Southern Ohio shut out in final road contest of the regular season

HAMILTON — Baseball season is a long one, maybe you just get worn out by the end of it.

Capping off the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League regular season with a three-game stint against the Joes, Southern Ohio (13-22) traveled out to Hamilton (26-9) for the midweek matchup and struggled mightily on offense for the second straight night. Grabbing only four hits on the night and being shut out on the scoreboard, the Copperheads dropped another low-scoring affair with a 1-0 loss to the Joes.

Despite ultimately dropping the contest and the series, it was another impressive pitching performance on the mound for Southern Ohio. Tyler Pfirrmann got the nod to start and lasted six innings of one-run ball, allowing seven hits while walking six and striking out four. Jaren Slusher then finished off the night with two scoreless innings in relief.

At the plate, Pauly Mancino picked up two of the team’s four hits while Aiden Dunlap and Hunter Strong picked up the only other base knocks.

Hamilton broke through with what would become the game’s lone run in the bottom of the second, taking advantage of a pair of walks and a hit by pitch to load the bases up with no outs. The Joes then got an RBI single from Eli Kieser before Pfirrmann settled down to get out of the frame.

After that second inning run, the next nine batters for Southern Ohio would be sent down in order. The next baserunner wouldn’t come until the top of the sixth inning when Mike DiForte drew a leadoff walk but the next three batters would go down in order.

The Copperheads built a legitimate opportunity in the following frame when a double from Mancino gave the team men on second and third with no outs. Once again, the next three batters went down in order to end the chance.

Southern Ohio couldn’t muster a real chance after that, dropping the road contest before coming back to Athens for one more showing in the regular season finale.