We're in the bottom of the fourth here in the Ohio vs. Xavier baseball game. Ohio's up 3-1.
The game started off sloppily for Ohio. On the first pitch of the game, John McCambridge hit a single. Then he was leading off so much from first base, pitcher Tyler Backstrom threw to first to pick him off. McCambridge was too far from first to try to make it back, so he made a dash for second. The crowd got excited because everyone figured the Bobcats had him out. But the throws from pitcher to first and first to second took too long, and McCambridge was safe.
Then, McCambridge attempted to steal third. But catcher Trace Voshell made what could only be called a horrible throw and threw it about three feet about Dan Ward's head. So Xavier took an early 1-0 lead.
Voshell attoned for his mistake in the next inning with a solo blast to right-center.
In the next inning, second basemen Bryan Barnes hit a two-run homer to center to put Ohio up 3-1. And that's where we stand in the bottom of the fourth.
Bottom Fifth
This was an exciting inning. The Bobcats extended their lead with a sac fly to go up 4-1. Then, with a runner on third, a Bobcat hitter hit a chopper toward the pitcher. The man on third sprinted home, collided with the catcher on the third base line, and was called out. I'm working on getting the exact names of who did what. After the play, Xavier's manager came out of the dugout incensed because of the way the Ohio runner railroaded the catcher.
It didn't matter, though. Dan Ward hit an RBI triple to knock in Ohio's fifth run.
That's where we stand in the top of the sixth, Ohio up 5-1.
Top Sixth
Xavier opened the inning with two hits. With men on first and second, the lead runner stole third because of a low throw to Ward by Voshell. The Bobcats had a chance at a double play to get out of the inning when the next batter hit a grounder to shortstop Wes O'Neil, but O'Neil bobbled it. The lead runner scored, and now there are men on first and second for Xavier.
Tyler Backstrom was just taken out of the game by Joe Carbone. It's actually remarkable Backstrom lasted as long as he did, seeing how much Carbone likes to use a multitude of pitchers in mid-week games. In for Backstrom is Brett Barber
With runners on the corners, Voshell made a bad throw to first base that allowed a run to score. Then against the next batter, Emody made an error at first to allow another run. 5-4 Ohio in the bottom of the sixth.
Top Seventh
What a bizarre inning. With a runner on first, a Mark Elwell knocked in an RBI double. Then, with a runner on first, Ohio pitcher Brett Barber nailed Xavier shortstop Phil Bauer in the mouth, knocking out a tooth. The first thing that happened after this was Joe Carbone coming out of the dugout to argue that Bauer leaned into the pitch. This earned jeers from the Xavier fans at Bob Wren Stadium. Then there was a 10-minute break in action as players, managers and umpires alike searched for Bauer's missing tooth in the home plate area to no avail.
A sac fly by Patrick Peligraf led Xavier to take a 7-5 lead. Errors have played a huge part in this game. Xavier has two. Ohio has four. But all four of the Bobcats' errors have directly led to runs. Not a great day for the defense.
We're now in the bottom of the seventh with one out on the Bobcats.
Rest of the Game
Notthing particularly eventful happened from here on out. The Bobcats never really threatened to regain the lead, while the Musketeers did leave several runners on base.
Final Score: Xavier 7, OHIO 5
