WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Ohio Dominican's baseball team rapped out 14 hits, but the Panthers couldn't protect a four-run lead as ODU fell 7-4 to West Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday.

The 14 hits were a season high for the Panthers, but the Panthers stranded eight runners on base and didn't score after the third inning, while the Bobcats tallied all seven of their runs after the fifth.

Sophomore Kevin Lydic (Dublin, Ohio) went 3-for-4 while sophomores Kyle Tisdale (Uniontown, Ohio), Austin Butler (Pickerington, Ohio) and Phil Jaskot (Upper Arlington, Ohio) and freshman Collin Parcher (Napoleon, Ohio) each had two hits and an RBI to lead ODU (2-8).

The Bobcats (3-7) committed two errors to start the game, and Tisdale and Butler made them pay early as each tallied an RBI basehit in the top of the first to stake the Panthers to a 2-0 lead.

ODU tacked on two more runs in the third, setup after senior Ryan Rovnak (Poland, Ohio) and Tisdale singled to lead off the inning. Parcher singled home Rovmak and Jaskot followed with an RBI single as well to give ODU a 4-0 advantage.

The Bobcats came back with a run in the third and a three-run homer in the fifth to tie the game at four. Wesleyan then took its first lead, 6-4, after plating a pair of runs in the sixth inning.

The Panthers put runners on the corners with nobody out in the eighth, but could not come up with a key hit to score, and Wesleyan put up an insurance run in its half of the inning. ODU picked up one hit in the ninth but could do no more in dropping its seventh straight game.

Junior Sean Blackburn (Wadsworth, Ohio) started and allowed six runs in six innings in suffering the loss. Sophomore Vince Bartolone (Broadview Heights, Ohio) allowed one unearned run in two innings.

Ohio Dominican returns to action with a doubleheader Thursday, taking on Lewis at 9:30 a.m., followed by a 2 p.m. contest with Winona State.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu