Cincinnati Steam

O'Gara Ties Wins Record
Steam Defeat Joe's 8-5

Cincinnati scored seven unanswered runs after falling behind 5-1 and Joey O’Gara (Indiana) tied Steven Davis (Kent State) for the Steam’s all-time wins record as the Steam defeated the Hamilton Joes 8-5 at Western Hills High School Thursday night. Despite a 3-5 record and a 6.72 ERA in his career with the Hoosiers, O’Gara is a perfect 7-0 with a 2.89 ERA for the Steam.

Ryan Strausborger (Indiana State) led the offensive attack for the Steam (2-3), falling a triple short of the cycle after a 3-for-5 day. Strausborger scored twice, stole a base, and knocked his first home run of the season. Ben Thomas (Xavier) had another solid day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double and three runs batted in. Thomas now leads the GLSCL in both doubles (3) and RBI (8). Travis Shaw (Kent State) walked three times (tying him for the league lead with five), and Kyle Bluestein (Jacksonville State) went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

O’Gara (2-0) gave up four runs in the first inning but still lasted 5.0 innings for the victory, allowing five earned runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts. In addition to being the Steam’s all-time wins leader, O’Gara is also the Steam’s career leader in strikeouts per nine innings (7.33; minimum 40.0 innings pitched). Mike Jefferson (Louisiana Tech) tossed three hitless innings with four strikeouts, and Michael Schum (Wright State) closed the door on 11 pitches for his first save as a member of the Steam after notching 13 for the Raiders in the spring. The three Steam pitchers combined to hold the Joes hitless after the second inning.

Noah Mull (Wheeling Jesuit) started and took the loss for the Joes (0-3), giving up seven runs (all earned) in just 2.1 innings. Mull (0-1) yielded five hits with two strikeouts and one walk.

Former Steam player Tyler Schunk (Rio Grande) led the Joes with two hits and an RBI. Kyle Weldon (Miami) and Phil Bauer (Xavier) each doubled and scored, and Ben Hunterman (Mount St. Joseph), Wesley Rehmert (Urbana), and Nick Christopher (San Jacinto C.C.) combined to toss 4.0 shutout innings of relief.

Hamilton wasted no time putting runs on the board against O’Gara in the first. O’Gara hit Jimmy Brennman (Lincoln Trail) with a 3-2 pitch to begin the game. Schunk lined a single to right to put runners on the corners with one out. Schunk took off for second with Patrick Jones (St. Catharine College) at the plate and stopped halfway, but Ryan Bellamy’s (Xavier) throw sailed into center field for an error, allowing Brennman to score. After Jones walked, Weldon lined a double (the first extra-base hit of the year for Hamilton) to left-center to plate Schunk and give the Joes a 2-0 lead, with Jones advancing to third. Colton Cattani (Lincoln Trail) and B.J. Willis (Cincinnati) followed with back-to-back RBI groundouts to shortstop to give the Joes a four-run cushion after a half inning.

Cincinnati answered with a run in the bottom of the first to make it 4-1 when Strausborger led off with a home run, his first of the season and fourth as a member of the Steam (ranking him fourth in Steam history).

After throwing 36 pitches in the first, O’Gara needed just ten in the second, but the Joes still managed to push across a run to make the score 5-1. Bauer doubled with one out, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brennman, and scored on Schunk’s second single of the day.

The Steam responded again in the second inning, this time plating two runs. After Mull hit Bobby Freking (Xavier) on the helmet with a one-out pitch, Cody Elliott (Ball State) launched an RBI triple high off the wall above the 397-foot sign in center field. Brad Gschwind (Miami) followed with a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Elliott and get the Steam within two at 5-3.

Cincinnati exploded in the third for four runs to take the lead, 7-5. Strausborger led off with a single and Shaw walked one out later to put runners on first and third. Bluestein followed with an RBI single to center that glanced off the glove of a diving Brennman. Thomas then juiced a ball off the right field fence for a two-run double, giving the Steam the lead. Thomas advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a groundout by Freking, making the score 7-5 in favor of Cincinnati.

O’Gara settled down after a rocky start, throwing as many pitches (36) in the second, third, and fourth innings combined as he did in the first inning alone. He struck out four consecutive batters looking at one point, including the side in the fourth inning on just 12 pitches.

The Steam loaded the bases with none out in the fifth but managed just one run, making the score 8-5. Dustin Lacey (Urbana) gave up a leadoff single to Jon Edgington (Miami) and then walked Shaw and Bluestein before being lifted in favor of Hunterman. Hunterman did a nice job, recording two ground outs and a strikeout, with Cincinnati notching its only run of the inning on a Thomas ground out to second.

Cincinnati had a golden chance to blow the game open in the seventh, loading the bases with one out on three singles, but Rehmert struck out Elliott and induced Gschwind to ground out to escape unscathed.

The Steam also loaded the bases in the eighth with two outs, but Thomas flew out to left to end the inning. Cincinnati stranded nine runners over the final four innings, but relied on stellar pitching over the final seven innings to keep Hamilton still in search of their first league win.

Cincinnati returns to action Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader against the Southern Ohio Copperheads. The games will be played at Ohio University, with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The Steam return to the friendly confines of Western Hills High School on Tuesday, June 23 for a 7:05 contest with the Grand Lake Mariners.