With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the tenth, junior Chandler Geller came up to the plate with a chance to break a 3-3 tie and win the game against Bowling Green.
In a similar situation during the bottom of the ninth, the Bobcats stranded runners at second and third by way of groundouts to the first baseman, failing to take advantage of a golden opportunity to take the win.
But Geller, who pinch hit in the eighth inning, didn’t let his opportunity go to waste, driving a liner into the left-center gap that scored senior shortstop Dan Schmidt and gave Ohio (13-36, 8-15 Mid-American Conference) a 4-3 victory in game one and a split in the double header.
The Bobcats stretched the second game into extra frames as well, but fell 7-2 to the Falcons (17-26, 11-12 MAC) in 10 innings.
“It was an interesting at bat,” Geller said of his game-winning at-bat. “The first two swings were a little unaggressive, then I got to battle back a bit and fouled some balls off. And then he just threw me a good pitch that I could hit. I squared up and he made his mistake.”
Coach Rob Smith was pleased with how his team performed and has seen improvement in their play in recent weeks.
“People who have been following closely (have seen) we’ve been playing pretty decent baseball the last several weeks and tonight was another indication,” Smith said. “It was a well-played game on our part.”
Senior Marck Paliotto (2-8) made his final start at Bob Wren Stadium and it began smoothly, as he pitched four scoreless innings to open the first game. But he was touched up in the fifth for three runs and was replaced with one out in the sixth by fellow senior Brett Barber.
Barber pitched 3.2 innings, surrendering five hits and one walk with three strike outs. He pitched out of a one-out, bases loaded jam in the sixth by inducing a pop up and ground ball to end the inning when it appeared the Falcons were about to blow the game open.
The Bobcats opened the scoring in the first game on a single by senior second baseman Ben Otto, which scored Schmidt, who reached on a booming triple off the wall in left field.
Otto later came around to score after junior Kyle Dean hit a double down the right field line.
Sophomore outfielder Tyler Wells executed in a situation that has troubled the Bobcats for much of the season, notching a two-out single that scored Schmidt from second and tied the game at three.
Game two started out shaky for freshman starting pitcher Connor Sitz (2-6), as he allowed hits to the first two batters and eventually relinquished an early 1-0 lead.
But he settled into a grove afterwards, pitching four scoreless innings until a two-out RBI single by Falcon second baseman Brandon Howard gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
Sitz went 7.2 innings, permitting two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks. It was his fifth consecutive start where he allowed three runs or less.
“I would’ve liked to have this at the beginning of the year,” Sitz said. “But I’ve tried to use every game as a building block, trying to get better and help my team win. My defense shows up every time I’m out there and I appreciate it.”
The game entered extra innings tied at two, but the Falcons took advantage early on. In the tenth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Brandon Howard hit a ground ball up the middle. Schmidt dove and made the stop, but couldn’t get it to Otto in time to end the inning.
Bowling Green scored the winning run on the ground ball and took a two run lead on a subsequent walk by sophomore Logan Cozart. And on what appeared to be the final out, a fly ball to left field, was misjudged by Wells and three runs came around to score.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
