The Bobcats will get three chances this weekend to snap their nine-game losing streak before it reaches the double digits.
Ohio was originally scheduled to hit the road again this weekend, but will now face Western Michigan at home because of poor field conditions in Kalamazoo, Mich.
The Broncos started its season with five straight losses before stringing together four victories in early March. They travelled to face then-No. 7 Louisville in a three-game series late last month, where they put together one win, but lost the other two games by a combined score of 29-8, including an 8-0 shutout.
Ohio will have a test this weekend if it isn’t able to put together “clean baseball,” as coach Rob Smith likes to say.
“(Our struggles) aren’t really talent related, I think it’s all in our minds,” freshman centerfielder Mitch Longo said. “We’ve got to snap out of it. Once we get one game under our belt — whether it be a win or a real hard-fought game — we’ll get the ball rolling again.”
The Broncos’ offense is led by sophomore infielder Kurt Hoekstra, who has totaled a team-high 30 hits and a team-leading .400 batting average in 19 games played. Fellow infielder junior Andrew Sohn leads the team with 15 runs and 12 runs batted in. Sophomore catcher Brett Sunde and junior outfielder Jared Kujawa share the lead on the team in RBIs, with 18 apiece.
Ohio only has one player with double-digit runs or RBIs this season.
In its 21 games played, Western Michigan has tallied 26 errors, while Ohio had 36 in the same number of games.
Freshman pitcher Jake Roehn will get the start on the mound for the Bobcats in the series opener Friday. In his six appearances this season, Roehn has allowed 32 hits and 12 walks in 31 1/3 innings pitched. He has also recorded a 4.88 ERA in his rookie season.
Freshman pitcher Jake Rudnicki will start for the Bobcats on Saturday, before sophomore pitcher Connor Sitz tosses the final game of the series Sunday.
The Bobcats have been allowing runs in bunches at many points of this season. The squad allowed two four-run innings Wednesday against a then two-win Youngstown State team.
“We're struggling to make plays,” coach Rob Smith said. “We’re not doing a good enough job throwing it over the plate. We've got to continue to get better at that, and until we do, we're going to continue to get ourselves into a position where we're giving up runs in bunches.”
UP NEXT:
Ohio (4-17, 0-3 MAC) vs. Western Michigan (10-11, 1-2 MAC)
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, 6 p.m. Jake Roehn (1-3)
vs. Steve Laudicina (2-2)
Saturday, 3 p.m. Jake Rudnicki (2-0) vs. Chad Mayle (2-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m. Connor Sitz (0-5) vs. Keegan Akin (2-0)
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