Ohio pitching improves; Bobcats take three of four

by Michael Canan
THE POST

Going into the first weekend of Mid-American Conference play, the Ohio baseball team had one big question mark that hovered over the pitching mound.

The Bobcats' hurlers answered that question, showing great improvement and helping Ohio (10-12-1 overall, 3-1 MAC) split a doubleheader with Central Michigan (16-7, 3-1 after taking two from Marshall yesterday), and sweep one from Western Michigan (11-12, 1-3).

Pitcher Denny McGee, who was a winner in the first game against Western Michigan, said the pitching staff needed good performances.

"It boosts (the pitchers') confidence, and makes us feel a lot better about ourselves," McGee said. "Everyone is pitching well right now."

McGee might have turned in the most impressive performance during the weekend. McGee tossed a seven-inning complete game, giving up one run on five hits and striking out nine.

"I felt good," he said. "Today I had the best stuff I've had all year, and like Coach (Joe Carbone) says, if you get three pitches over you'll win, and I did."

Like McGee, Andrew See was successful on the mound. See tossed a complete game in the second half of the doubleheader. See pitched seven innings, giving up three runs.

Tony Schiml pitched the first game Saturday, going seven innings. He gave up four runs, one of which was earned. Walt Novosel also turned in a good performance. He went 4 and 1/3 innings, during which he allowed four hits and three runs.

"I thought our pitchers threw well," Carbone said. "Schiml threw a good game, and Novosel threw well, but he lost his location. (Adam) Svala threw well when he didn't get behind and (Casey) McKinney threw well. McGee and See both pitched excellent ball games."

Ohio wasn't the only team with good pitching during the weekend.

"We feel fortunate to have won three of four," Carbone said. "Central (Michigan) and Western (Michigan) are two outstanding teams. They both had great pitching staffs. All four starters we faced were high 80s or 90s throwers."

McGee and See outdueled good Western Michigan pitchers to give Ohio the sweep yesterday.

McGee (3-1) gave up one run in the first inning after a nearly two and a half hour rain delay, but right fielder Cory Keylor knotted the score with an RBI triple in the third. Keylor scored on a wild pitch to give Ohio the lead.

The Bobcats tacked on two more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth, which was more than McGee needed. The Bobcats held on for the 5-1 win. Keylor and first baseman Jeff Rook powered the offense. Keylor was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Rook was 3-for-3 with an RBI.

Keylor also provided the offensive punch in the second game, hitting a three-run home run in the third to give Ohio a 3-2 lead.

The Bobcats added a key insurance run in the fifth when Western Michigan reliever Matt Vriesenga walked Mike Arbinger with the bases loaded. That run would prove pivotal when See (1-2) began to lose command with two outs in the seventh.

First baseman Joe Langschwager drove a ball over the fence in left-center field to cut the lead to 4-3. Right fielder James Galla then ripped a ball into the gap for a double. Carbone went to the mound but elected to allow See to finish the game. The pitcher induced third baseman Chris Richter to fly out to right field to end the game.

See was one of several pitchers Carbone had to leave in the game a little longer than he usually would have.

"Normally I would have taken McGee and Schiml out at the end when they were kind of running out of steam, but because of the makeup of our team I'm going to have to leave them out there," Carbone said.

Ohio benefited from late-inning heroics in Saturday's first game. Keylor ended the game with a grand slam that gave the Bobcats the win.

Rook provided the offense with his seventh home run of the season to give Ohio an early 3-1 lead. But then the defense let Schiml (2-2) down.

Central Michigan second baseman Scott Pieratt started the rally with a two-out single. Center fielder Matt Crowley added another single, and a grounder to second looked as though it would get Schiml out of the inning. Ohio second baseman Ryan Kyes couldn't make the play on right fielder Jake Sanborn's ground ball however, allowing Pieratt to score. Designated hitter Mike Galloway and catcher Shaun Gragg added RBI singles to give Central Michigan a 4-3 lead.

The score remained that way heading into the seventh inning. Catcher Jeremy Johnson, See and pinch hitter Adam Foust each singled to load the bases. That set up Keylor's grand slam, a line drive over the right field wall. He finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBIs. In the four games, he batted .500 (7-14), driving in eight runs.

Keylor said it took him a moment to realize the ball was gone.

"I didn't (know the ball would leave) right away, but when I looked up and saw it I was pretty sure it was going to go," he said. "I'm just glad we got the runs in and won the game."

Carbone credited Keylor's success to his ability to adapt.

"Cory is going to be an outstanding college baseball player," he said. The big thing about Cory is that he listens. Teams are changing the way they pitch to him. They are changing speeds on him a lot, and he spun around on a pitch with two strikes yesterday, and I talked to him about it before the game. Today he had two strikes and he roped the ball over the fence.

"He's developing into a real good player. All his hits have been big hits."

Central Michigan started off the second game by scoring a run against Novosel, but the left hander settled down until the fifth inning. Shortstop Jason Helps was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. One out and an RBI triple later, a single by Pieratt spelled the end of Novosel's day. It also gave Central Michigan a 3-2 lead before Svala retired the side.

Ohio tied it in the fifth when Kyes scored on designated hitter Chuck Lombardy's double-play ball. Central Michigan came back to get the win however, scoring a run off Svala (1-3) in the sixth and another run in the seventh for a 5-3 final.

McGee said he was impressed with the team's performance, specifically yesterday.

"We started to get things all together today," he said. "We played together offensively and defensively. This gives us a lot of momentum to take into next weekend."

Ohio resumes play Wednesday when it hosts Xavier at 3 p.m. in Bob Wren Stadium.