MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ohio baseball team (8-14, 4-6 MAC) fell 7-6 to Ball State (15-12, 3-7 MAC) in game one of the series on Thursday, March 28.
Freshman
JR Nelson (Vernon Hills, Ill.) and senior
Gideon Antle (Licking, Mo.) tallied two runs apiece for Ohio. Freshman
Pauly Mancino (Westlake, Ohio) and fifth year
Alex Finney (Oxford, Mich.) were responsible for the Bobcats' other two run. Antle recorded one RBI and Finney finished the game with two RBI's.
Ohio's starting pitcher, junior
Dillon Masters (New Albany, Ohio), only allowed two runs, seven hits and recorded two strikeouts in six innings pitched. Junior
Zach Weber (Lebanon, Ohio) relieved Masters and faced tough pressure from Ball State. Weber allowed four hits, five runs and recorded one strikeout.
The game remained scoreless until Ohio earned a 2-1 lead following the fourth inning. After hitting a leadoff double to get on base, Nelson scored a run and Finney advanced to second off a throwing error by Ball State's pitcher. Finney went on to score Ohio's second run of the inning after redshirt junior
AJ Rausch (Powell, Ohio) singled through the left side.
Ball State tied the game at 2-2 at the end of the sixth inning.
The Bobcats went up 4-2 in the seventh inning. Nelson scored after stealing third base and from Antle's double. Graduate student
Bryce Smith (Virginia Beach, Va.) singled through center field, allowing Antle to score another run for Ohio.
Ohio increased its lead to 6-2 at the top of the eighth inning. Finney doubled to right field and recorded two RBI's as Mancino and Antle scored for the Bobcats.
Ohio's defense faced a lot of pressure from the Cardinals at the bottom of the eighth as Ball State took a 7-6 lead. The Bobcats were unable to regain the lead and ultimately fell 7-6 to Ball State.
The Bobcats will be back in action for game two of the series at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, March 29. Tune in to Russ Eisenstein on the Varsity Network App for the radio broadcast starting at 2:45 p.m. The game will also be available to watch on ESPN+.
#OUohyeah