After Friday’s loss, Ohio sat down and thought about what it needed to do to beat Bowling Green on Saturday. Ohio didn’t need to change much, but it had to change it’s attitude. It did not need to hang its head before Saturday’s doubleheader even started.
“I said ‘we’re going to win two games tomorrow to win the series. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we are,’” Ohio coach Craig Moore said. “Those guys stepped up to the challenge and they accepted it and they responded great.”
The team took Moore’s words to heart and swept Bowling Green with an 11-3 beatdown in game one and a 6-4 victory in game two.
Ohio was down in the second of game one, but it remained positive and stitched together eight runs in the bottom half of the inning. Ohio’s discipline led the way as it drew four walks in the inning — one of which scored a run.
The Bobcats broke away on a two-run single to left field by Gideon Antle, and sealed the game on a two-run double by Alex Finney and an RBI single by Adams.
Bowling Green had no chance after the second inning. Ohio’s pitching staff didn’t give up a run after that. Relievers Dillon Masters and Tyler Peck combined for five scoreless innings. Masters used his splitter and fastball to fool Bowling Green’s batters for his first win of the season.
The combined pitching effort, and another RBI from Adams in the fourth, gave Ohio its first Mid-American Conference win of the season.
“I felt the team did their job today. We just put it all together,” Masters said.
Ohio’s energy carried over into game two. Nothing could destroy its good mood.
The Bobcats slipped into a deficit after Nathan Rose hit a single in the first. The Falcons chirped after the run and tried to get into the Bobcats’ heads. However, the Bobcats stayed positive like Moore wanted them to.
Ohio collected two runs in the fourth inning to minimize the damage. Although the runs weren’t quite the bandage Ohio thought they were. Sam Seidel hit a two-run home run in the fifth to give Bowling Green the lead.
The Bobcats came up to the plate with determination. They needed to get on base somehow and they were willing to do anything to do so.
Small ball had worked all day for Ohio, and it was what lifted Ohio over Bowling Green in the bottom of the sixth. Ohio hit five singles and reached on two fielder’s choices to get two more runs, one of which was Adams’ fourth RBI of the day.
Adams had changed his approach from the previous weekend, where he only had two hits. He wanted to have a more clear head. The move paid off, and over the course of the day, Adams went 6-for-8.
“He didn’t play like a freshman today. He’s playing great defense and then his offensive performance in the two games shows the kind of player he is,” Moore said. “He’s not the biggest player out there on the field, but he just competes. He’s not going to let anyone beat him. He’s going to beat them.”
The bullpen once again came through for Ohio to secure game two. Zach Weber, Jake Tate and Hudson Boncal combined for four scoreless innings. Weber collected the win and Boncal earned the save.
Boncal slid into a relief role this season after being a starter for much of the 2022 conference slate. The move proved smart for the Bobcats as Boncal struck out three of the five batters he faced over 1.3 innings.
Bob Wren Stadium lit up in cheers as Boncal threw a strikeout to end the game. The Bobcats jumped up and down and celebrated the sweep with hugs. Both wins were true team outings.
“We really pulled together as a team,” Adams said. “We strung together timely hits, we played good defense and we had good pitching. I think things went our way.”
