The defending Mid-American Conference champions and College World Series participant Kent State trailed in the bottom of the eighth after a four-run outburst in the fifth provided Ohio with a one-run lead Friday night.
The Golden Flashes found a way to prevail, however, as a shallow fly ball off the bat of sophomore outfielder T.J. Sutton flew past the outstretched arm of a diving sophomore centerfielder Tyler Wells and to the wall, leading to a two-run inside the park home run for Sutton, which gave the Flashes a 6-5 victory.
But indicative of the effort coach Rob Smith has praised all season, Ohio did not fold up shop after dropping the opening game of the series. The Bobcats rallied to defeat the Flashes 6-3 Saturday.
Although Ohio (6-24, 3-6 Mid-American Conference) eventually dropped the series after a 10-3 loss to Kent State (14-15, 6-3 MAC) Sunday, Smith was proud of how his team fought back and didn’t recoil after a heartbreaking defeat Friday night.
“I thought we did a good job rebounding,” Smith said. “Obviously we were disappointed with what happened Friday, but I think the team knew that they played well, and it made them feel pretty confident that they’d be able to come out the next day and put themselves in a position to win a game.”
Unlike past weekends, the Bobcats had pitching appearances that showed growth in what has been a weak point for Ohio thus far in the season.
After freshman starting pitcher Jake Miller was knocked out of Friday’s game early because a ball ricocheted off his hand, senior Brett Barber stepped up to pitch 5.2 innings, in which he allowed four hits and three earned runs.
Saturday, senior Marck Paliotto, who was tattooed for five earned runs in one inning of work against Xavier on Tuesday, pitched one of Ohio’s most impressive performances of the season. He threw 7.1 innings, allowing three runs, only two were earned.
“I just knew I had to throw strikes,” Paliotto said. “And the more strikes I threw, the more times that they’d swing. I got them out on some ground balls; they rolled over a lot and I got some pop flies. It was really good for me to stay consistent staying in the strike zone.”
On Sunday, the Golden Flashes’ offense, which was contained Saturday, broke out, tallying 15 hits, including three from sophomore left fielder Alex Miklos who had two doubles, a home run and three runs scored.
Despite the offensive outburst, Smith felt freshman starting pitcher Connor Sitz pitched better than what the box score showed. Sitz pitched four innings, allowing ten hits and six earned runs.
“He did a good job throwing strikes,” Smith said. “They didn’t hit a lot of balls hard against him, but unfortunately they just found some holes. And there were a couple plays on defense I think we could’ve made that we didn’t, and it ultimately made it tougher on Connor.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
