After a promising start to the season with a series win against Lipscomb last week, Ohio was in for a rude awakening when they traveled to Buies Creek, North Carolina, to face Campbell in a three-game series, losing all three games.
The Bobcats showed fight and the potential of their explosive offense in the last two games against the Fighting Camels, keeping pace with their offense with 12 and 7 runs on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Friday
In the series opener, few things went Ohio’s way. The Bobcats were unable to score a run until the ninth inning when Jackson Cauthron brought Nick Dolan and Clay Cutter around the bases to score.
Senior pitcher Luke Olson got the start on Friday, giving up 5 runs on three hits in the first two innings of the game. Olson walked more batters than he struck out in his time on the mound and was pulled for Patrick Straub, who also lasted for just two innings of work.
Ohio finished the game with more hits than Campbell but wasn't able to bring the runners on base home, which is almost a surefire way to lose games, especially against a talented and experienced Campbell team.
The Fighting Camels only tallied six hits on the day, but scored eight runs, winning the series opener 8-2.
Saturday
The fans in attendance at Jim Perry Stadium on Saturday were in for some fireworks as the game saw 26 total runs scored between both teams on 26 total hits as well. In the high-scoring affair, Ohio would go on to lose by a score of 14-12.
Ohio found itself down by 4 runs at the top of the fourth inning and in danger of repeating the outcome of Friday’s game but a double from freshman Pauly Mancino awoke the Bobcats’ bats, as Bryce Smith was able to score Mancino on a sacrifice fly.
Campbell fought back in the next two innings, adding 4 more runs to the scoreboard while the Bobcat offense wasn’t able to muster anything in the batter's box.
The sixth inning saw the Ohio offense explode, putting them back in position to take the game. AJ Rausch, Billy Adams and Taylor Gill all tallied RBIs in the sixth inning, with some help on Gill’s at-bat thanks to a throwing error from Campbell that allowed 2 runs to score.
Gideon Antle stayed hot for Ohio, adding in another run on a groundout to bring the total number of runs that Ohio scored in the sixth inning to 6.
Campbell again responded in the bottom of the sixth, adding 4 more runs, one of which was scored on a wild pitch.
That free run that Ohio allowed would be crucial later in the game as Ohio came within just one run of Campbell's lead in the eighth inning thanks to a double from Mancino.
Ohio would go on to allow an insurance run for Campbell in the bottom of the eighth, bringing the total score to 14-12, which would end up being the final score.
Sunday
Ohio finished the series against Campbell with a close loss, losing 8-7 after Campbell hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was a close contest in the back half of the game, with the two teams being within 1 run of each other for the final four innings.
Junior AJ Rausch accounted for more than half of the team’s runs with two 2-run home runs, both scoring Mancino.
Another junior, Blake Gaskey, started the game pitching for the Bobcats. He pitched 5 innings, allowing 5 earned runs; 3 were home runs, and 3 came in the first inning.
Ohio battled back from a 4-0 deficit after a 3-run fourth inning on the back of a 2-run homerun by Rausch. The Bobcats then scored 2 runs in the sixth and seventh innings, where they would tie Campbell 7-7.
After Gaskey was pulled in the sixth inning, freshman Jack Geiser made his second appearance of the season for the Bobcats, throwing three innings, allowing three hits and 2 earned runs. Geiser was pulled in the ninth inning for Zach Weber.
After the team was not able to score in the eighth and ninth innings, Weber took the mound for Ohio. He struck out the first batter, then walked the second batter in Braeden O’Shaughnessy. After Weber struck out the next batter, O’Shaughnessy stole second. The final batter, Peyton Bonds, was able to hit a walk-off infield single, scoring the runner at second, ending the game 8-7.
Weber was credited with the loss for the game.
