Entering the 2024 season, pitching was the facet of the game that Ohio coach Craig Moore thought the team could improve upon the most. After a combined team ERA of 7.60 in 2023, something needed to change.
On Saturday, Ohio played a doubleheader for its home opener against University of Illinois Chicago. The two split the doubleheader, with the Flames getting a shutout victory in game one by a score of 5-0 and the Bobcats coming out victorious in a narrow 3-2 win in game two.
Each game featured some dominant pitching from both sides. Ohio particularly excelled in game two, where it allowed just 2 runs, which is tied for the least amount of runs allowed by the pitching staff all season. In game one, despite the loss, five runs are the least the team has allowed in all other games coming into the day except one.
Game one was started by Jacob Tate, his first game one start of Ohio’s three series so far. Tate fared quite well against a good UIC offense. After a one-two-three first inning, Tate allowed his first run of the game on a solo home run by UIC’s AJ Henkle.
Henkle would give Ohio’s pitching problems all game, finishing with two home runs and a walk.
The third inning of game one was the only time all day that the defense seemed to truly lose control. After hitting the first batter of the inning, Tate allowed a two-run home run to UIC’s leadoff hitter Zane Zielinski. After a single and an error, Tate walked back-to-back batters to let in another run.
Tate allowed a pair of runners in the fourth but got out of the inning unscathed, ending his outing after four innings, allowing four runs.
In relief of Tate was graduate transfer Tim Knapschaefer who had an impressive outing in his first pitching at Bob Wren Stadium. Knapschaefer was able to finish the next 5 innings of the game, allowing just one run: a solo shot to Henkle.
“Tim (Knapschaefer) did an awesome job coming in,” Moore said. “... He didn’t have his best outline last weekend at Campbell. For him to bounce back and go out there and be competitive on the mound, that’s what Tim (Knapschaefer) is gonna do for us…He did his job, he didn’t let them score and he gave our offense a chance.”
Ohio did not muster any runs for Knapschaefer or Tate, but the two did enough to give Ohio a chance to win late in the game.
In game two, Junior transfer Blake Gaskey trotted out to the mound for his third start of the season. Gaskey tossed a scoreless top of the first inning, which was followed by a 2-run home run by freshman Pauly Mancino in the bottom half of the inning to give Ohio its first lead of the day.
Gaskey did not allow any runs until the third inning where one run came across to score after an error in right field by Mancino allowed Zielinksi to score from second base. Gaskey would end his day with 5 innings pitched, allowing just one hit and one earned run.
In relief of Gaskey was junior Zach Weber, who had an equally impressive outing. Weber is not usually tasked with pitching more than two or three innings, but his success on the mound led to him finishing the game for Ohio, going four innings and getting the win.
“I expected to go two to three innings but I was rolling pretty good, I felt pretty good,” Weber said. “I had a feeling they might throw me back out there for the ninth, and that’s what happened.”
Weber allowed just one run on the day, an RBI fielder's choice from Henkle that scored Zielinski, who had previously reached base on a single and then got to third on a throwing error from catcher Alex Finney.
UIC was able to tie the game on the fielder's choice until Ohio’s hottest hitter, Gideon Antle, stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and launched a home run to left field to take the lead.
One run of insurance was all that Weber needed to close out the game and get the win for Ohio. In the ninth inning, UIC paired runners on bases to bring up one of their best hitters, Jackson Bessette, with a runner in scoring position and a chance to tie the game.
In that moment, Ohio could have gone to the bullpen, but Moore trusted Weber to finish what he had started in the ninth.
“It means a lot,” Weber said. “It gives me a lot of confidence in myself to go out there and know that they (the coaching staff) have my back and trust me in that situation.”
Weber forced Bessette to ground out and Ohio won the game.
A team rarely uses just four pitchers in a doubleheader, but that is what Ohio was able to do on Saturday. Knapschaefer and Gaskey have recently joined the teams as transfers and have proven that they can help revive the Bobcat pitching staff after last season.
