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By Mike Ashcraft
OhioBobcats.com

Box Score (PDF)

DAYTON, Ohio -- The Ohio baseball team (19-21) dropped its midweek matchup with in-state rival Dayton (11-25), 6-3, on Tuesday (April 24) at Woerner Field.

The Bobcats fell to the Flyers despite another multi-hit performance by junior first baseman Rudy Rott (Holmen, Wis.), who went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. Rott leads the Bobcats in both multi-hit (18) and multi-RBI (11) games in 2018. He has hit safely in each of the last five games and has reached base safely in 10-straight games.

Ohio snagged a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when freshman second baseman Aaron Levy (Cincinnati, Ohio) hit a one-out single through the right side and later tagged up from third and scored on a fly ball to right by Rott.

Dayton wrestled control of the contest away from the Bobcats with a five-run third, however. Junior catcher Bailey Montoya led off the frame with a single to left, then advanced to second on a passed ball. After sophomore third baseman Brantley Johnson singled to left, sophomore center fielder Mitchell Garrity doubled to right center to drive in Montoya and tie the game. Johnson then gave the Flyers the lead when he scored by way of a single to right by junior left fielder Connor Echols. After redshirt sophomore first baseman Brandon Smith drew a walk one out later, Garrity scored on a wild pitch. An Ohio fielding error allowed sophomore designated hitter Tate Hagan to reach base safely and Echols to score on the play. Sophomore right fielder Connor Wilson extended Dayton's lead to 5-1 when he reached on an RBI fielder's choice that allowed Smith to score.

The Flyers pushed their lead to 6-1 in the fifth when junior shortstop Pat Meehan led off with a double to right and scored one out later on an RBI fielder's choice that put Hagan on base.

The Bobcats trimmed Dayton's lead down to three with some two-out lightning in the ninth. Freshman center fielder Sebastian Fabik (Lebanon, Ohio) coaxed a one-out walk, then took second base on defensive indifference one out later. Rott drove Fabik in with a single to left center, then scored when sophomore designated hitter Tanner Piechnick (Canonsburg, Pa.) reached base safely on an error by the Flyers. That's as close as Ohio got, though, as Dayton senior left-handed reliever Peter Rozman capped off his second inning of work with a strikeout to end the contest.

Right-handed starting pitcher Jordan Cox threw seven strong innings for Dayton, striking out six while giving up an unearned run on four hits and four walks en route to picking up the win and improving to 3-1 on the year. Rozman permitted two runs -- one of which was earned -- on a hit and a walk. He struck out three.

Echols, Montoya and Johnson each tallied two singles to lead the Flyers at the plate.

Redshirt freshman left-handed starting pitcher Cole Shinsky (Butler, Pa.) took the loss on the mound for Ohio, falling to 0-2 on the year. He allowed three earned runs on five hits over two innings. Senior righty Logan Jacik (Omaha, Neb.) tossed two scoreless innings striking out four permitting just two hits. Sophomore southpaw Derek Carr (Newark, Ohio) tossed one scoreless frame, fanning one and giving up one walk. Freshman left-hander Alex Kuster (Lake Orion, Mich.) struck out one and did not allow a hit or a walk in a scoreless inning of work.

Ohio looks to keep pace in the Mid-American Conference race when it visits archrival Miami this weekend (April 27-29) at McKie Field at Hayden Park. 'Voice of the Bobcats' Russ Eisenstein and Max McDulin will have the call of the action on WOUB 1340 AM and online on OhioBobcats.com via Stretch Internet.

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