In Ohio’s past 17 games, it has lost 16 times.
Tuesday, the Bobcats’ losing streak stretched to seven as they lost to Marshall 2-1 in Huntington, W. Va.
Compared to Ohio’s 18-2 defeat at the hands of Kent State, Tuesday’s game reflected some improvement in terms of defense and pitching.
“I thought we played really, really well,” coach Rob Smith said. “We allowed (just) two free bases. And for the first time all year, we didn’t walk a batter in a game and I thought our starting pitching was good.”
Leading the charge on the mound was freshman pitcher Gerry Salisbury, who pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits, no walks and no strikeouts.
“Our pitching staff just came out and threw a lot of strikes today,” Salisbury said. “We limited walks as best we could and good things happened.”
Tuesday’s game marked the first time this season an Ohio starting pitcher lasted more than four innings and allowed fewer than three runs in a midweek game.
The only run the Herd could manage to score off Salisbury came on a wild pitch in the sixth that scored freshman outfielder Brenden Wells for the game’s first run. Wells led off the inning with a triple.
The Bobcats mounted a comeback in the top of the ninth, with sophomore infielder John Adryan smacking a double for his second hit of the game. One batter later, Adryan came in to score on a base hit by freshman catcher Nick Bredeson.
But save for that ninth inning comeback, Ohio’s offense just couldn’t execute with runners on base, leaving 10 runners stranded.
After Ohio recorded two outs in the bottom half of the ninth, freshman reliever Corey Wells allowed a single to junior infielder Andrew Dundon. Smith said it was a high pop fly to the shallow right field that landed in the one spot where none of his players could catch it.
Marshall would then win the game on the following at-bat, with sophomore designated hitter Chase Vogelbach crushing a double to right field, scoring Dundon.
Despite the loss, Salisbury was happy with the fight and resolve his team had by sparking a comeback in the ninth.
“We had the right attitude heading into the ninth,” Salisbury said. “I thought we had a chance to win all the way up to the end and obviously it’s real frustrating to lose a game like that, but it’s baseball and it happens.”
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