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ATHENS,Ohio-- The Ohio baseball team (9-7, 3-2 MAC) split a doubleheader against Kent State (6-8, 2-3 MAC) on Saturday afternoon (March 19) at Bob Wren Stadium. 

GAME ONE

Ohio dropped the first game, 14-7, to the the Golden Flashes.

The Bobcats fell behind early in the first game as Kent State came out with a hot start on offense. The Golden Flashes jumped out to a four-run lead in the first two innings against Bobcats' senior pitcher Braxton Kelly (Ulysses, Ky.), but Ohio answered back with a huge second inning.

The Bobcats started out the inning with a one-out single from senior catcher Mason Minzey (Grand Blanc, Mich.), followed by another single from redshirt senior Michael Richardson (Cambridge, Md.) and a walk from graduate student first baseman Cael Baker (Gahanna, Ohio) to load the bases. Redshirt freshman AJ Rausch (Powell, Ohio) put Ohio on the board with a single to score Minzey. Redshirt junior Xavier Haendiges (Salem, Ind.) came up next and singled again to lower the deficit to two runs. Fifth year center fielder Isaiah Peterson (Lincoln, Neb.) tied the game up with a two-RBI double and junior Alex Finney (Oxford, Mich.) and senior Colin Kasperbauer each brought in a run to give the Bobcats a 6-4 lead after two innings.The Golden Flashes tied the game back up, though, in the third inning with a two-run home run over the left field wall.

"Personally, I felt great," Peterson said. "The team, their efforts were incredible today. That was a great offensive performance by us and I was super pleased to see some of the younger guys, as well as some of the other guys who've kind of struggled lately to step up. It was one through nine, everyone was there today for us."

Unfortunately, the Golden Flashes put the game out of reach with five runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh. The Bobcats added another run, in the seventh as Minzey doubled to bring in redshirt senior Spencer Harbert (Middletown, Del.).

The Bobcats were led offensively by Minzey and Rausch, who each went two-of-four with one run and one RBI, and Peterson who went one-of-three with one run and two RBI.

GAME TWO

Ohio took game two in a 16-12 win.

Kent State got off to another quick start on offense against redshirt sophomore pitcher Jacob Tate (Louisville, Tenn.) with four runs in the first inning. The Bobcats answered back as Harbert brought in Peterson for their first run of the game, and Minzey blasted a two-run home run over the wall.

The Bobcats kept rolling as they took the lead in the second inning behind another two-run homerun, this time from Peterson. The Golden Flashes came right back in the top of the third inning as they tied up the game after back-to-back doubles, and they took a one-run lead in the fifth inning after a solo home run.

Ohio answered back in the bottom of the fifth as Minzey singled to bring in Harbert for his third RBI of the game. After the Bobcats forced a pitching change from Kent State, Rausch sent a double to deep center field for two RBI and to take a two-run lead, followed by a triple from Haendiges to extend the lead to three runs. Ohio wasn't done as Haendiges was brought home by Peterson to finish off the inning with a 10-6 lead.

The Bobcats added again to the tally again in the sixth inning as Minzey hit his second home run and brought in his fourth RBI of the game to stretch the lead to five runs.

"Mason's done a great job with the weekend so far," said head Craig Moore. "He's a switch hitter so he's able to do it on both sides of the plate. When he's on he's a good hitter, one of the better ones in the conference."

The lead didn't last as a double and a single brought in three runs for Kent State, and the Golden Flashes hit a two-run home run to tie the game back up. The Bobcats answered back as Peterson singled to bring in two runs and Harbert hit a two-run bomb of his own to left-center field as Ohio brought a four-run lead into the eighth inning.

After Kent State added a run in the eighth, Ohio answered back as Baker brought in senior Will Sturek (Minnetonka, Minn.) from second base.

Overall in the two games, there were 49 runs, 55 hits and eight home runs.

"The offense did an outstanding job today, and they've done it all weekend," Moore said. "They've done it all weekend, and we still got one more game to go and we're looking forward to coming out tomorrow and barreling up the balls, too."

UP NEXT

The Bobcats and Golden Flashes will wrap up the series on Sunday (March 20) at 1 p.m.

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