The Ohio baseball team sealed its first conference series of the season this past weekend, and the Bobcats did not even have to wait until Easter Sunday to do it.
Unfortunately for Ohio, however, the team could not complete the sweep as Eastern Michigan managed its only win yesterday, 7-1.
After displaying its hitting potential in the first two games by amassing 26 hits in the two wins, Ohio struggled to score and managed only seven hits. Those hits, coupled by only three walks allowed by Eastern Michigan, kept Ohio off the scoreboard almost the entire game.
The backbreaker came in the second inning when the Bobcats had the bases loaded with no outs and only scored one run in the inning. After two walks and two hits, Ohio had taken the first lead of the game, only to have the next three batters pop out.
We lost the game in the second inning today
coach Joe Carbone said. We were unable to get their pitcher out. And for the rest of the game we weren't swinging at good pitches and we were swinging at bad pitches.
After the Bobcats rally was stunted in the top half of the inning, Eastern Michigan responded with two runs of its own and did not look back. Both of the runs were unearned, foreboding the five errors the Bobcats committed.
Adam Russell pitched well for us today too
Carbone said. It's a shame we wasted a good pitching performance.
In the first two games of the series, the Ohio offense looked nearly unstoppable. Outfielder Dan Lunsford led the charge by going 4-for-5 with two homeruns and five RBIs, lifting the Bobcats past Eastern Michigan, 9-3, Friday. On Saturday, it was outfielder Bryan Buck, infielder Brian Colopy and catcher Ben Crabtree who combined for 10 of the Bobcats 15 hits in a 10-5 Ohio win.
Another common thread in the first two games was the relief pitching. Pitchers Dan O'Rourke and Ryan White shut down the Eagles, finishing both games with shutout baseball. O'Rourke pitched the final 2 1-3 innings of game one, striking out five, and White pitched the final three innings of game two, punching out two.
The Bobcats continue their road trip Tuesday when they head to West Virginia. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in Morgantown.
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Kyle Jepson
