The Bobcats go 0-2 in their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1997.
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois — For a two-and-out performance during the NCAA Champaign Regional Tournament, Ohio lasted as long as it could.
A 22-hour rain delay in the middle of Ohio’s second round game versus Wright State eventually finished Sunday in an 8-3 loss to the Raiders, ending the Bobcats’ turnaround season.
Ohio (36-21) capped its NCAA-best season turnaround — earning 25 more wins than last year’s 11-40 record — on a cold Sunday afternoon, in which the team struggled to catch breaks offensively.
“It just wasn’t our day,” Ohio coach Rob Smith said. “As you could tell with the line drives we were hitting right at guys and some of the plays they were making, it was their day today.”
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Several line-drive outs ended frames for the Bobcats and stranded runners on base. On Sunday, Ohio was just 3-for-24 with runners on base.
“It’s frustrating as a hitter because you go up there and you come out of the game saying,‘Man, I could’ve been 4-for-4 today,’ " senior first baseman Jake Madsen said. “But some of our guys were 0-for-4 with four hard hit balls.”
Ohio’s second-round game shared similar parallels to its 10-3 first-round loss to Illinois, including a quick start on offense.
The Bobcats got on the board right away in their first at-bat with three straight hits to take an early 2-0 lead.
Senior shortstop Garrett Black and sophomore outfielder Mitch Longo got the offense going with back-to-back doubles, then Madsen followed with an RBI single to score Longo.
Just like it did against Illinois, however, Ohio’s early lead was quickly extinguished by a big second inning from the opposition.
Ohio starter sophomore Jake Rudnicki gave up five runs — including two two-run home runs — and was changed before the end of the inning in favor of junior righty Connor Sitz. Rudnicki lasted just 1 2/3 innings, gave up five runs (two earned) on two hits, two walks and a hit by pitch, while one batter reached on an error.
Similar to Friday’s loss to Illinois, Ohio and Wright State were halted by a rain delay in the top of Saturday’s third inning.
The difference is that Saturday’s delay was much longer than Friday’s 10-minute stoppage. In fact, the game was stopped just before 1 p.m. CST and didn’t resume until 11 a.m. CST Sunday.
“I think (Wright State) kind of had momentum coming out of the game last night,” Madsen said of the advantage to the lengthy stoppage of play. “Today was kind of like a fresh start.”
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Wright State elected to keep pitcher Jesse Scholtens in the game Sunday, even though he threw 40 pitches in two innings of work on Saturday. Scholtens lasted eight innings in total and gave up just four hits in Sunday’s continuation.
“(Ohio) hit some good hard balls,” Scholtens said.” But I think for the most part it was just about finding the rhythm I had in the second inning (Saturday) and just going from there.”
Sitz, who tossed a three-pitch strikeout against his only batter on Saturday, remained on the mound Sunday for Ohio but didn’t find the same success. He gave up an RBI double in the fourth inning on a hit and run — giving Wright State a 6-2 lead — before being pulled for senior reliever Logan Cozart.
Cozart, the Mid-American Conference Pitcher of the Year, pitched most of the remainder of the game and gave up two runs in 4 2/3 innings. Senior lefty Spencer Sapp pitched a scoreless final 2/3 innings of the game, but Ohio only produced one run of offense after the first inning and couldn’t keep up with Wright State.
Despite the season-ending defeat, however, Ohio’s morale remains high for next year’s contention, and hopefully, a return to NCAA Regionals.
“It’s disappointing going two and out, but it was a good experience for the guys because it’s like uncharted territory for Ohio University,” Cozart said. “We’re no longer the hunted, we’re the hunter.”
@JordanHorrobin
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