Feb. 11, 2011
Final Stats
Houston, Texas-The long-awaited start to the Ohio Softball season finally arrived on Friday as the Bobcats took on Southern Illinois and Stephen F. Austin in an afternoon doubleheader.
Ohio suffered a 12-8 extra-inning defeat at the hands of Southern Illinois, but rebounded to record a 7-3 win over Stephen F. Austin.
Against the Salukis, the Bobcats got off to the start it hoped for with two outs in the first inning. Melissa Bonner was hit by a pitch, followed by an Emily Wethington single. This brought senior Sara Clarke to the plate, who blasted a three-run homer to center field to give the `Cats an early lead.
After two SIU first-inning runs, the `Cats rallied in the second by capitalizing on two Salukis' mistakes, after a walk to Jordan Paden and an error that helped Jillian Van Wagnen reach first. Chelsea Hortman then delivered a clutch two-out pinch-hit single to right that scored Paden.
Southern Illinois added a run in both the second and third inning, evening the contest at 4-apiece. The Bobcats threatened in the top of the sixth, but the score remained knotted at four until the Salukis charged with a three-run rally in the bottom half of the sixth. The rally was lead by Morgan Barchan, who recorded her second RBI of the day with a double to left. Then, Natalee Weissinger connected with a triple down the left field line, followed by a single from Jayna Spivey that each scored a run, leaving Ohio down 7-4 heading to the seventh.
However, the `Cats did not quit as freshman Erin Lashley led off with a single and Bonner advanced her to third on an error by the Salukis' centerfielder. That brought up Wethington who doubled to right field scoring both Lashley and Bonner. After Raven King was hit by a pitch, the stage was set for Paden, who knocked a single to right field scoring both runners, giving Ohio the 8-7 advantage.
Southern Illinois tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out single from Haley Gorman, sending the game to extra innings.
The Salukis loaded the bases in the bottom half of the eighth after Chelsea Held singled, advancing the placed runner to third. Spivey then walked to bring up Cristina Trapani. The catcher, hitless on the day, sent a ball over the right field fence, ending the hard fought thriller 12-8 in favor of the Salukis.
Ohio's offense continued rolling in the second game against Stephen F. Austin, putting up seven runs on four hits in the second inning alone. Brooke Morgart and Joseph drove in runs with a groundball and reaching on an error, respectively. After Van Wagnen singled to load the bases, Lashley earned an RBI the easy way by walking. Then, Bonner and Lauren Gellerman followed with back-to-back doubles, plating two each in what ended up being the Bobcats most offensively productive inning all day.
The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks could not get anything going offensively. The Ladyjacks strung together three singles and two runs in the fifth inning, but Bonner was terrific all day leading the `Cats to a 7-3 victory.
Ohio continues play at the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational tomorrow against No. 11 Michigan at 10 a.m. ET, followed by a game against Houston at 4 p.m. ET.
