Ohio has certainly gone through rough patches throughout the 2026 college baseball season, but this weekend, Kent State came to town and swept the home team, winning by a combined 34 runs over the three-game series.
Ohio (6-25 overall, 3-12 Mid-American Conference) was the most competitive in Thursday night's game. Freshman right-handed pitcher Mason Gass was on the mound for Ohio, making his first start of the season. Gass pitched well, but the lack of offensive support saw the Bobcats fall behind 3-0 after four innings, as Kent State (23-7 overall, 12-3 MAC) capitalized on a pair of sacrifice flies.
“With runners in scoring position, there were a lot of struggles, especially at the beginning part of the game when it was 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and was continuing to grow,” Ohio head coach Andrew See said.
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Ohio finally got on the board with a home run by junior outfielder Taylor Harris. Gass was pulled after five innings, and the Golden Flashes took advantage of Ohio’s new arm, freshman lefty Gaige Stuckey. They had an RBI single by Nolan Belcher and a second run crossed on an error by the Bobcats, who now trailed 6-1.
“I thought Gass gave us a quality (start), did a good job just keeping them at bay,” See said.
Ohio chipped away at the lead again in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single to left field by junior catcher Tyler Stack to make the score 6-2 in favor of Kent State. The Bobcats scored again in the bottom of the seventh as graduate student infielder Colton Shirley hit an RBI double to score Stack. Ohio added on again in the eighth on an unearned run as senior utility man Cale Steinbaugh scored.
Kent State found another gear offensively at the top of the ninth and sealed the game with a five-run frame. Sawyer Solitaria mashed a solo home run, which was followed by a pair of two RBI singles. The Bobcats had no answer at the bottom of the inning, only bringing home one run, and falling 11-5 Thursday night.
Friday’s action was more of the same as Kent State pulverized Ohio pitching in the shortened seven-inning game. Stack homered in the third inning to tie it at 1-1, but the Golden Flashes scored 14 unanswered in four innings, which saw Kent State hit no home runs, but with polished base running and patient hitting, it won 15-1.
The dominance rolled into Saturday’s finale. Ohio was held scoreless through five innings, being dominated by Kent State’s Ben Rabatin. Rabatin struck out six in five innings but was pulled after giving up two home runs to junior outfielder Cameron Boyd and sophomore infielder Grant Wilson to cut the lead to 8-2.
Kent State responded again to finish this game, scoring eight more runs to cap off a destructive offensive weekend, outscoring the Bobcats 42-8. Ohio’s offense will need a spark as it looks ahead to an eight-game road trip over the next two weeks.
