Ohio entered its Mid-American Conference season-opener against Central Michigan with a focus on stopping what junior first baseman Jake Madsen called a “funk,” as the Bobcats had been losers of five straight.
And despite a cleaner effort defensively, the Bobcats couldn’t contain the Chippewas and fell in the first of a three-game series 6-3 to extend that losing streak stretch to six on Friday.
Righthander Jake Roehn manned the mound for the Bobcats but couldn’t quite find a rhythm, especially after being nailed with a liner in his ankle in the top of the third that brought him to the ground.
With all the injury troubles Ohio (4-14) has seen this season, coach Rob Smith couldn’t help but be a little anxious after Roehn was struck by the comebacker.
“It’s hard not to (worry) with all the weird injuries that we’ve had,” Smith said. “That would be added to the list. But nothing surprises me anymore, to be quite frank with you. When it happened, I said, ‘Who’s going to pitch next?”
Roehn would come back out for the fourth, but was pulled with two outs to fellow righty Nick Nauracy.
Roehn finished the game with 3 2/3 innings pitched, allowing five earned runs, two walks, two strikeouts and two hit batters.
Chippewas first baseman and clean-up hitter Cody Leichman fit well into his role in the batting order early on, making the Bobcats pay in the first few innings.
Leichman drove in center fielder Nick Regnier with a two-out double in the first and then followed with another two-out hit in the third inning, tripling in Regnier and catcher Tyler Huntey to give Central Michigan a 3-0 lead after two-and-a-half innings.
The Bobcats would answer the next half inning, with a bases-loaded walk by third baseman John Adryan bringing in the first run and a two-out, two-run double by first basemen Chandler Geller tying the game up at three after three frames.
But the tie wouldn’t last for long, with Central Michigan (11-10) scoring two runs in the following frame on a Nick Regnier single that was paired with an error by Ohio right fielder Scott White that allowed Pat MacKenzie and Morgan Oliver to score for the Chippewas.
Ohio again found itself in danger in the top of the seventh after the Chippewas opened the inning with two straight singles and had those runners on second and third with no outs after a wild pitch by Nauracy.
Nauracy struck out the following batter and righty Jeremy Cronk, who replaced Nauracy, forced Huntey into a double play on a lineout to third baseman John Adryan.
Central Michigan added its final tally in the seventh, with Chippewa third baseman Adam Collins scoring on a throwing error by Ohio freshman catcher Nick Bredeson.
The Chippewas sent out junior righthander Jordan Foley, who was rated as Baseball America’s top prospect in the MAC in the preseason.
He attacked the zone with heavy fastballs, allowing three earned runs on eight hits, four walks and four strikeouts.
Smith was impressed how his hitters battled Foley, despite only putting three runs up on the board.
“I’m proud of our hitters,” Smith said. “They did a really good job competing. Foley’s a really good arm and he’s a good pitcher—one of the best we’ll see this year. And they came out, they were aggressive and had zone discipline and they did a lot of the things we ask them to do.”
Freshman Jake Rudnicki will get the start for Ohio in Saturday’s contest, facing off against Central Michigan pitcher Pat Kaminska.
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