Week after week, Ohio (9-29, 4-14 Mid-American Conference) is stacking up losses. It hasn’t won a series since its home opening weekend against Butler back in March; now, closing out April, this cold streak continued with a sweep against Kent State (24-13, 14-4 MAC).
Game one
The Bobcats recorded just four hits in their opening loss to the Flashes, succumbing in seven innings, 14-3. Ohio started with three scoreless offensive innings while Kent State went up 2-0 early with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first.
The defense, led by freshman pitcher Hunter Winston, held it down in the second before conceding one of its more explosive innings in the third, in which Kent State scored 8 runs to take a 10-0 lead.
Half of those 8 third-inning runs were awarded to Winston, as he allowed four of his six batters to reach base before being relieved by redshirt junior Dylan Eggl. Eggl didn’t have much success cleaning up the situation, despite coming in with two outs. He allowed each of Winston’s baserunners to score before adding 4 more runs to the Golden Flashes’ tally.
Eight of the nine Kent State batters who stepped up to the plate recorded a hit against Ohio’s pitching staff, led by sophomore outfielder Alejandro Covas with three hits and 4 RBIs. A 2-run homer from fifth-year third baseman Nick Dolan got Ohio on the board in the top of the fourth, but the damage was done as the innings wound down.
Game two
Ohio recorded its second seven-inning outing in a row Saturday afternoon, as Kent State increased its margin of victory by 1 run, coming out on top 14-2.
Senior pitcher Blake Gaskey moved from being the Friday to the Saturday starter in the absence of senior Dillon Masters, and gave up 9 runs in his six innings of play, with his offense only being able to bring in 2 of its own.
Through four innings, Kent State held a 4-0 lead, scoring on small-ball plays forced and unforced. Its opening run was a hit-by-pitch to score with the bases loaded, with the most explosive play being a fourth-inning single-run home run.
On the other side, Ohio struggled to do much of anything. Ohio’s top-of-the-lineup pairing of freshman infielder Matt Ineich and sophomore outfielder Ben Slanker struggled to make much of their plate appearances until Slanker’s third at-bat in the top of the fifth went out of the park, finally scoring for Ohio.
That was answered, however, by Kent State’s most explosive innings. The Golden Flashes scored 5 runs in the fifth and sixth, locking up the 10-run lead necessary to end the game early, taking a 2-0 series lead into Sunday’s game.
Game three
Ohio kept it closer in the closeout game of the weekend, going the full nine innings for the first time in its 12-6 loss. The offense was better, notching 11 hits, but it didn’t result in runs as the Bobcats went scoreless in six of those nine innings.
Starting on the mound was senior righty Hudson Boncal, who, like Gaskey, allowed 9 runs. Ohio struck first blood for the first time in the series, with a bunt from sophomore infielder Trae Cassidy to score Slanker, only for Ohio to be popped up on its next at-bat.
A 3-run homer from freshman designated hitter Sawyer Solitaria brought the Flashes right back in front, never relenting their lead from that point. After a single Kent State run marked the only score of the second, Ohio’s defense conceded another 3-run inning in the third, making it a 7-1 deficit.
Finding itself down 11-2 entering the eighth, Ohio showed life, scoring 4 runs in the top of the second-to-last inning before going scoreless in the ninth, ending the series on the wrong end of a sweep.
