Box Score (PDF)

AVON, Ohio – The Ohio Baseball team (19-33) fell to Central Michigan (44-12), 18-9, on Thursday afternoon at Sprenger Stadium in the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Ohio dropped to bottom bracket and will either play at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. tomorrow, depending on the outcome of tonight's game between Ball State – Northern Illinois.

Junior C Tanner Piechnick (Canonsburg, Pa.) had two RBI with his second home run of the tournament. Piechnick was 2-for-5 and scored two runs. Redshirt sophomore Michael Richardson (Cambridge, Md.) also had two RBI on a 2-of-4 day.

Sophomore INF Aaron Levy (Cincinnati, Ohio) and senior INF Rudy Rott (Holmen, Wis.) each had one RBI. Rott's one hit tied him for the all-time program record in hits with 286.

Sophomore INF Treyben Funderburg (Beavercreek, Ohio) had a triple and two walks with two runs scored. Rott also had two walks today. 

Sophomore Edward Kutt IV (Westlake, Calif) was given the loss as the starter and fell to 3-5 this season. Kutt IV allowed five earned runs in 2.0 innings pitched.

Freshman Eamon Horwedel (Ann Arbor, Mich.) tossed 1.2 scoreless innings and fanned three batters.

Central Michigan started the game up 4-0. Zavier Warren hit a solo home run to put the Chippewas up 1-0. Jacob Crum brought home two on a Single up the middle and Jason Sullivan scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.

Sullivan brought home a run in the second on a single.

CMU added four more runs in the third inning. Zeke Heeke had a single to put CMU up 6-0. Zach Gilles was hit by a pitch to bring a run home while a sacrifice fly and sacrifice bunt to take a 9-0 advantage.

The Chippewas added two more when Warren had a single and Gilles had a fielder's choice go give CMU an 11-0 advantage.

Ohio got on the board with three in the fifth. Richardson started the scoring with a sacrifice fly that scored Funderburg, who reached with a lead-off triple. Piechnick then hit a two-run home run – his second of the MAC Tournament – that scored Rott, who had walked.

A Levy single in the sixth inning brought home Sargent and cut the CMU lead down to 11-4. The Chippewas added three runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Rott and Richardson brought home runners on a groundout in the eighth to cut the lead to 18-6.

Ohio scored in the seventh inning when Piechnick came home on wild pitch. The Chippewas tacked on three runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Bobcats scored two more runs in the top of the ninth on a dropped fly ball.

Depending on the outcome of the Ball State – NIU game, Ohio will either play at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. If Ball State wins, Ohio will take on NIU at 10 a.m. and if NIU wins, Ohio will the winner of Miami – Ball State at 2 p.m.

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