Ohio (3-9, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) played its first MAC matchup of the season against Bowling Green (7-5, 1-0 MAC) Friday afternoon. The game went back and forth before Bowling Green ultimately took a late lead and defeated Ohio 6-4.
Bowling Green started with a bang, recording a two-run home run in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Senior starting pitcher Blake Gaskey would not let the first inning get to his head, as he would not allow another run in the next six innings he pitched.
“He gave us an outstanding start,” Ohio coach Craig Moore said. “That’s what we ask someone to do on Fridays.”
Freshman starting second baseman Matt Ineich extended his impressive hitting streak to nine games after he blasted a single into right field in the first inning. Ineich has proven to be a core piece of Ohio’s offense, even as a freshman on campus.
In the second inning, senior catcher Jackson Cauthron got Ohio’s offense started with a home run to right field to cut the Falcon lead to 2-1.
Both offenses were quiet in the middle innings, with a pitching duel ensuing. Ohio would break through first, with Ineich hitting a ground ball down the third base line, scoring two and giving Ohio the lead.
In the seventh inning Ohio added another run, with sophomore center fielder Pauly Mancino driving in sophomore shortstop JR Nelson with an infield single.
Gaskey was taken out at the beginning of the eighth inning, with a final stat line after pitching seven innings and allowing only 2 runs. Redshirt junior Dylan Eggl would take over for Gaskey and start the eighth inning strong, getting two of the first three batters out.
After a strong start to the eighth, things would turn south fast. Bowling Green would score four runs to take the lead over Ohio, all with two outs in the inning. The runs came from hits into the outfield that would just fall where the outfielders could not reach them.
“They found holes,” Moore said. “That’s the game of baseball sometimes.”
Ohio was able to find some fight in the bottom of the eighth inning where it started the inning off with two straight walks. The Bobcats were not able to convert those two walks into runs, however, and would lose the game after all three batters in the ninth inning weren’t able to get on base.
Eggl was credited with the loss.
