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ATHENS, Ohio — The Ohio baseball team dropped its series opener with Bowling Green 6-4 on Friday afternoon (March 7).
Senior Blake Gaskey (Davenport, Iowa) went the distance for Ohio (3-9, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) in his third start of the season. Gaskey allowed two runs on six hits and three walks in seven innings of action. It was his longest start this year.
"He gave us an outstanding start. It was what we ask of someone to do on Fridays," head coach Craig Moore said. "He settled down and was in cruise control for those six innings after the first inning."
The Bobcat bats broke free Friday afternoon as they had their fifth game with 10 or more hits. Eight out of nine Bobcat batters ended the day with a hit or more. Freshman Matt Ineich (South Lyon, Mich.) and sophomore Ben Slanker (Canfield, Ohio) lead with two hits each.
Ineich currently leads the MAC in batting average at .469 and Slanker is third in slugging percentage with a .703 mark. Slanker also leads the league in home runs with five this season.
"They're younger. Obviously still got some growing to do, some maturity to the game, but you know, we're going to stick with them, you know, because it's our best option in the lineup right now," Moore said.
Three Bobcats recorded extra-base hits, with Ineich and sophomore JR Nelson (Vernon Hills, Ill.) knocking doubles. The third came from senior Jackson Cauthron (Murfreesboro, Tenn.). Cauthron smacked a ball over the left field wall for a solo home run in the bottom of the second.
However, Bowling Green (7-5, 0-1 MAC) also had success at the plate. It got on the board with a two-run home run to left field in the top of the first inning to solidify a lead.
Cauthron's home run paired with the two RBIs off Ineich's double in the bottom of the fifth gave Ohio the comeback bid it needed. Once sophomore Pauly Mancino (Westlake, Ohio) tapped an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, Ohio was in control.
The Falcons weren't ready to give in though. They strung together four hits in the bottom of the eighth for four runs to steal a last-minute victory.
"If you look over the last two weeks of our season, we have played several close games. It's a little bit of a pattern right now that we're in. When you have those close games like that,everything gets heightened in terms of what you need to do in all three phases of the game," Moore said.
Despite the loss, Ohio's pitching staff combined for 11 strikeouts, which ties its season-high. The combination of Gaskey, Redshirt Junior Dylan Eggl (Albion, Ind.) and sophomore Jack Geiser (Medina, Ohio) tossed 100 strikes out of 149 total pitches. Eggl picked up the loss Friday afternoon.
Ohio will be back in action on Saturday (March 8) for game two of its series against Bowling Green. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Bob Wren Stadium and the game can be viewed on YouTube at OhioBobcatStudios.
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