EC: Slovakia with a narrow loss to Austria and still might get relegated

15.9.2021 Zuzana Ferková 1 min read

A very important game against Austria awaited Slovak national team on Wednesday. Win would ensure they stay in A Category of European Championship.

Slovakia started the hero of the qualification games Jakub Ižold. But he was only able to keep his opponents scoreless for an inning. In the second inning, he wasn’t helped by his defense and after a dropped ball in the right field and overthrowing the first base, Austria scored its first runs. The next run came after a sacrificial fly out from Marcel Mariette.

Slovaks didn’t let the run deficit get to them, however, and were able to level the score in the following inning, thanks to Tomáš Biskorovájny who batted in Grendža-Donský a Brunegraf.

The next change in score came in the fifth inning. First, it was Slovaks who took the lead after a double from Mário Gottschall. However, in the bottom half of the inning Ferdinand Obed responded with a two run homerun.

Slovakia could level the score from their next at bat, but a bad decision during the base running took the chance from them. The error might have cost them the game, as they didn’t get another chance like this.

Jakub Ižold earned the loss, despite throwing excellently, when he remained in the game for 8 innings. He only allowed 4 hits and two runs. Unfortunately, Slovak bats were only able to score three runs.

Slovakia will play Ukraine at 10:00 on Friday. This game will be critical for remaining in the elite category of European Championship.