1st inning
Kory Burkhardt singled with one out and stole second on a ball the catcher dropped. But Jensen Painter struck out. So Taylor Emody was up with Burkhardt on second. He worked the count to 3-1, and took a pitch he thought was ball four. He started his trot to first base before the ump called a belated strike. So after fouling off one more pitch, Emody struck out to end the innig,
2nd inning
The inning started with a flyout. Then Brett Frantini hit a hard grounder to Emody at first. The ball took a weird bounce, and Emody mishandled it. But he managed to pick it up and toss it to pitcher Brent Choban, who barely beat Frantini to the bag. Alex Klonowski popped out in foul territory to end the inning.
The most significant number so far is "Zero." As in, the number of errors on the board so far. Compared to the relatively sloppy defensive games Ohio often plays, this one has featured some nice plays in the field. Garrett Black just grounded out to the second baseman, who made a nice throw to get him to end the inning
3rd inning
Started Brent Choban came into this game with a 4.53 ERA and 2-3 record in about 50 innings pitched. So far he's doing pretty well. Choban has retired seven hitters in a row now, only having given up two hits.
The bottom of the inning started out with a bloop to right field off the bat of Adam Gecewich. At first it looked like one of those pop-ups that might fall, but right fielder Trey Lang slid at the last moment and added another Web Gem to NIU's total. Like I said, solid fielding today by the Huskies.
Wes O'Neill followed this up with a walk. Then, in what is becoming a regular sight at Bob Wren Stadium, Ethan Newton made a beautiful bunt down the first base line. The pitcher, first baseman and catcher all charged at it, and by the time first baseman Joe Etcheverry reached it, Newton was past him and there was no one at first base.
With men on first and second, Kory Burkhardt hit a grounder in the gap between the third baseman and shortstop. O'Neill, who was on second, was waved home by third-base coach Joe Carbone. The pitcher tried to intercept the throw home, but it got to the catcher and it was actually a close play. Just a moment before the catcher caught the ball, O'Neill slid home, and his momentum was so much that he rolled over in the dirt several times before he could get up. Someone might want to work with him on sliding. Just kidding.
The Huskies got the second out on a double steal. The catcher easily threw Burkhardt out at second, but Newton reached third. Jensen Painter walked to put men on the corners for Ohio. Then, just like in his previous at-bat, Emody struck out swinging.
4th inning
The Huskies threatened, getting men on the corners with two outs. But Choban got out of the jam, getting the hitter to ground out to end the inning. So far, it's no runs and three hits for Choban threw four innings.
The Bobcats went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning.
5th inning
So much for that good defense I was talking about before. Shortstop Garrett Black charged a ground ball, a tough play, to be sure, but then threw a hard, one-hop throw to Emody, who let it get past him. Klonowski, the batter, went to second, and Emody threw to second. The throw was too late, Klonowski was in. But then he kept on sliding and second baseman Bryan Barnes tagged him out on the other side of the bag. Not-so-great sliding in this game.
Jamison Wells reached base on a bloop to shallow right that was a marginal error by right fielder Gecewich. Then he tried to steal when the ball got away from catcher Trace Voshell, who made a spot-on throw to second to throw nim out.
In what's shaping up as a bizarre inning, Choban struck out Cory Krupp, which should've ended the inning. But it was a wild pitch, the ball got by Voshell, and Krupp ran to first, safe.
Adam Gecewich started off the inning by hitting a deep fly ball to center. The center fielder should've caught it, but it went right by his glove and dropped. Gecewich made it to second. Then Wes O'Neill walked, and Newton laid down another nice bunt to load the bases. That's the second time that the sequence of O'Neill walking and Newton bunting happened. Burkhardt grounded into a double play, but the run scored. No RBI for Burkhardt, and no earned run for the Huskies' pitcher, Tom Barry.
2-0 Ohio after five innings.
6th inning
Choban's pitching a good game for the Bobcats. Still no runs and four hits in six innings of work. The Bobcats needed a solid outing like this.
Taylor Emody, owner of Ohio's best batting average, starts out the bottom of the inning with a double down the third-base line. And just like that, it's 3-0 Ohio. Dan Ward doubled Emody home with a deep-driven ball into left-center field. Wes O'Neill came to bat later and singled home Dan Ward.
4-0 Ohio after six innings.
7th inning
Choban got out of a jam once again. Another error by Black at shortstop made it runners on the corners. The NIU batter hit a hard grounder to Dan Ward at third to end the inning. Choban still has his shutout going. 4-0 Bobcats.
Weird sequence just happened. Some guys in the press box were talking about how long NIU pitcher Tom Barry had been in the game. I called over to Jason Corriher and asked how many pitches he'd thrown, and he replied, "106." Just as he said that, Dan Ward homered to left-center. Barry stayed in the game. 6-0 Bobcats going into the eighth.
8th inning
It looks like Joe Carbone might give Choban a chance to finish out the complete-game shutout. He's got two innings left, and has already thrown 110 pitches.
So much for the shutout. The Huskies loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning. The Bobcats held a full-infield meeting on the mound, and Carbone kept Choban in. It looked like he would get out of yet another jam. He got the first batter after the meeting to pop up to shallow right field. Two outs. But the next batter smacked a double into the right-center field gap. The count was full, so all the runners were going. 6-3 Bobcats. Carbone finally makes his move after Choban threw almost 140 pitches. Ryan Burgett replaces Choban.
9th inning
Closing the game out hasn't been easy for the Bobcats. Matt Robin replaced Burgett, who left him a bases loaded situation. Robin then threw two straight balls to walk home a run. 4-1 Ohio in the top of the ninth.
Tyler Stage comes on in relief and strikes him out to close the game. The Bobcats sweated this one out though. Ohio wins, 7-5.
