slam that gave the Bobcats a 12-11 win Saturday over the Chippewas. Piechnick flipped his bat and stomped out of the batters box in awe as the ball just missed clearing the netting that separates the stadium from a parking lot over 360 feet away.
Ohio catcher Tanner Piechnick (#31) gestures to his team as he rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off grand slam during the Bobcats’ game on Saturday, March 23 at Bob Wren Stadium.
There was no doubt from Ohio’s bench where the ball was headed. Players and coaches erupted as soon as they heard the pop from Piechnick’s bat and rushed to home plate to greet him with a Gatorade shower after he shouted his way around the bases.
“I can’t talk,” Piechnick said. “I lost my voice a little bit, but right off the bat, I knew it.”
Smith knew it, too. He didn’t even watch to see where the ball landed. He turned to his other coaches to celebrate, and the roars from Ohio players ensured the game was over.
“I saw it go off the bat, and at that point, you knew it was out,” Smith said. “I have no idea where it landed.”
Piechnick’s swing capped off what had already been a stellar performance from Ohio’s lineup. The Bobcats have typically relied on stolen bases and bunting to generate runs, which have been hard to find amidst Ohio’s sluggish .194 batting average.
Ohio’s offense looked much different on Saturday. The Bobcats tagged CMU starter Cameron Brown for four runs in five innings and came back from a 6-0 deficit in the seventh inning after Trevor Lukkes hit a two-run double down the left field line.
But just when it seemed like the Bobcats turned things around, their pitching faltered. Griffin Lockwood-Powell hit his second home run of the game and third of the series with a •two-run shot off Brett Manis in the eighth inning, and the Chippewas scored two more runs in the ninth on an error and wild pitch.
Ohio just couldn’t escape the bottom. With only four wins in 19 games, the Bobcats were destined for another defeat that would magnify their struggles on defense — Ohio committed two errors — and inconsistencies on the mound. Ohio has struggled most on offense, but it appeared that even an eight-run performance wasn’t enough to temporarily end the Bobcats’ slump.
By the time Piechnick dug into the batter’s box in the ninth inning, however, those thoughts were put on hold. The Bobcats drew three walks and a single to cut the deficit to 11-8 and approach striking distance of the Chippewas, who sent Cameron Miller to the mound to face Piechnick in the ninth.
Miller is a hulk of a pitcher. At 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds, the right-hander delivers with a quick throwing motion that forces hitters to react a half second sooner.
Pitchers like Miller usually throw pinch hitters for a spin, but not Piechnick, who said he didn’t even swing his hardest on the grand slam.
“I knew I was going to get a fastball, and I was sitting on it all the way,” he said.
Ohio will now look to take as much out of its win as possible. The Bobcats no longer have to worry about a sweep to the Chippewas (14-7, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) on Sunday in their series finale. If Ohio’s offense can stay hot and win, the Bobcats (5-15, 1-1 MAC) will have earned a series win against one of the best teams in the MAC.
“One game can make a big difference, especially with a win like that,” Piechnick said.
On Saturday, the difference was made with one swing.
