Ohio (7-17, 3-7 Mid-American Conference) welcomed Eastern Michigan (11-11, 6-4 MAC) to Bob Wren Stadium this weekend to play a MAC matchup. In game one Friday, Ohio came out on top with a narrow 4-3 win.
The game started slowly for both teams, with neither being able to get anything going in the first or second inning. Eastern Michigan was the first team to break through, scoring on a single to left field in the third inning. The Eagles got on base from a hit-by-pitch and advanced to second from an error.
After a series of walks and a hit-by-pitches in the fifth inning, Eastern Michigan would extend its lead over Ohio 2-0, as Ohio could not figure out its offense.
Ohio’s first hit was in the fifth inning when sophomore first baseman Trae Cassidy hit the ball down the third base line. While this did not spark anything that inning, in the sixth inning, Ohio’s offense exploded.
Starting the inning down 2-0, the Bobcats would leave the inning with a 3-2 lead after loading the bases from a single from graduate student catcher Blake Reed, a walk from graduate student outfielder Trenton Neuer and a bunt for a hit from freshman second baseman Matt Ineich. Reed would score on a wild pitch, Neuer would score on a sacrifice hit from sophomore shortstop JR Nelson and Ineich would score on a sacrifice fly from sophomore outfielder Pauly Mancino.
Ohio seemed to have control of the game, but in the eighth inning Eastern Michigan would capitalize on an error from Cassidy at first base, where the ball slipped out of his glove, giving Eastern Michigan extra life. With a runner on second and first, Eastern Michigan hit a ball just over Ohio’s shortstop’s head and scored the run on second, making it a tie game.
The tie game did not last long as Ohio retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning after Mancino reached first on an infield single, and Eastern Michigan intentionally walked sophomore outfielder Ben Slanker. Redshirt senior third baseman Nick Dolan was up to bat with the game tied late, and he rose to the occasion. Dolan hit a single to right field, and Mancino took off running and slid into home to give Ohio the lead going into the ninth inning.
“I was thinking: Just put the ball in play somewhere hard,” Dolan said. “We had a lot of speed on the bases, I know they’re going to run hard and score no matter where it was going to be.”
Sophomore relief pitcher Jack Geiser was in the game in the eighth when the tying run from Eastern Michigan scored, but he was determined not to let this impact the ninth inning. He shut down Eastern Michigan in the ninth inning, closing out the win for the Bobcats.
