Three games, one win.
Ohio has fallen into a similar pattern this season after it dropped two of its games against Eastern Kentucky this weekend. The Bobcats did the same in its previous series against USC Upstate.
Despite the losses, Ohio proved itself to be competitive while in Richmond, Kentucky. In both of the games it lost, Ohio only lost by one run.
Here’s a look back at the Bobcats’ weekend trip:
Friday
Ohio’s bats were cold Friday. Five of its eight hits came from Xavier Haendiges and Colin Kasperbauer. However, neither of them produced an RBI.
Two of Ohio’s runs came off sacrifice flies. The Bobcats traded outs for runs, and it hurt them in the end. Their inability to find the gaps and get runners on base kept them from being able to score further into innings.
However, it was not all the Bobcats’ faults. Eastern Kentucky utilized six different pitchers, so no Ohio batter got the same look in more than one inning. The Colonels kept the Bobcats on their toes.
The Bobcats turned to Edward Kutt IV for their starter Friday. After a rough start, Ohio put Braxton Kelly in to try and keep the last four innings clean. Kelly struck out five and allowed one hit during his time on the mound.
But that was not enough to keep Ohio from losing 4-3.
Saturday
Jack Liberatore threw his longest outing of the season Saturday. He allowed four runs and six hits over five and two-thirds innings. Liberatore was able to keep the Colonels off the board in four straight innings after allowing the initial run but fell prey in the sixth inning.
Ohio jumped on Eastern Kentucky the first chance it had. Mason Minzey picked up two RBIs on a double to right center to put the Bobcats up in the first. However, Eastern Kentucky answered right away with a sacrifice fly.
The same happened in the sixth inning. Ohio scored on a triple by Nick Dolan and a single by Haendiges, but Eastern Kentucky fired back with three runs of its own. By the end of the sixth, the game was tied.
Ohio tried to inch itself over Eastern Kentucky in the seventh, but the pattern continued. It wasn’t broken until the ninth inning, when the Colonels scored a lone run. That run gave closer Brett Manis his first loss of the season, as the Bobcats walked away with a 7-6 loss.
Sunday
The weekend had been gloom and doom for the Bobcats leading up to Sunday. Their record had fallen well below .500 because of a four-game losing streak.
However, fortune fell on Ohio on Sunday.
Jake Tate threw seven scoreless innings to to maintain a four-run lead Ohio had built throughout the game. He struck out nine and only walked a single batter to make room for the offense.
The top half of the order drove Ohio’s offensive success Sunday. Leadoff hitter Isaiah Peterson gave Ohio its first RBI of the afternoon in the third inning. Later in the fifth, two- and three-hole hitters Alex Finney and Minzey contributed one and two RBIs, respectively.
Usually, the Bobcats struggle to combine their offense and pitching on the same day, but they made it work Sunday. Ohio shutout Eastern Kentucky 4-0 to end the weekend.
