Tanner Piechnick hit a home run to give the Bobcats an early lead, but Ohio ultimately fell to Marshall 6-2 on Tuesday at Kennedy Center YMCA Field.
Piechnick hit a second-inning solo home run for his sixth homer of the season to open up the scoring and give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.
But in the bottom half of the inning, the Thundering Herd countered. After a single and a hit by pitch, Tucker Linder tattooed a Cole Shinsky pitch over the fence for a home run to give Marshall a 3-1 lead.
Shinsky, a redshirt freshman southpaw, was given the start for the Bobcats and took the loss. In four innings of work, he allowed four earned runs on five hits; he walked two and struck out two.
After Marshall gained its 3-1 lead, the Herd tacked on one more before the Bobcats offense saw signs of life again. Center fielder Devon Garcia’s single scored Tony Giannini after Giannini singled and advanced on an error. Garcia’s RBI single was the last scoring threat of the night for the Bobcats.
Marshall tacked on three insurance runs to seal the game.
The Bobcats (17-18, 5-7 Mid-American Conference) have now lost four of their last six games, and they will host Marshall (16-17) in the second leg of their two-game set on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 4 p.m., which is moved up two hours from the original 6 p.m. start due to impending weather conditions.
