Ohio ended its three-game losing streak by grinding out a 5-3 win that saw the Bobcats pull ahead on a 2-run home run by graduate student Will Henson to beat Marshall on the road.
The early innings of this contest left much to be desired by both offenses as both Ohio freshman lefty Evan Lichtenauer and Marshall’s Blaine Albright blanked them through the first three innings of this contest. However, Albright was pulled after the third, and Ohio took advantage, as junior catcher Tyler Stack brought home the first run of the game on an RBI groundout.
The Bobcats added another in the top of the fifth as junior outfielder Cameron Boyd smoked the full count pitch high and deep to center field for his sixth home run of the 2026 season to give Ohio the 2-0 edge.
Ohio head coach Andrew See let Lichtenauer fire a full five innings in this game, a huge step in the right direction for the freshman, who hadn’t seen past the third inning in any of his last three appearances, but he found something Tuesday night, and See rolled with it.
Lichtenauer was pulled after five strong innings, and freshman right-handed pitcher Rylans Sams replaced him and took full advantage of the fresh arm. Sams got a quick out but then hurt himself with a walk to bring up the tying run, and Marshall’s AJ Havrilla did not miss the opportunity, hitting a towering drive to left field, and the game was all at 2-2.
Sams recovered to get the Ohio bats back to the plate. The Bobcat bats went right to work, loading the bases with nobody out and a run brought in on an RBI single by senior infielder Dylan Shepherd to put them up 3-2. This prompted a pitching change by the Thundering Herd, and Davis Gunn escaped the jam without allowing another run to keep Marshall within striking distance.
Gunn’s effort paid off in the bottom of the inning as the Thundering Herd got to Sams again to tie it up on an infield single by Tyler Kamerer. Sams was removed in favor of senior left-hander Dillon Masters, who would go on to finish the game for Ohio.
The eighth inning really slowed down the pace of both offenses that had seemed to find some life in the middle innings, and this season, that was not a recipe for success for Ohio. Thankfully for the Bobcats, Masters was dealing to close out this contest, and the Bobcats had a chance to grab the lead in the ninth inning as Henson stepped to the plate with a runner on second base.
Marshall countered Henson by bringing in Charlie Krebs out of their bullpen, but Henson was not fazed, smashing the first pitch he saw over the fence as the Ohio bench erupted. The inning ended quietly, but Ohio had a 5-3 lead and handed it back to Masters for the opportunity to win.
Masters had to work to close the door, striking out the first two batters of the inning on a combined 11 pitches. He then got the final batter of the game to roll one to first base, and senior infielder Reese Harmon would step on the bag to secure the 5-3 win for Ohio.
