Feb. 25, 2006
ELON, N.C. - The Ohio softball received a strong pitching performance from Natalie Armstrong (Murrysville, Pa.) in defeating Oakland 4-1 at the Elon Invitational. The Bobcats fell 8-2 to Albany in the second game of the day.
Armstrong put together one of the best performance of her career, holding Oakland without a hit until the sixth inning. Armstrong pitched all seven innings, allowing only one unearned run on two hits while striking out five batters.
The Bobcat offense staked Armstrong to an early lead with a single run in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Debbie Szalejko (Beavercreek, Ohio) led off with a double to center and advanced to third on a sacrifice from Marian Davis (Brighton, Mich.). Kelly Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) plated Szalejko with a single to left to give Ohio the early 1-0 edge.
Ohio tallied two more single runs in the second and third innings. In the second inning, Shannon Weidner (Pickerington, Ohio) reached base on an error with one out. Alicia Catlette (Mogadore, Ohio) singled to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Maureen McKelvey (Stow, Ohio) knocked in Weidner with a single to center. In the third inning, Davis singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on a Rodriguez sacrifice. Davis would later score on an Oakland error to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead.
The Bobcats posted an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Robin Miller (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) singled with Jill Viguers (West Chester, Pa.) pinch running for Miller. McKelvey knocked in her second run of the game to give Ohio a 4-0 lead. Oakland pushed its first run across in the top of the seventh but could muster no more against the dominate Armstrong.
McKelvey led the offensive attack, going 2-for-3 with two RBI with Szalejko and Rodriguez recording two hits each. Viguers scored her first collegiate run in the sixth inning.
Ohio fell behind early against Albany, with the Great Danes scoring two runs in the first inning and a single run in the second and third innings to gain a 4-0 advantage. The Bobcats tallied their first run of the game in the top of the fifth.
Miller doubled with one out to get the offense moving. With two outs, Szalejko singled to right field to score Miller and cut the deficit to 4-1. Albany struck back in its half of the fifth, pushing four runs across to go up 8-1.
The Bobcats scored another run in the top of the sixth, with Candace Warden (Hagerstown, Md.) leading off with a single to left. Meagan McCutcheon (Mogadore, Ohio) put runners on a first and second with a single and Viguers moved the runners up one spot with a groundout. Kristen Salvatore (Kirtland, Ohio) connected with her first hit of the season, a single to center, to push Ohio's second run across.
Zoe Heim (Ann Arbor, Mich.) took the loss for the Bobcats, giving up six earned runs over six innings of work. Ohio moves to 5-5 on the year following today's games.
The Bobcats face off against Rutgers tomorrow at 11 a.m.
