ASHLAND, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's baseball team missed an opportunity to forge a split at GLIAC rival Ashland on Saturday, allowing three runs in the sixth inning of game two to fall 2-1. The Panthers dropped Saturday's opener 9-1.

With the setbacks, ODU fell to 15-11 (7-5 GLIAC) and out of its second place in the league standings. Ashland improved to 17-11 (9-5 GLIAC).

In the second game, ODU broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning as redshirt sophomore Christian Prince (Hudsonville, Mich.) singled and sophomore Anthony Raschilla (Girard, Ohio) worked a walk after falling behind in the count to put two runners aboard with one out. After a strikeout, senior John Bowron (Dayton, Ohio) bounced a single back up the middle to score pinch-runner Marcus Schluessler (Zanesville, Ohio) and give ODU  a 2-1 lead.

Junior Nick Venditti (Brecksville, Ohio) sandwiched a walk around a pair of pop outs to start the bottom of the sixth, but a perfectly placed drag bunt put two Eagle runners on board with two out. Senior reliever Erik Lamka (Troy, Ohio) entered and hit a batter to load the bases before allowing a grounder up the middle that second baseman Chase Westphal (Brecksville, Ohio) dove for and put a glove on but had no play as two Eagles scored.

Another Ashland single gave the home team a 4-2 advantage, and ODU went down in order in the seventh to end the game.

The Eagles scored their first run in the first, but ODU answered in the second as Raschilla doubled to the corner in right field and went to third as the right fielder bobbled the ball. Freshman Matt Jurevicius (Broadview Heights, Ohio) laced the first pitch he saw into center field to knot the game at one.

Venditti faced a two-out, bases loaded jam in the second, but worked out of trouble with a fly out to Bowron in left to end the inning. The Eagles later put runners on the corners with one down in the fourth, but Westphal fielded a grounder back up the middle, stepped on the bag and tossed to first for the twin killing.

The Panthers missed opportunities to score in the fourth and fifth innings as well, with Prince being thrown out at the plate to close the fourth and Dascenzo stranded at second in the fifth, before finally cracking through in the sixth.

Venditti was hit with the loss after being charged for three runs in 5.2 innings, allowing just six hits and striking out three. ODU managed just four hits for the ballgame, compared to eight for Ashland.

In the opener, Ashland scored a run in each of the first two innings to grab a 2-0 lead and threatened to extend it in the third, but sophomore starter Sean Blackburn (Wadsworth, Ohio) worked out of trouble after issuing consecutive walks to start the frame to keep the deficit at two runs.

Freshman Tyler Watkins (Belpre, Ohio) and Prince started the fourth inning with back-to-back singles, but Raschilla sent a shot back up the middle that Ashland pitcher Brad Thomas snared for a 1-4-3 double play, and a pop out ended the scoring threat.

Ashland than took advantage of a pair of ODU defensive miscues in the bottom half of the fourth to tack on another run and extend its lead to 3-0, and the Panthers hit into another double play to squelch a potential rally in the fifth. The Eagles scored twice more in their half of the fifth to take a 5-0 lead, then plated four more in the sixth to account for the final tally.

ODU, which tallied just seven hits in the contest, would score its lone run on an error in the seventh.

Blackburn (3-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) on eight hits and four walks in five-plus innings. Sophomore Bryan Rudolph (Pickerington, Ohio) had two of ODU's seven hits.  

Ohio Dominican and Ashland conclude their four-game series with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Monday at Ashland.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu