May 9, 2014
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)
AKRON, Ohio - Junior Dakota Pyles (Galloway, Ohio) belted a two-out, two-run home run over the left field fence at Firestone Stadium to break a scoreless tie in the top of the 13th inning and vault the No. 5-seeded Ohio University softball team (31-24) to a 2-0 victory over No. 2-seeded Buffalo (29-21) and into the 2014 Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship on Friday (May 9).
The Bobcats advanced to the league championship for the second time in the last four seasons under sixth-year head coach Jodi Hermanek. Ohio will have the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995 by earing the MAC's automatic bid.
"Words can't say how motivated and excited I am for these girls because of the games that they've played in this championship tournament thus far," said Hermanek. "They've been program-changing all year in the things that they've accomplished throughout this season, and so now is their time to put it out in one game and take this program another step further."
Saturday's (May 10) championship matchup will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET, with the opponent yet to be determined. The Bobcats will face either Buffalo again or No. 6-seeded Central Michigan or No. 7-seeded Northern Illinois, pending the outcomes of two elimination games.
In a contest that took 3:33 to complete and featured 371 pitches and 23 runners left on base the 'Cats finally forced the Bulls to blink in the 13th with some two-out lightning. Freshman Madison Claytor (Alpharetta, Ga.) sent a two-out base hit into right, then advanced to second by way of a wild pitch. That set the stage for the dramatic blast by Pyles, who finished the contest by going a career-best 4-for-5 with a double and a homer.
"We're so excited," said Pyles of advancing to the MAC Championship. "We've been talking about this since last year when we got knocked out. We've been working our butts off for this."
Buffalo had the tying run at the plate in the home half of the frame when senior Holly Luciano reached on a fielder's choice, but sophomore pitcher Savannah Jo Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) nailed down her school-record 24th win of the season by getting junior Alexis Curtiss to go down swinging for the final out.
"It's exciting that I could help my team again like that," said Dorsey. "Madison (Claytor) had the same idea today; we never faced this team before, and we came out with a new mentality."
A day after throwing a perfect game in a 3-0 victory over MAC regular season champion Ball State, Dorsey limited the Bulls to only five hits and two walks while fanning 13 over 13 frames of work to match her career high for the fourth time this season and second time in as many games. She has collected 10 or more strikeouts 11 times in 2014. The Second Team All-MAC selection ran her school-record single-season strikeout total to 280, which matches Kent State's Kylie Reynolds (2008) for the eighth-most in a single season in conference history. Dorsey's 26 complete games are tied with Kasey Dowd (1999) for the second-most in a single season in school history while her seven shutouts are the third-most in a single season in school history. The sophomore's 464 career strikeouts rank as the second-most in school history.
Buffalo senior pitcher Tori Speckman also went the distance, striking out nine over 13 frames. She surrendered two earned runs on 10 hits and four walks.
#OhioBobcats
