Kent State had a great weekend in Ohio (Photo and Graphic by Kent State Athletics and Stanley Steamer)
Kent State and Miami are leading the way in Ohio!
Ohio State 6-12 (1-5 in the Big Ten)
The hope that accompanied Ohio State’s 5-2 start has faded fast. It faded in a Golden Flash on Tuesday as the Bucks fell, 8-5 at home to Kent State. Kent State is a very good team, but a Big Ten team should be able to defeat a MAC team, not lose to them at home in two straight seasons. Ohio State had a late series opener out on the West Coast, which went on even later, going into extra innings. Ohio State’s Lee Ellis’ solo home run in the 10th inning would give the Buckeyes the 10-9 win!
Saturday night in Seattle, the Buckeyes and the Huskies would play a knife fight of a game. It too would go into extra innings; alas, this time, Washington would win. The Huskies would get the walk-off win in the bottom of the 11th inning. Sunday’s contest was another tight one and was also decided late in the game. Sadly, the Buckeyes fell in the bottom of the ninth, 5-4. Ohio State has now gone 1-10 after their 5-2 start to the season. OSU will play at Xavier on Wednesday in Cincinnati. They’ll then return to Columbus for a three-game weekend battle with the Butler Bulldogs.
Cincinnati 16-6 (1-2 in the Big 12)
UC looked like they were going to be upset at home on Tuesday. They trailed Evansville, 11-4, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Bearcats don’t quit. Cincy battled back with three runs in the seventh, and then got six in the eighth to complete the 13-11 comeback win. Surprisingly, UC fell in their first of five games in the state of Utah on Thursday, 5-2, to BYU. The Bearcats struck back on Friday, with slugger Quinton Coats hitting another home run, and evened the series with a 9-7 victory. Saturday was the series-deciding game. It was another close contest, but UC fell, 10-9. The Cats bounced back big on Monday, playing another one of Utah’s teams. The Cats defeated the Utah Valley Wolverines in Orem, Utah. UC won three of their five games of Week 5. The Cats will play another game tomorrow in Orem, Utah, against UVU. They’ll then return home for a series this weekend against the Utah Utes.
Xavier 6-15 (0-0 in the Big East)
The Musketeers’ trip to the Pacific Northwest continued to go poorly, as they lost to Oregon 10-0 on Tuesday. Xavier’s tough season didn’t improve any on Wednesday; they fell 6-3. The Musketeers limped home from their Pacific Northwest road trip with a 0-5 record in the state of Oregon. X rebounded on Friday with a series-opening win against Evansville. Xavier won the first game, 7-5. Evansville returned the favor, winning 6-4 on Saturday. X lost the series on Sunday, losing the third game, 5-1. This week, Xavier will host Ohio State on Wednesday. They will then play a weekend series at home against Wofford.
Dayton 13-6 (1-2 in the Atlantic 10)
The Flyers suffered a surprising 9-5 loss to Bowling Green on Tuesday. UD’s week continued to go poorly on Friday, as they fell to St. Louis, 8-3, in the opening game of their series with the Bilikens. The Flyers played a doubleheader on Saturday, due to some anticipated weather problems on Sunday. St. Louis took the series with their 9-1 win in the first game. Dayton made St. Louis put away their brooms, though. UD won the third game of the series, 12-2, to avoid the sweep. Monday’s game against Lindenwood was cancelled due to weather. The Flyers return to Ohio this week. On Wednesday, they head to Butler County to play Miami (Ohio). They’ll then return home for a weekend series against Virginia Commonwealth.
Wright State 5-12 (0-0 in the Horizon)
WSU stumbled on Tuesday, losing to Indiana in Bloomington, 9-4. Friday’s game against Southeast Missouri State was postponed to Saturday due to high winds in Ohio. Saturday’s doubleheader went poorly for the home team. The Raiders fell, 4-2, in the first game, and 6-0 in the second. Wright State tried to get at least one win out of the series on Sunday, but fell once again, 3-2. The Raiders have lost six of their last seven games. WSU was supposed to play Kent State tomorrow up in northeast Ohio, but the game was cancelled on Sunday. They’ll then head to Wisconsin for a three-game series against Milwaukee.
Youngstown State 2-15 (1-2 in the Horizon League)
With the way their season has gone, YSU was happy to have their Wednesday game against Central Michigan postponed due to weather. The 1-13 Penguins and 1-14 Oakland had a battle to stay out of the basement starting on Friday. Youngstown State got their second win and started Horizon League play 1-0 with their 6-5 victory. Their success was short-lived as Oakland took game two, 12-6, on Saturday. YSU dropped the series on Sunday with their 4-3 defeat. Youngstown State will play Pittsburgh in the Steel City on Wednesday before heading to Virginia for a weekend series against Georgetown.
