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Game One Box Score (PDF) | Game Two Box Score (PDF)

ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio baseball team (2-3) opened the home slate of its 2021 schedule by splitting a doubleheader against Morehead State (1-5) Friday (February 27) afternoon. Ohio defeated Morehead State 6-0 in game one in as junior left-handed starting pitcher Joe Rock (Aliquippa, Pa.) spun a seven-inning no-hitter. The Bobcats dropped game two of the twin bill, 3-1, in 11 innings. 

GAME ONE: Ohio 6, Morehead State 0 (7 innings)
In the first no-hitter of his collegiate career, Rock struck out six and walked two. While Rock got the job done on the mound, Ohio's bats took advantage of six hits and five errors by Morehead State. Junior catcher Mason Minzey (Grand Blanc, Mich.) led the way by going 2-for-3 with two RBIs while redshirt junior right fielder Spencer Harbert (Middletown, Del.) finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored.

Ohio struck in the first inning, plating two and capitalizing on three errors by the visiting Eagles. With senior center fielder Isaiah Peterson (Lincoln, Neb.) on second thanks to a walk and an error by the shortstop on a failed pickoff, Harbert stepped up and lined a hit to the second baseman, who dropped it, allowing Harbert to advance to first and Peterson to score. An RBI single to left field by Minzey allowed Harbert to scamper home. 

Errors continued to plague the Eagles in the third as Ohio brought in two more runs. With runners on second and third, a throwing error by the shortstop allowed senior second baseman Treyben Funderburg (Beavercreek, Ohio) to reach first as two runners scored.

A throwing error by the third baseman in the fourth allowed graduate student third baseman Harry Witwer-Dukes (Monmouth, Ore.) to get to second. Harbert launched a single to center, which drove home Witwer-Dukes. Minzey dropped a single into left center, just over the head of the shortstop, giving Harbert time to cross home. 

For Morehead State, graduate student right-handed pitcher Jason Goe was tagged with the loss, going 3.2 innings and striking out three while giving up six runs, all of which were unearned. Junior right-handed pitcher Alex Kafka pitched 2.1 innings in relief, striking out three.  

GAME TWO: Morehead State 3, Ohio 1 (11 innings)
The Eagles broke through in the 11th and held on for the victory. Redshirt senior third baseman Stephen Hill singled to center and advanced to second on a sac bunt from fifth-year center fielder Ryan Layne. Senior catcher Jack Gardner then dropped an RBI single to center to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. Back-to-back walks extended the lead 3-1. 

Senior left fielder Peyton Dillingham broke a scoreless tie in the fourth to put the Eagles up 1-0. With runners on first and second, Dillingham launched a single to center, giving Layne time to cross the plate. 

Ohio was quick to respond, though, in the home half of the fourth. Junior first baseman Colin Kasperbauer (Sioux City, Iowa) laid down a successful bunt to get to first. Senior designated hitter Aaron Levy (Cincinnati, Ohio) stepped up and launched a rocket to the warning track, making it safely to second while Kasperbauer scored to tie the game at one.

The Bobcats loaded the bases in both the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn't convert.

Peterson led Ohio's bats with a 4-for-6 effort that included a double. The Bobcats outhit the Eagles, 10-8, but stranded 16 runners on base and struck out 18 times.

Senior right-handed pitcher Chace Harris took the loss for the Bobcats, pitching one inning and allowing three hits, two walks and two runs. Junior right-handed pitcher Colin Sells (Lancaster, Ohio) got the start and went four innings, striking out two, and giving up one run, earned. Senior right-handed pitcher Edward Kutt IV (Westlake, Calif.) and junior right-handed pitcher Eamon Horwedel (Ann Arbor, Mich.) combined for six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts.

Redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Cory Conway got the win for the Eagles, pitching 2.2 innings and striking out four. Sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Luke Helton struck out nine while permitting one earned run on four hits in six frames of work.

The Bobcats will travel to Kentucky for another doubleheader against Morehead State on Sunday (February 28). First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.

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