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ATHENS, Ohio â€" Thanks to big homeruns from Madison Claytor and Mikayla Cooper and 14 strike outs from Savannah Jo Dorsey, the Ohio softball team (18-8, 1-0 MAC) opened Mid-American Conference play with a 5-2 victory against Western Michigan (9-14, 0-1 MAC) on Friday evening at the Ohio Softball Field.

“It’s awesome to come out and get your first MAC win to take some pressure off,” head coach Jodi Hermanek said. “I thought we played clear defense out there and they [Western Michigan] had some errors that we took advantage of and were able to capitalize and score. As for Dorsey, it keeps her humble after going so many scoreless innings. They ran into a couple of good pitches and they have a couple of good kids on that team and they are accustomed to playing a tough schedule. I was extremely proud of all of them between the lines. Standing up to the pressure with the bases loaded and no outs and not even flinching. We’re going to live on that and hang our hat on that because that’s the kind of team we are.”

The Bobcats jumped on the board first in the bottom of the second inning when Casie Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio) reached first on a throwing error by the Broncos' second baseman. The next batter, Claytor (Alpharetta, Ga.) bombed a homerun, her fifth of the season, over the right center wall, giving Ohio the 2-0 lead.

The Broncos cut the Bobcats’ lead in half in the top of the third, when Sabrina Gamboa hit a lead off homerun to make the score 2-1.

The Broncos would tie it up an inning later when Kelsea Cichocki hit a lead off homerun to straight away center, tying the game at 2-2. After the Cichocki homerun, Western Michigan would load the bases with no one out. However, starter Savannah Jo Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) worked out of the jam, leaving the inning with the game tied at 2-2.

“The first pitch I left down the middle and she capitalized on it,” Dorsey said. The second pitch was a good pitch, but they had made a good adjustment on the rise ball. They did a good job of adjusting. With the bases loaded it looks like a lot of pressure, but on the inside we stay really collected. I like pressure so I can stay relaxed and I knew we were going to get out of it.”

The Bobcats retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Taylor Saxton (Circleville, Ohio) led the inning off with an infield hit, which was then followed by another infield base hit by Deanna Cole (Akron, Ohio). Then the next batter, Cooper (Delaware, Ohio) jacked the first pitch of her at-bat over the centerfield scoreboard, putting Ohio up 5-2. The Broncos would get one more runner on base, but could not capitalize as Dorsey got the final better of the game to strike out looking, and the Bobcats picked up the victory.

“I like when I have pressure on me,” Cooper said. “It shows I don’t crack and can make my adjustments throughout my at-bats. I had just missed a change up during my second at-bat so I made my adjustments for my third and it worked.”

At the plate, the Bobcats had five hits, led by Claytor who had two, followed by Cooper, Saxton, and Cole who each had one.

In the circle, Dorsey continued to dominate, going seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out 14.

Ohio returns to action tomorrow (March 26) when they wrap up the three-game series with Western Michigan. Game one of the doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. inside the Ohio Softball Field, with game two to follow after.  

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