Free baseball doesn’t always mean more of a good time.
Playing in its second-straight extra-inning game, this time after the short mid-season break, Southern Ohio battled all night but couldn’t come through late in a brutal 5-4 loss to Xenia in 10 innings at home on Tuesday evening.
“I thought they came in with a lot of energy. I thought they seemed focused,” Rocky Brunty, the head coach of Southern Ohio noted when asked about the team dealing with the short break. “Baseball comes down to little things, when you don’t do that successfully, you end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.”
Despite ultimately falling, it was another relatively fruitful night with the bats for the Copperheads. Once again smacking double-digit hits as a team, the ‘Cheads were guided by three-hit days from Alex Ungar and Case Sullivan. The Sacred Heart product scored two of the team’s runs.
Hunter Strong finished with a hit and a game-high three RBIs while Ben Clark, Gavyn Smith and Alejandro Covas each recorded a hit. Trenton Neuer reached base twice while scoring a run and driving one in.
On the mound, Julian Robertson struggled in his first start of the Summer after five appearances out of the bullpen. The Ohio University product lasted just three innings, allowing six hits and three runs while walking four and striking out two.
Hayden Collins settled things down out of the bullpen with an impressive performance, tossing four innings of two-hit ball, allowing one run while striking out three. Eli Laurent pitched the final three innings, having a good outing soiled by allowing the game-winning run to cross in the 10th.
After Robertson got out of some trouble in the opening half-frame of the evening, Southern Ohio was able to take an early lead in the bottom of the first. Neuer and Billy Adams each drew a walk to leadoff the frame before a bunt single from Clark gave the ‘Cheads the bases loaded with just one out. While not walking away with as many runs as the team wanted, a sacrifice fly off the bat of Strong brought Neuer in with the first run of the night.
Baseball is oftentimes a game of luck and fortunes started to favor Xenia a couple of innings later. A fielder’s choice groundout brought in the tying run in the top of the third before an RBI single from Connor Donohue gave Xenia its first lead of the evening. A couple of batters later, Zach Zarko blooped one off the end of the bat just over first base to make it a 3-1 game.
The Copperheads responded with one in the bottom of the frame off a double into the left-center gap from Strong but Xenia immediately responded with a run themselves in the next half-inning to bring the lead back to two.
Strong then brought in his third run of the night with another sac fly in the bottom of the fifth before the ‘Cheads finally tied things up in the sixth with an RBI knock from Sullivan scoring Smith.
Aside from the ‘Cheads picking up a bases-loaded scenario in the seventh that the team failed to score on, both pitching staffs stepped up massively to hold each side scoreless at the end of nine innings.
For the second straight game, not only did the Copperheads go to extras but the opposition picked up a run in the top of the 10th, this time on a sacrifice fly that Neuer made a close play at the plate with a good throw. Southern Ohio then loaded the bases up with one out in the bottom of the frame, looking for at least one run to tie, but the team would go down in the final two at-bats, dropping the series opener in frustrating fashion.
“With a guy at third, either put it in the air deep or put it on the right side and get the run home. We’re just not doing that.”
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