Canisius junior first baseman Jimmy Luppens attempted to steal third in the top of the seventh, arriving just after Ohio catcher J.R. Reynolds’ throw to senior third baseman Ben Otto.
The umpire ruled Luppens safe, prompting coach Rob Smith to storm out of the dugout so quickly that he almost lost his balance on his way to argue the call.
It was that kind of weekend for Ohio, as the Bobcats (3-15) lost 6-2 Sunday and were swept by Canisius (14-5) in the four-game series.
The Griffins’ scoring began on a controversial call in the top of the first, as right fielder Christian Segar was caught in a rundown between first and second. It appeared that shortstop Dan Schmidt landed a tag, but Segar advanced to second with no indication of a safe or out call.
Smith came out to argue, but Segar remained on second and eventually scored on a single from Luppens, who hurt the Bobcats all weekend, with three home runs and 13 runs batted in the series.
Ohio’s offense couldn’t gain any momentum until the bottom of the sixth, when Schmidt hit an opposite field single to right with the bases loaded to score two runs.
But that was all the momentum the Bobcats could muster, as Canisius starter Alex Godzak shut down Ohio’s offense in seven innings.
Though he thought his team’s offense could have made more of the opportunities they had, Smith conceded that Godzak had a solid day on the mound.
“(Godzak) did a decent job,” Smith said. “He didn’t give us a ton of free opportunities. He threw it over the plate as well, and when you do that, you’ll have the chance to have some success.”
Smith said that continuing to work on an approach that focuses on hitting the ball to the middle and opposite fields could lead to success for the team when facing pitchers like Godzak, who kept the ball low in the zone.
Schmidt, who is batting .500 with runners in scoring position, said that remaining consistent with how they play will eventually lead to success for the Bobcats.
“We just have to come out and forget about it,” Schmidt said. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. Everything’s going to come together at some point.”
The performance of junior starting pitcher Sean Kennedy encouraged Smith, as Ohio’s bullpen was stretched out in the first three games of the series that saw the Bobcats allow 38 runs.
Kennedy pitched 7.1 innings, allowing six runs, four of which were earned, along with 11 hits and three walks.
“All we asked out of (Kennedy) was to go out and throw it over the plate, make them put the ball in play and hopefully we could make some plays behind him,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, in a couple instances we didn’t, and it created some runs for them.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
