The Bearcats of Cincinnati, Ohio, had a big weekend in Florida (Photo by Cincinnati Athletics)
Kent State, Cincinnati, and Miami are showing why baseball season in Ohio is epic!
Ohio State 19-19 (9-9 in the Big Ten)
It was a bad week for the Buckeyes. Despite coming into it on fire and playing better baseball than they have in years, Ohio State had an outright bad week. It began with a 11-7 home loss to Marshall. Not only was this loss painful, coming at the hands of a 16-18 team, but Marshall’s head coach is Greg Beals. Beals was Ohio State’s head coach just four years ago.
The week didn’t get any better for Ohio State when they had to go on the road to play Purdue. Friday’s series opener was a bitter battle, but the Buckeyes fell short in the 10-9 loss. Saturday was more of the same for OSU, as it fell 12-7. Ohio State finished their perfectly imperfect week on Sunday with a fourth loss, this one 6-2. The Buckeyes will host Akron tomorrow before getting right back on the road. This time, they’ll head east for a weekend series against Rutgers. The lone bright spot for the Buckeyes this week was Dane Harvey, who has a streak of five straight games with a home run.
Cincinnati 27-15 (8-10 in the Big 12)
The Bearcats got their week off to a fantastic start. Smashing your biggest rival by double digits and ending the game early with a run-rule win is the way to go. UC got revenge on Xavier with their 15-5 win on Tuesday. The Cats then had the tall task of visiting a top-25 team in Central Florida.
Things got off to a bumpy start for UC. The Bearcats lost game one on Friday, 7-1. Saturday, Cincinnati would turn things around with a 9-3 win. Sunday’s game would decide the series. In a close contest, UC would get the win, 11-9. The Bearcats won three of four this week. Tomorrow, UC will head up to Dayton to play Wright State in a battle between the Queen City and the Gem City. The Bearcats will then return home for a weekend series against West Virginia.
Xavier 19-22 (9-3 in the Big East)
The X-Men had as bad a start to their week as a team can, losing by 10 and getting run-ruled by your archrival sucks. To their credit, though, the Musketeers got right back up off the mat very quickly. Xavier traveled to New Jersey to play a series against Seton Hall. X got the series off to a good start and got back in the win column with a 10-1 victory on Friday.
The Musketeers battle the Pirates again on Saturday, and Xavier took the series with a 6-3 win. On Sunday, Xavier went for the series sweep and got it done with a 3-1 win. Xavier’s sweep of Seton Hall puts them at 9-3 in the Big East. The Musketeers are only 0.5 a game back from first place in the conference. Xavier has now won 11 of their last 13 games! Xavier will play at Vanderbilt tomorrow before returning home to host St. John’s this weekend.
Dayton 21-18 (6-12 in the Atlantic 10)
UD started their week off on the right foot by going up to Bowling Green. The Flyers downed the Falcons, 19-6. They then came back home and played Wright State in the Battle for the Gem City. Dayton came out on top with the 9-5 win. The Flyers then hit the road for an Atlantic 10 series against the Richmond Spiders.
The series got off to a promising start for Dayton, as they won 9-2 on Friday. Saturday just wasn’t their day, however, and Richmond evened the series with a 16-6 victory over UD. Sunday was the series-deciding rubber match. It was a close game, but the Flyers ultimately fell, 11-9. Still, winning three out of five isn’t a bad week of baseball. UD will again start a week by heading north on I-75, this time, however, to the worst destination of them all: Ann Arbor. Dayton will remain on the road, this time heading east for a weekend conference series against St. Bonaventure.
Wright State 17-19 (11-1 in the Horizon League)
Wright State had a week almost as bad as the Buckeyes. They, too, went 0-4. Luckily for them, none of their losses were against conference opponents. Still, losing the Battle of the Gem City to crosstown rivals stung a little extra, as any loss for Wright State to the Dayton Flyers does. Dayton won the rivalry game on Tuesday, 9-5.
The series against Indiana State was almost as painful. The Sycamores won the game in Dayton on Friday, 8-7. Saturday was worse with a 6-3 loss, and Sunday was painful as WSU got swept in the final defeat, 11-8. Now they have to welcome to Nischwitz Stadium one of the hottest (if not the hottest) teams in the state. Tomorrow, WSU will host the UC Bearcats and then get back to Horizon League play with a weekend series against Milwaukee.
Youngstown State 8-30 (6-9 in the Horizon League)
Things stayed the same for YSU to start off their tenth week of the season. The Penguins played in-state and Northeastern Ohio rival, Akron, on Tuesday, and the Zips crushed them, 11-1, in only seven innings. They headed up north to play Central Michigan, and had another run-rule loss, this time 12-2 in eight innings. This was Youngstown State’s 30th loss of the season.
The Penguins then had a Horizon League series against Oakland in Rochester, Michigan. Youngstown State looked like a completely different team against Oakland. On Friday, they shot it out with the Grizzlies and held onto a 13-6 lead to win 13-12. Saturday, YSU looked even less like the team that lost 30 games. Youngstown State got their biggest win of the season, pummeling Oakland, 16-2 in seven innings. This gave YSU only their second series win of the year. They went for the sweep on Sunday. It was a lower-scoring affair, but the Penguins got the win 6-4. This gave them their first sweep and first three-game winning streak of the year!
