No one has felt the effects of Ohio's 12 rainouts this season more than the Bobcat freshmen pitchers.
Coach Joe Carbone typically likes to give his freshmen starts during midweek games as a way to gain experience.
But those opportunities have been severely limited with the bad weather.
Ohio pitchers Nick Egan, Brent Choban and Michael Dillon finally got that chance Wednesday.
And they didn't disappoint.
They combined to throw 11 2/3 innings against Otterbein and allowed just two earned runs.
Nothing replaces game speed
Carbone said. Yesterday they showed what they are capable of doing.
Egan was the first to show his capabilities against the Cardinals.
He pitched a career-high four innings to earn the first win of his career. He also recorded four strikeouts and lowered his earned run average from 23.14 to 6.23.
Egan said he found out he was starting game one of the doubleheader Tuesday, giving him a day to prepare for the first start of his career.
I got kind of nervous Egan said. The past couple times I had been struggling a bit.
But I came out and got into a rhythm.
Egan's rhythm was smooth throughout his four innings. He allowed seven hits but each time Otterbein runners reached
he worked his way out of jams.
He was relieved by Dillon
who pitched three innings and allowed one run. Dillon
a starter in high school
has found his groove in the Ohio bullpen.
He has made 12 appearances and has the second-best ERA (4.15) on the team.
Dillon said that as a pitcher who doesn't get many strikeouts
he depends on the Bobcats' defense to get outs. I keep the same mentality, Dillon said of making the switch. I just want to put the ball in play and minimize my walks.
Choban
the third freshman to throw against the Cardinals
certainly minimized his walks in his start.
He didn't have any.
Like Egan
he recovered from a shaky start to the season to earn his first win of the season.
That was the best I've felt all year, Choban said.
Choban allowed one run in the first inning but shut Otterbein down for the final 3 2/3 innings he pitched.
Choban credited senior Chris Rigo with helping him develop.
He kind of takes everyone under (his) wing Choban said. (Rigo) makes sure they are doing alright.
Rigo knows they'll likely need this group of freshmen more than just in midweek games.
With pitchers Kevin Mementowski and Zach Elmer battling illnesses
