Ohio had an interesting weekend at the Hughes Brothers Challenge. The schedule was adjusted due to weather before the tournament even began and Ohio played one fewer game than it thought it would.
The Bobcats did not fare well in Wilmington, North Carolina,winning one of three games over the weekend.
Here’s how it happened:
Friday vs. UNC-Wilmington
The Bobcats found themselves down early and despite their best efforts, they could not complete a comeback. The Seahawks won 14-10.
Ohio let UNC-Wilmington jump out to a 5-0 lead in the first. It cut the lead in the second on a two-run home run by Alec Patino, but UNC-Wilmington scored again in the same inning to void Ohio’s effort. Patino led Ohio with three hits on Friday.
Despite a home run from Mason Minzey and a string of runs in the latter half of the game, the Bobcats were stuck in a hole. The Seahawks found a way to score just about every time the Bobcats did.
In its first outing of the season, Ohio’s pitching staff had its struggles. Starter Brenden Roder allowed nine runs and five hits in two innings, along with two walks. Sophomore Tyler Peck had the best performance on Friday, striking out three of the batters he faced and and only allowing two earned runs.
Saturday vs. No.19 Virginia
Ohio did not play its second game against UNC-Wilmington. Instead, it jumped straight to its game against No. 19 Virginia and suffered an 8-4 loss.
Sophomore Zach Weber got his first start as a Bobcat in the loss. Weber allowed 12 hits and five runs over four innings. He also collected two strikeouts.
Weber was relieved by Jacob Tate, who struck out two and walked two batters over 2.2 innings before he was relieved by Carter Sabol. Sabol did not last long before he was replaced by Braxton Kelly to close out the game.
Virginia earned half of its runs on singles, three of which were in the first inning. Ohio was not outpowered by Virginia. Virginia simply had better team production with 19 hits compared to Ohio’s nine.
Ohio’s offense was led by A.J. Rausch on Saturday. He drove in three of Ohio’s four runs. Rausch collected two RBIs on a home run to left field and one on a double to right.
Rausch, along with Colin Kasperbauer, Minzey and Patino, make up Ohio’s power-hitting core at the top of the roster. The four had eight of Ohio’s nine hits on Saturday. The ninth hit was from pinch hitter Trenton Neuer.
Sunday
Ohio brought its bats on Sunday. It had previously collected a combined 18 hits on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday, it knocked 20 to defeat Navy 27-9.
The Bobcats were productive all around. Nine of 15 Bobcats who had an at-bat had at least one hit. Two of those who didn’t have hits — Minzey and Kasperbauer — were walked three times. Rausch walked six times.
Patino led the way with seven RBIs on two singles, a double and an error. He was followed by Will Sturek, who had four. Three Bobcats — Kasperbauer, Minzey and Clay Cutter — had three RBIs each.
Luke Olson earned his first win on Sunday with the longest outing of any Ohio pitcher over the weekend. He tossed five innings, in which he allowed four hits and a single run. He was relieved by Mitchel Hemmen, Dillion Masters, Luke Borer and Hudson Boncal, who each threw an inning.
