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Infielder Nick Dolan (1) swings at the baseball at the game against Eastern Michigan, March 28, 2024, at Bob Wren Stadium, in Athens.

Baseball: Losing streak continues against Northern Kentucky

Ohio (9-29, 4-14 Mid-American Conference) looked to break its six-game losing streak when it welcomed Northern Kentucky (22-16, 11-7 Horizon) to Bob Wren Stadium Tuesday night. The Bobcats were unable to stop the poor run, losing 13-3.

Ohio gave the ball to sophomore right-handed pitcher Trey Barkman, who was making his 15th appearance of the season. The Norse were the first on the board after an RBI groundout to Bobcats second baseman sophomore Cam Bryant. Barkman struggled with command early in the game, walking the next three hitters and allowing another run to cross for the Norse, as the Bobcats trailed 2-0 after the top of the first.

“We have to minimize the freebies, not let opponents create a big inning, like they have the last several weeks," Ohio coach Craig Moore said. “It's been one inning here and there. It seems like for quite some time, where it's a lot of things just snowball on us, and we've got to get, tougher mentally, we got to be able to overcome some of the next pitch type things and not let past results affect what our results in the future could be.”

Ohio would work the count early, collecting two one-out walks as it tried to push some runs across in the first. Two runs would come on a single up the middle by senior catcher, playing designated hitter, Jackson Cauthron, to tie the game at 2-2. Ohio would grab the 3-2 lead on an RBI single by freshman infielder Drew Cox that brought Cauthron home.

Northern Kentucky would retake the lead 4-3 on a one-out, 2-run home run to right-center field that would chase Barkman from the game. Ohio would go to junior lefty Landon Price for his 14th appearance of 2025.

Price would allow the first two hitters he saw to reach base, and the Norse cashed in with an RBI single down the right field line to go up 5-3. The Norse extended the lead on an RBI infield single. The inning rolled on, and the Norse kept hitting as a 2-RBI single to center would clear the bases and put them up 8-3.

Northern Kentucky was all over Price, and it would push another one across on a throwing error by the pitcher that allowed the runner from first to come all the way around to score, and the lead grew to 9-3. Northern Kentucky would score again on another RBI base hit to center, and Price would see his day end after only collecting one out.

The Bobcats called on freshman right-handed pitcher Jimmy Cerha in his ninth appearance of the year. Cerha would collect the final out of the second to spell the end of the barrage of runs by the Norse, who were now up 10-3. Cerha would work two clean innings, but the Bobcats could not scratch any runs of their own across.

In the fifth, Ohio brought in senior lefty Adam Beery for his 15th appearance on the campaign. Northern Kentucky’s bats came back to life as they hit a long fly ball over the right field wall for a no-doubt homerun and an 11-3 advantage. Ohio would threaten with runners on the corner in the bottom of the inning, but could not cash in.

The Bobcats made another pitching change in the sixth, moving to freshman righty Luke Bryant, who made his ninth appearance. Bryant worked a one-two-three inning. In the bottom of the sixth, the Bobcats loaded the bases with two outs but were unsuccessful in scoring any runs for the second consecutive inning with runners in scoring position.

“It's baseball,” Moore said. “You're not going to be able to get those situations to be positive all the time, but I do believe in our hitters that when we do get runners in scoring position, they're going to come through for us. Unfortunately, we just weren't able to capitalize in the middle innings.”

The seventh would bring another new Bobcat to the mound. They brought on sophomore left-handed pitcher Kolby Pascarelli for his fourth appearance of the 2025 season. The Norse were successful scoring runs and would do so again on an RBI single off Pascarelli to keep piling it on, now having a 12-3 lead.

Northern Kentucky kept being patient at the plate and took another bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 10 in the seventh, up 13-3. Ohio would be blanked in the bottom of the seventh, and the mercy rule would be put into effect, and Ohio would fall in this contest.

Ol415422@ohio.edu

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