This week, YSU will play two games against Toledo and then travel to the Second City to play Illinois-Chicago over the weekend.
Ohio 8-31 (5-16 in the MAC)
It was a rough week for the Bobcats. Ohio started the week with an 11-8 loss at Northern Kentucky. They then headed north for a series against Central Michigan. On Friday, in the opening match of the series, they lost in seven innings, 15-5. This was their 30th loss of the year. Saturday, they lost in a much closer battle, this time 4-3. In the final game on Sunday, OU fought hard to avoid four losses for the week and beat CMU, 16-6, in eight innings. Tomorrow, Ohio will play NKU again, this time in Athens. This will be the beginning of a five-game home stand that will include this weekend’s series versus Akron.
Kent State 28-10 (15-6 in the MAC)
The Golden Flashes maintained their status as the hottest team in Ohio this week. They got things off to a good start with a 14-2 win over Mercyhurst in seven innings. After Tuesday’s victory in Erie, they returned home for a series against Ball State. Game one went against Kent State with Ball State winning, 11-3. Kent State got things back on track on Saturday with a 5-1 win.
Sunday saw the Golden Flashes go for the series win. Kent State beat Ball State, 8-5, to take the series. The Golden Flashes have now won 9 of their last 12 games. On Wednesday, Kent State will host Mercyhurst before traveling to Western Michigan over the weekend.
Akron 17-23 (7-14 in the MAC)
Akron started and ended the week well, but had a slump in the middle. The Zips beat Northeastern Ohio foe and in-state rival Youngstown State on Tuesday. Akron defeated YSU 11-1 in seven innings. On Wednesday, the shoe was on the other foot as Akron went to Pittsburgh. They got clobbered, 13-2, in seven innings by the Panthers.
Friday saw Akron begin a home series against Northern Illinois. NIU won the first contest, 10-8. On Saturday, the Huskies again bested the Zips by two runs, this time, 8-6. Akron didn’t go quietly, though, and avoided the series sweep with a 4-3 win on Sunday. Tomorrow, Akron will head to Columbus to play Ohio State. They’ll then head to Athens to play Ohio this weekend.
Miami (Ohio) 25-13 (14-7 in the MAC)
The RedHawks started their week right with a big road win over a Big Ten opponent. Miami played at Purdue on Tuesday and came away with the 5-3 win.
After winning over the Boilermakers, Miami stayed on the road and visited MAC foe Toledo. The RedHawks rocked the Rockets, 7-2, on Friday to win the first game. They took the second game 6-3 on Saturday. That gave them an important conference series win and put their winning streak at five games. Toledo snapped it emphatically on Sunday with a 20-4 victory. Still, the RedHawks took three of four this week. Miami will host Bellarmine tomorrow. They will then play Central Michigan for three games this weekend.
Toledo 17-22 (13-8 in the MAC)
The Rockets had a rough week. It began with a 6-4 loss to that team up north. They had to follow that up by hosting one of the top teams in the MAC when Miami came to town. Miami took game one 7-2 on Friday. On Saturday, the RedHawks took the series with a 6-3 win over Toledo. Sunday, Toledo was determined not to go quietly. The Rockets roared to life and crushed Miami 20-4 in seven innings. Don’t mess with Toledo on 419 Day! On Tuesday and Wednesday, Toledo will play Youngstown State. This weekend, they play three games at rival Bowling Green.
Bowling Green 15-23 (8-13 in the MAC)
BGSU had a painful week of baseball. They started with a 19-6 loss to the Dayton Flyers. They had their lone bright spot of the week on Wednesday, defeating Canisius, 9-3. Bowling Green’s weekend was rough, as they were swept by UMass. Each loss against UMass was by a single run. They fell 5-4 on Friday, 6-5 on Saturday, and 2-1 on Sunday. BGSU will try to right the ship a little this week. On Wednesday, Bowling Green will head north to play UM. They’ll then return home for a series against rival Toledo.
Ohio Power Rankings
- Kent State 28-10 (15-6 in the MAC)
- Miami (Ohio) 25-13 (14-7 in the MAC)
- Cincinnati 27-15 (8-10 in the Big 12)
- Ohio State 19-19 (9-9 in the Big Ten)
- Xavier 19-22 (9-3 in the Big East)
- Dayton 21-18 (6-12 in the Atlantic 10)
- Wright State 17-19 (11-1 in the Horizon League)
- Toledo 17-22 (13-8 in the MAC)
- Akron 17-23 (7-14 in the MAC)
- Bowling Green 15-23 (8-13 in the MAC)
- Youngstown State 8-30 (6-9 in the Horizon League)
- Ohio 8-31 (5-16 in the MAC)
Nick Swisher-Mike Schmidt Player of the Week
This week’s player of the week goes to Cincinnati’s Jack Natali. Natali had five hits, eight runs batted in, and three home runs in the Bearcats’ big week.
