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ATHENS, Ohio — The Ohio baseball team split its home-opening double header with UIC on Saturday (March 2). UIC won the first game 5-0 and Ohio won the second game 3-2.
"I wish we could play every game at home. To come out and earn a split on a double header day was huge for us. It gives us an opportunity to come out and win the series tomorrow and that's the goal every weekend," head coach Craig Moore said.
Redshirt senior Jacob Tate (Knoxville, Tenn.) got the start for Ohio in game one. He allowed four hits, four runs and five walks over four innings. Tate also struck out one batter before he was relieved by graduate student Tim Knapschaefer (Maria Stein, Ohio). Knapschaefer allowed three hits and one run over five innings.
The Flames got on the board first after AJ Henkle hit a solo home run to left field in the second inning. They added to their lead in the third inning with another solo home run, this time from Zane Zielinkski, and a walked in run.
UIC tacked on its fifth and final run in the fifth inning on Henkle's second solo home run of the afternoon.
Although Ohio finished the game without a run, it had three batters record multiple hits. Senior Cole Williams (Charlotte, N.C.), senior Gideon Antle (Licking, Mo.) and junior Jackson Cauthron (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) each recorded two hits against UIC. Redshirt junior AJ Rausch (Powell, Ohio) and freshman JR Nelson (Vernon Hills, Ill.) also recorded a hit each in the loss. However, Ohio could not string together hits for runs.
"If you go back and watch you got a lot of barrels in there, and I think we just kind of honestly got out of our approach a little bit. I think we're over swinging a little bit to be honest,trying to hit the ball too hard," Antle said. "(UIC's pitcher) mixed low and he covered both sides of the plate. I mean credit to that guy to shut our offense down. That hasn't happened really all year."
Ohio walked into game two with a different tone after freshman Pauly Mancino (Westlake, Ohio) hit a two-run home run in Ohio's second at-bat of the game. Mancino brought in senior Alex Finney (Oxford, Mich.) on the knock, who previously hit a single to second. Mancino led Ohio in RBIs on the afternoon with his two.
The Bobcats kept the lead until the bottom of the third when the Flames scored on a fielding error. However, the Bobcats' pitchers worked to keep the Flames off the board in the following innings. Starter junior Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa) tossed two more scoreless innings before junior Zach Weber (Lebanon, Ohio) came in for relief. Gaskey ended the day after five innings, in which he allowed one hit, one run and struck out three batters.
"It was good to see you know our pitching bounce back from from game one," Moore said. "We didn't get off to a great start from that standpoint, a little bit too many freebies in walks and hit-by-pitches. Our pitching stepped up."
Weber allowed one run in the top of the seventh inning after Henkle had an RBI ground out to second. However, Weber earned some wiggle room after Antle hit a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the inning.
With one more run on the board, Weber earned his second win of the season after he allowed four hits and struck out four batters over four innings.
"I was just an attack the whole time, just laying my sliders trying to get in the zone. My fastball really just kept me in and kept me locked in throughout my outing," Weber said.
Rausch was the lone Bobcat to have multiple hits in the second game and Williams was the only Bobcat to have a walk after he made a pinch hit appearance.
Ohio is set to play its final game against UIC Sunday afternoon at Bob Wren Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for Noon.
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