Final Stats 

Game One Boxscore | Game Two Boxscore

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. â€" Led by seven shutout innings from Savannah Jo Dorsey and four RBIs by Mikayla Cooper in game two, the Ohio softball team split a pair of games from Marshall Tuesday afternoon at Dot Hicks Field. After dropping the first game to The Herd, 8-0 in six innings, the Bobcats rebounded, downing Marshall 7-0.

“I was very proud of them with the way they bounced back. It was a very uncharacteristic style of defense for us in the first game,” head coach Jodi Hermanek said. “Marshall puts a lot of pressure on you and we struggled to put up runs in the first game, but we came out in the second game and put up runs early and continued to put up runs. I think it was just a day where whichever team played the best defense was going to win.”

GAME ONE
Marshall got on board early in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff batter Elicia D’Orazio reached first on an infield base hit, two batters later, Briana Daiss reached first on a walk and then stole second, putting runners on second and third. They would then score on a base hit by Raquel Escareno, who would later score on a double by Alyssa Woodrum. Escareno and Woodrum would later score on a throwing error, giving the Thundering Herd the early 5-0 lead.

The Bobcats threatened to cut into The Herd lead in the top of the second when senior Sloan Walker (Cypress, Texas) reached first and then advanced to second on a fielding error. Walker then advanced to third when senior Amanda Dalton (Salem, Va.), reached base on an error, however the Bobcats would not score.

Marshall added on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to increase its lead to 7-0 after four innings. The Thundering Herd would then add one more run in the bottom of the sixth, to give Marshall the 8-0 six-inning win.

Offensively, Ohio had two runners reach on errors and two reach on walks, which was all the offense the Bobcats could muster, as Herd starter Jordan Dixon tossed a no hitter.

Starting pitcher Danielle Stiene (Loveland, Ohio) pitched 5.2 innings, allowing eight runs, four earned, walked three and struck out four.

GAME TWO
Ohio rebounded quickly and jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. With Deanna Cole (Akron, Ohio) on third and Cooper (Delaware, Ohio) on first, Cole would draw the throw to third base, which allowed Cooper to advance on the throw. Marshall would then throw to second in an attempt to throw out Cooper and in the process, Cole would take off for home, successfully sliding across home to give Ohio an early 1-0 lead.

Both teams held the other off the scoreboard until the top of the fifth inning when Taylor Saxton (Circleville, Ohio) reached first on an infield single, she would advance to second on a ground out by Cole. The next batter, Cooper, would then crush a pitch over the leftfield wall, giving Ohio a 3-0 lead.

The Bobcat offense didn’t let up, with Ohio extending its lead in the top of the seventh inning. Saxton led off the inning with a base hit, her third of the game, and then stole second. Cole then reached first on an infield single and then stole second a few pitches later. Then with a full count, Copper crushed a double through the left side, scoring Saxton and Cole. Cooper would then score when McKenzie Brunswick reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. Ohio added one more when Brunswick scored on a ground out by Alex Day (Hilliard, Ohio), putting Ohio up 7-0.

Offensively, the Bobcats had 10 hits, led by Saxton with three, Cole, Cooper and Walker all with two and Michaela Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) with one.

In the circle, Savannah Jo Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) pitched seven shutout innings, allowing no runs on five hits, walking one and striking out seven.

UP NEXT
Up next, the Bobcats will open the home portion of their schedule when they open Mid-American Conference play against Western Michigan March 25-26 at the Ohio Softball Field. On Friday, March 25, first pitch is set for 3 p.m. Then on Saturday, March 26, the doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m.

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