Nobody was quite sure what to expect out of opening weekend when Ohio traveled to Lipscomb for its first three games of the season. Lipscomb, the reigning champion of the ASUN conference and established baseball program looked like it would have the advantage against an Ohio team full of youth starters and transfers.
Over the weekend, however, Ohio hardly looked like the young and inexperienced team that it is on paper. With back-to-back wins Friday and Saturday followed by a close loss Sunday, Ohio set the tone for the season to come.
Here is all you need to know from Ohio’s opening series of the 2024 season:
Friday
It was an offensive onslaught from both teams during Friday afternoon's matchup between the Bobcats and the Bison. Ohio’s 7-run seventh inning propelled the team to a 15-7 opening-day victory.
AJ Rausch got the scoring started for Ohio with a 2 RBI double to right field. Rausch later came around to score following freshman JR Nelson’s first career hit. Ohio’s 3-run second inning gave it an early lead.
Luke Olson started the game on the mound for Ohio. Olson, who started 11 games for the Bobcats last season, was the pitcher Ohio coach Craig Moore put his trust in for the opening day game. Through three innings of work, Olson allowed 4 runs on five hits with game-leading four strikeouts.
Olson left the game in the fourth inning for Tim Knapschaefer, a graduate student making his Ohio debut after transferring from Ohio Northern in the offseason.
Knaepschafer tallied three innings of his own out of the bullpen, where he let in 2 runs, making the score 6-5 in favor of Lipscomb heading into the sixth inning.
After a scoreless sixth inning from Knapschaefer, Ohio came to bat in the seventh, facing a 1-run deficit.
After loading the bases to start the inning, junior Wes Lug and freshman Pauly Mancino each drew walks to give Ohio the lead. Later in the inning, another new face for Ohio in transfer, Taylor Gill, stepped up to the plate and hit a bases-clearing double. Ohio exited the seventh with a 12-6 lead.
Several Ohio players finished game one with multiple hits but none more impressive than center fielder Gideon Antle, who went 5-for-6 on the day.
Tyler Peck trotted to the mound for the final three innings of the game, where he was nearly flawless, allowing just 1 run across three innings of work. Peck earned a save in the game, with Knapschaefer getting his first career win as a Bobcat.
Saturday
Ohio got its second straight win to start the season on Saturday with some superb pitching and another offensive outburst.
The Bobcat offense picked up right where it left off Friday evening, starting Saturday's game with a leadoff home run from Gill.
Jacob Tate, a pitcher who was often seen out of the bullpen last season but has started games in the past for Ohio, was the starter for game two of the series. With five strikeouts, Tate turned in the best outing of the weekend for the Bobcats. Through four innings, Tate allowed just one earned run on six hits and one walk.
Ohio pulled away from Lipscomb in the fourth inning when it scored 3 runs on three consecutive RBIs from the top of the order. Antle continued his impressive weekend with three hits in the game, including an RBI double to cap off the 4th for Ohio.
In relief of Tate was Zach Weber, who pitched 3.1 innings, allowing just 1 run en route to being given his first win of the season.
Pitching with a lead, Weber allowed two runners on base in the 8th inning after allowing a solo home run to start the inning, giving Lipscomb a prime opportunity to get back in the game. In the biggest moment of the game, Ohio went to freshman Jack Geiser to get out of the jam. Geiser struck out the first two batters he faced to get Ohio out of the eighth, followed by a clean ninth inning to secure the victory for Ohio.
Senior leader Alex Finney led the way for the Bobcats in the victory with 3 RBIs.
Sunday
Ohio’s lone loss of the weekend came on Sunday by a final of 8-3. Though it may not be seen in the final score, the Bobcats were within distance of taking the lead up until the final moments of Sunday’s game.
Antle’s impressive weekend continued with two home runs in his first two at-bats, which accounted for the entirety of the Bobcat offense until the eighth inning.
Another transfer for Ohio took the mound to start the game in the form of junior Blake Gaskey.
Gaskey started the game with three straight scoreless innings before allowing two home runs in the fourth, one a 2-run home run, to surrender the lead. Gaskey would be credited with the loss after allowing 3 earned runs.
Dillon Masters made his first appearance out of the bullpen on Sunday in relief of Gaskey. Masters could not seem to find the strike zone early on during his outing, walking both of his first two batters in the fifth inning, who later came around to score.
Ohio was able to cut the Lipscomb lead to just 2 following a two-out error that allowed a run to score for Ohio. The Bobcats loaded the bases with two outs with a chance to tie, the team just could not capitalize.
A 3-run home run surrendered in the bottom of the eighth by Ohio’s Patrick Straub was all Lipscomb needed to pull away and cap off its first win of the season.
