April 30, 2016
Final Stats
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ATHENS, Ohio â€" In its final home game of the 2016 season, the Ohio softball team (30-21, 11-9 MAC) gutted out an important 2-1 victory against Mid-American Conference East foe Buffalo (15-34, 9-11 MAC) on Saturday (April, 30) at the Ohio Softball Field. The win was the Bobcats’ 30th of the season, it is the fourth time in program history that Ohio has hit the 30-win marker.
Buffalo threatened in the top of the first inning when the Bulls put runners on second and third with one out. However, starting pitcher Morgan Geno (Chillicothe, Ohio) would get the next two batters to ground out and fly out to end the threat.
Ohio would take the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Mikayla Cooper (Delaware, Ohio) reached first on an error by the Buffalo second baseman. She would advance when she would steal second and the Buffalo catcher would throw the ball into centerfield, allowing Cooper to take third. Cooper would then score when Casie Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio) smoked a base hit to rightfield, giving Ohio a 1-0 lead.
Buffalo would tie the game in the top of the fourth inning when with two outs, Courtney Gilbert would single and then advance to third on a base hit by Danielle Lallos, loading the bases. Gilbert would then score when the Bobcats attempted to pick her off of third and the ball would get away, tying the game at 1-1.
The Bobcats would retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Taylor Saxton (Circleville, Ohio) would lead the inning off with a perfectly placed hit in front of home pate. She would the steal second and then advance to third on a basehit by Jamie Wren (Whittier, Calif.). Wren would then steal second and with two outs, Danielle Stiene (Loveland, Ohio) would smash a ball up the middle scoring Saxton and giving the Bobcats the 2-1 lead late in the game.
Buffalo would try to put together a rally in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, Katie Weimer would double to the leftfield wall and then advance to third on a pass ball. Stiene would then get Catrell Robertson to ground out to third and successfully stop the runner from scoring. Stiene would then get the final batter of the game, Ashton Earnhardt, to strike out swinging and the Bobcats would come away with the 2-1 victory.
In the circle, Geno would get the start, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing no runs on three hits. Wren would pitch 0.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits and Stiene would pitch 3.2 innings, allowing no runs on the hits and strike out seven on her way to the win.
At the plate, Ohio had seven hits, led by Stiene who was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Wren went 2-for-3 and Saxton, Geno and Hutchinson all had one hit.
The Bobcats conclude the regular season next weekend when they head to Bowling Green on May 6-7 for a three-game series with the Falcons. Game one will take place Friday, May 6 at 3 p.m. and the series will conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 7 with first pitch set for 1 p.m.
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