Upper Arlington extended their losing streak to eight on Friday, dropping them down to 2-9. They fell 6-3 to the Dublin Coffman Rocks. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since May 1, 2024, but that streak is no more.
Upper Arlington got a good showing from Connor Hagkull, who tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. Hagkull has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Upper Arlington saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Seth Keyhoe, who went 2-for-4 with one triple and two RBI. Another was Blake Baumgartner, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and one run.
As for Dublin Coffman, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record up to 8-5. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games.
On Dublin Coffman's side, Gavin Schimming was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave Schimming a new career-high in strikeouts (two). He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI.
In other pitching news, James Baughman tossed a big game, tossing 4.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits.
Back at the plate, Luciano Ruiz Beech and Drew Walti did most of the damage at the plate: Ruiz Beech went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Walti went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI. Those three RBI gave Ruiz Beech a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Brendan Cox, who went 1-for-4 with three runs.
Coming up, Upper Arlington will welcome Hilliard Davidson at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. The Wildcats' pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so the Golden Bears' hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Dublin Coffman, they will head out to challenge Dublin Jerome at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Celtics have struggled to contain batters this season (they've allowed 7.75 runs per game on average), something the Rocks will no doubt try to take advantage of.
