After falling into a seven-run deficit after an explosive second inning by Marshall, Ohio (13-16, 11-4 Mid-American Conference) rallied its way back to a two-run deficit entering the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and no one on, Will Sturek was hit by Eddie Leon’s pitch, which sent him to first. Colin Kasperbauer then worked a walk to put the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate.
There were two outs and two runners on base as Cole Williams stepped to the plate. After a couple of foul balls, he knocked a soft grounder towards second base and Marshall (14-16, 4-8 Conference USA) beat him to the bag for a Tuesday night victory at Bob Wren Stadium 8-6.
The Thundering Herd jumped on Bobcat starter Colin Sells after a scoreless first. He recorded one out, and then Marshall scored seven runs off of six hits before he got a chance to get a second out. Sophomore Tyler Peck replaced him on the mound and escaped the inning. Sells took the loss to drop his record to 1-1.
First baseman Daniel Carinci hit a three-run home run for one of his three hits on the night. Kyle Schaefer, Luke Edwards, Owen Ayers, Kebler Peralta and Gio Ferraro joined Carinci as members of the Thundering Herd to knock multiple hits.
“We ran into some trouble there in the second; we didn't make a play that we probably could have made, and that led to some other things after that. We have to continue to work and talk to our guys about ‘hey if a play is not made or a call is not made, you still have an opportunity with the next pitch to get yourself out of that situation.’ Unfortunately, it just didn’t happen that way,” Ohio coach Craig Moore said.
OHIO baseball team celebrates after scoring at the OHIO vs Marshall baseball game in Athens, Ohio on April 11, 2023.
Peck, along with Zach Weber and Dillon Masters, threw a total of 7 and ⅔ innings while allowing only a run. Their only blemish was in the sixth inning when Schaefer knocked a home run off of Weber. Peck threw 3 and ⅔ scoreless innings while Masters came into the game for the ninth and kept Marshall's lead at two runs. Weber pitched three full innings and allowed five hits, including Schafer’s home run.
“All three of those guys came in and did what our relief pitching has been doing for the last three weeks, and that’s throwing up zeros to give our offense a chance to get it back,” Moore said.
Ohio scored three runs in both the third and fourth inning. In the third, Mason Minzey singled in Alec Patino before he scored on a home run by Sturek, his sixth of the season. In the fourth, Nick Dolan recorded a sacrifice fly to score one and then Patino doubled in Harrison Johnson. Ohio added another run when Minzey scored A.J. Rausch on an infield groundout.
“We had some opportunities there to add on some runs, but, it's the game of baseball and sometimes it just doesn’t go your way,” Moore said.
Thundering Herd starter Chad Heiner threw 3 and ⅓ innings, allowing all six Bobcat runs. Cole Agemy, Drew Harlow and Leon finished out the rest of the game, with Leon coming in for the save.
