This season, coach Joe Carbone has seen more than his share of unpredictable baseball.
The inconsistency that has defined the Bobcats throughout 2007 was in full effect last weekend as Ohio dropped its first two games of the series by a combined score of 22-10 against Bowling Green before defeating the Falcons 15-0 in the final game of the season Saturday.
Sometimes we say 'that's baseball
' Carbone said. You can get a couple tricky hops and not play well defensively and give another team four or five outs. You can then come back and play really well. That's why it's the great game that it is.
Although the Bobcats' bats came to life in the season finale, starter Andrew Shisila stole the show, pitching 5 and 2/3 innings of shutout baseball. He allowed only four hits and said he would like to get an opportunity to start next season.
My fastball curve and slider were all working and I was keeping hitters pretty off-balanced he said. It's up to coach
but yeah
I'd love to start.
Shisila pitched much more effectively than his first start, on April 29 when he lasted only 1/3 of an inning and allowed four runs. He shut out opponents over his final 12 and 1/3 innings of work this season, posting a final 2.62 ERA to lead the team.
He is very capable of being a very good starting pitcher
Carbone said. He potentially could be one of our starting pitchers next year.
Outfielder Willie Walker continued his success at the plate, collecting three hits and two RBIs. He finished his senior season with a 13-game hitting streak and raised his batting average from below .300 to .362 over the stretch, good for the second highest on the team.
It's good to end on a high note
but I wish to have gotten things rolling a little faster especially as a team
Walker said. We made better adjustments especially in the second half
and we need to work on making the adjustments sooner.
Right fielder Matt Stiffler added three hits, two runs and one walk for the Bobcats in their final series. His 45 walks place him second on the single season walks list, one behind former Bobcat Scott Buehler.
Matt Stiffler was solid as a rock the whole year
Carbone said. He went about his business and did his job as well as anybody.
The Bobcats finished with just an 8-19 record in the Mid-American Conference. Despite struggling in the MAC, Ohio is a relatively young team and will return key contributors like Marc Krauss, Stiffler and Brandon Besl, as well as injured shortstop Hayden Johnston.
The progress of starting pitchers Chris Rigo and Kevin Mementowski and reliever John Angelicchi, who pitched well down the stretch for the Bobcats, also makes Carbone optimistic about the future.
With the guys we have coming back and the guys we have coming in
we will be a good team next year
