April 3, 2010
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - The middle innings did not prove kind to Ohio as Akron took advantage of three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to hand the `Cats a 6-2 loss to open Mid-American Conference play Saturday.
Ohio (5-20, 0-1 MAC) had its chances to score, recording seven hits on the day, but the Green and White could not get the timely hits when it needed them, leaving 10 runners on. The Zips (11-12, 1-0 MAC) took advantage of a pair of home runs and big two-out hits to hand Ohio the loss.
"We hit the ball well," Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek said. "We just didn't get the key hits when we needed them. It is hard to win when you leave as many runners on as we did."
Shalene Petrich (Chehalis, Wash.) finished 2-for-3 with her first triple of the years, and Emily Wethington (New Palestine, Ind.) came in 2-for-4 to lead the `Cats. Sara Clark (Ontario, Calif.) drove in a run, her sixth of the season. Wethington (4-8) was saddled with the loss after tossing four innings.
Ohio got on the board first with a run in the top of the second on a pair of Akron errors. Jillian Van Wagnen (Lorain, Ohio) reached on a one-out error and advanced to second on the play. Following the second out, she swiped third for her 10th stolen base of the season. She later came across when Petrich reached on another Zip error.
Wethington opened the third with a double to right center, but it would come to naught as the Zips retired the next three hitters. Akron came back strong in the bottom of the fourth with three big runs via a home run from Heather Bauer and a costly two-out error.
Ohio came back with its second run of the contest in the fifth on a two-out bloop single from Clark that scored Jenna Giusti (Danville, Calif.), who had come in to pinch run for Wethington. The Zips came right back with a three runs of their own via a pair of clutch hits to put the game just out of reach for the `Cats.
Alissa Birkhimer finished 2-for-3 with an RBI to pace Akron, while Andrea Arney picked up the win in the circle in a complete-game effort.
Ohio will look to split the series with the Zips tomorrow at 1 p.m. Live stats and a recap of the action will be available at OhioBobcats.com.
