For the first time this season, Ohio won two games in a weekend.
The Bobcats got their first win Friday against UIC but lost big on Saturday to Evansville. However, they didn’t let the weight of the loss keep them down for long. The Bobcats were able to win Sunday and split the series with Evansville 1–1.
Here is everything you need to know from Ohio’s games this weekend:
Friday
Ohio’s fifth years shined on Friday. Isaiah Peterson, Edward Kutt IV, and Brett Manis all showed their experience, leading Ohio to a 5-1 win against UIC.
Peterson played his part in Ohio’s win by getting on base as the leadoff hitter and using his keen base running skills to Ohio’s advantage. He led Ohio with two hits and scored three runs on Friday. Peterson scored Ohio’s first run on a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Later in the sixth, he scored Ohio’s second run on a double by Mason Minzey. Peterson scored the final run on a wild pitch towards the end of the seventh.
Micheal Richardson and Finney also scored runs Friday. Finney scored on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to put the Bobcats up by two. Richardson then put them up by three in the seventh as the game started to wind down.
Kutt threw seven innings, only giving up nine hits and one run against UIC. UIC’s only run came in the second inning, which gave the Bobcats plenty of time to come back and take charge of the game.
In addition, Kutt had nine strikeouts, which enabled him to get his first win this season. In the eighth, Manis came in to relieve Kutt and close the game. Manis pitched for the final two innings, where he only faced six batters and threw 22 pitches to seal the win for Ohio.
Saturday
Ohio faced a new opponent Saturday. For the first time in program history, Ohio played Evansville, who started its season similar to Ohio. Both teams only had two wins going into their matchup Saturday, but it was Evansville who came out with the extra win at the end of the day.
The Bobcats fell behind early and were unable to come back, losing to the Purple Aces 12-5 on Saturday. The Purple Aces scored in six of the eight and a half innings, including nine runs in the first half of the game.
But Ohio never gave up. It tried its best to crawl back, scoring in five innings on Saturday. However, Ohio was only able to score one run at a time and wasn’t able to produce big innings like Evansville was. Richardson tried to get Ohio going in the third with an RBI-double that allowed Peterson to score, but that’s all that it could muster until the next inning.
In the fourth, Treyben Funderburg hit an RBI-single allowing Colin Kasperbauer to score. Once again, the Bobcats didn’t do much else in the inning — repeating a pattern that continued throughout the rest of the game.
Jack Liberatore started on the mound for Ohio but only pitched for three and a third innings. Liberatore gave up seven hits and seven runs in that time to pick up the loss. While Ohio only utilized three of its pitchers Saturday, Evansville used five. The quick pitching changes may have been part of the reason why Ohio struggled to score multiple runs in an inning Saturday.
Sunday
The start of Ohio’s second game against Evansville was a completely different story. Rather than sit back and watch, Ohio got up early Sunday. It scored one run in the second inning and three runs in the top of the fourth to make the score 4-0.
However, Ohio’s lead did not last long. Evansville fired back with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth. It scored again in the seventh inning to make the game even closer at 4-3.
Although Ohio kept getting hits, it couldn’t fathom an insurance run to get some peace of mind — something they’d soon lose.
It all came down to the bottom of the ninth. Manis only needed three outs to secure the win for Ohio. He struck out the first batter, but then allowed a single which would hurt moments later. Evansville’s Tanner Craig sent a double down the left field line, allowing the runner to score and tie up the game.
In the top of the 10th inning, the Bobcats knew that this could potentially be their only opportunity to close out the game. Evansville’s Eric Roberts hit Peterson with a pitch and walked Finney to put two Bobcats on base. Roberts was then replaced by Drew Dominik.
The pitching change was all Ohio needed to win. A double by Mason Minzey allowed Peterson and Finney to score. Evansville then failed to come up with a run in the bottom of the 10th, and Ohio eked out a 6-4 win.