Ohio 3-18 (1-5 in the MAC)
The Bobcats had an absolutely brutal doubleheader on Tuesday. They played two games against Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee, and lost both, 18-5 and 15-6, respectively. Ohio continued to give up too many runs as they opened their series against Western Michigan on Friday. The Bobcats fell to the Broncos 20-12. OU fell again on Saturday, 6-3. Ohio lost on Sunday, 16-7. This was their seventh straight loss. Ohio will play Murray State tomorrow. The Bobcats will then have a weekend battle against Bowling Green on the road.
Kent State 15-4 (5-1 in the MAC)
The surging Golden Flashes flew the MAC pirate flag as they upset Ohio State, 8-5, in Columbus on Tuesday. Kent State found themselves in a hole on Friday, trailing Central Michigan by six. But the Golden Flashes never said die and battled back. In the bottom of the 10th inning, they got a walk-off win when CMU walked slugger Sawyer Solitaria to load the bases. CMU then proceeded to hit first baseman Kolton Schaller with a pitch, bringing home the game-winning run, with Kent State winning 11-10.
Kent State took game two on Saturday. It was another one-run game, but lower scoring as the Golden Flashes defeated CMU, 3-2. Kent State proved why they’re the best team in Ohio, with their 6-4 win and series sweep on Sunday. The Golden Flashes have won five in a row and 10 of their last 11 games. Kent State was supposed to host Wright State tomorrow before they headed northeast for a series at UMass. The Wright State game, however, was cancelled on Sunday.
Akron 9-10 (3-3 in the MAC)
The Zips could’ve have used an opponent like Oakland, who had a 1-13 record, but the weather across the Midwest cancelled this game. Akron got a much-needed win over UMass on Friday, defeating the Minutemen, 12-2. UMass struck back with a 5-4 win on Saturday. In the series-deciding game on Sunday, Akron and UMass had a shootout. Akron took the game, 18-17 and an important conference series. Akron will host Mercyhurst on Tuesday before a road trip takes them to Eastern Michigan this weekend.
Miami (Ohio) 13-5 (5-1 in the MAC)
Unsurprisingly, Miami’s game against Evansville on Wednesday was cancelled, and as a resident in Butler County, I know firsthand that the RedHawks would have played an amphibious baseball game if the contest had gone ahead. The RedHawks and the Falcons’ game on Friday was delayed to the evening due to windy weather. The gusty conditions didn’t ground either of these birds of prey. Miami came out victorious behind two home runs from star first baseman, Evan Appelwick.
The RedHawks crashed hard on Saturday, falling 10-0 in only seven innings. Miami won the series on Sunday with a 13-7 win in windy conditions. Miami will host Dayton this Wednesday before they’ll take a road trip to DeKalb, Illinois, for a weekend series against NIU.
Toledo 9-9 (5-1 in the MAC)
The Rockets extended their winning streak to four games on Tuesday, with a 12-3 win over Northern Kentucky. Toledo got their series against Northern Illinois off to a good start on Friday with a resounding, 12-3 victory. The Rockets’ five-game winning streak was snapped on Saturday. Toledo fell to NIU, 8-3. The Toledo Rockets bounced back with a bang on Sunday, winning the series from NIU with a 17-2 victory in the third game. The Rockets have now won six of their last seven games and are trending skyward. Toledo has the misfortune of having to play that team in Ann Arbor this week on Tuesday. They will stay up north to play a weekend series against Central Michigan.
Bowling Green 5-12 (2-4 in the MAC)
The Falcons got their biggest win of this young season on Tuesday, upsetting Dayton, 9-5. They fought Miami hard on Friday but fell, 8-5. BGSU had their best game of the season on Saturday, smashing Miami, 10-0! Bowling Green couldn’t sustain the success, as they fell on Sunday and lost the series, 13-7. Tomorrow, BGSU will play Findlay at home. This weekend they will host the Ohio Bobcats.
Ohio Power Rankings
- Kent State 15-4 (5-1 in the MAC)
- Miami (Ohio) 13-5 (5-1 in the MAC)
- Cincinnati 16-6 (1-2 in the Big 12)
- Dayton 13-6 (1-2 in the Atlantic 10)
- Toledo 9-9 (5-1 in the MAC)
- Akron 9-10 (3-3 in the MAC)
- Ohio State 6-12 (1-5 in the Big Ten)
- Xavier 6-15 (0-0 in the Big East)
- Wright State 5-12 (0-0 in the Horizon League)
- Bowling Green 5-12 (2-4 in the MAC)
- Youngstown State 2-15 (1-2 in the Horizon League)
- Ohio 3-18 (1-5 in the MAC)
Nick Swisher-Mike Schmidt Player of the Week
The player of the week in Ohio was Miami’s Ryan Novak. Novak had five hits, four runs batted in, and scored four runs in Miami’s series against Bowling Green. He was a big part of why the RedHawks took two of three from the Falcons.
