Extra inning drama engulfed Bob Wren Stadium once again as Ohio and Akron played a second straight game that stretch to ten frames.
But similar to Friday night, defensive miscues cost the Bobcats the game in extras, with Akron defeating Ohio (7-26, 3-8 Mid-American Conference) 11-8.
With one out and a runner on first in the top of the tenth, Akron third baseman Matt Larocca hit a ground ball just to the left of senior shortstop Dan Schmidt. The ball hit off of Schmidt’s glove and instead of getting a double play to end the inning.
Akron (8-24, 5-6 MAC) continued to score three runs in the inning and earned the chance to sweep the series Sunday afternoon.
“We had our struggles defensively, as we’ve had most of the year,” coach Rob Smith said. “If you’re going to win games, conference games, close games, extra-inning games, one-run games, you’ve got to be able to defend. We let our free bases get away from us.”
The Bobcats did show resiliency in the matchup, rallying from deficits in two separate instances to tie the game.
In the sixth, Ohio trailed Akron 6-1 and there were two outs with freshman Nick Squires standing at first after leading off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. A Tyler Wells double moved him to third and catcher Cody Gaertner walked to load the bases for Schmidt.
The senior shortstop lifted a double to right field, scoring two. Later on in the frame, a Nate Squires single brought in two runners and another single by senior Ben Otto tied the game. Otto slid into second after an Akron error and let out a scream as it appeared momentum had swung in Ohio’s favor.
After falling behind 8-6 in the top half of the eighth, Ohio rallied once again, scoring two on a single by first baseman Jake Madsen. But with runners on first and second and one out, Gaertner grounded into a double play, ending the threat.
Smith was proud of the way his offense battled in the game and kept the team afloat.
“They fought, they came back and stayed the course,” Smith said. “They hung in there, scratched and we got back into the ballgame. I’ll give our offense a lot of credit. They did a good job staying with the game putting ourselves in a position to win it there at the end.”
Senior reliever Brett Barber took the loss, dropping his record to 1-4 on the season. Barber wasn’t supposed to be available for the contest, but earned the respect of his coach by pitching an inning despite “being gassed” after throwing two innings on Friday.
Ohio will have a shallow group of arms on Sunday, as Smith projects only starter Connor Sitz, Brad Przebieda, Nick Plys and Ryan Ferrell being the only arms available in an effort to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Zips.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
