Ohio suffered its first sweep of the season last weekend to Saint Louis in Lexington, South Carolina. The Billikens outscored the Bobcats 22-5 over the three-game series and totaled 21 more hits than Ohio.
Here’s what happened in each game:
Friday
The Billikens began their domination of Ohio (3-4) with three runs Friday in the first inning. After three more runs, the lead was six and the Bobcats could only get two runs back. Eamon Horwedel took his first loss of the season after pitching four innings. Horwedel gave up six runs on nine hits in the 7-2 loss.
The sophomore didn’t receive much help from his offense, either, as Ohio only had two singles in the first four innings. The Bobcats only had one more hit for the rest of the game and only saw three pitches out of the bullpen.
Saturday
Ohio received its best pitching performances from its two bests pitchers, Jack Liberatore and Edward Kutt IV, on Saturday in a 2-1 loss. Liberatore pitched six strong innings and gave up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in his start. Kutt came in behind him and didn’t give up a hit for the final three innings while striking out five of the nine batters he faced.
Kutt, who received time as a starter for Ohio in 2019, has been strong for the Bobcats in relief appearances this season. He has only given up one run so far in his three appearances.
Offensively, Ohio couldn’t get anyone to the plate. The Bobcats left 10 runners on base, including two innings when the bases were loaded.
Sunday
Chace Harris made his second start of less than three innings in Sunday’s series finale. Harris was pulled out of the game after 1 2/3 innings when he gave up seven runs on four hits. Ohio could only muster two runs in the 13-2 loss.
Harris almost made it out of the inning with only one run given up, but after the second out, the Bilikens scored three runs on two walks and a single. Nick Byrnes came in and gave up three more runs that were accredited to Harris.
What’s next
Ohio will stay on the road for a four-game series at Southeast Missouri State. The Bobcats will look to get their record back over .500 entering the first full month of the season.
