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ATHENS, Ohio â€" Led by Savannah Jo Dorsey’s 23 total strikeouts on the day and timely hits from the Bobcat offence, the Ohio softball team (22-13, 4-4 MAC) swept Mid-American Conference East foe Kent State (22-12, 5-3 MAC) in a doubleheader on Tuesday (April 5). The Bobcats defeated the Golden Flashes, 4-1, in the first game and came back and completed the sweep with a 4-2 victory in game two. With her two victories, Dorsey now has 56 career wins, placing her first all-time in program history.

“This was huge,” head coach Jodi Hermanek said. “After going out to Ball State and not having things go our way, it was great to turn a corner mentally and it was great to turn the corner against one of the top teams in the conference. It was great for us to just get back into our grove and respond and to get back to our game. We had to go back to the drawing board yesterday with our offensive approach and our mindset. We had to work on some things that we hadn’t tackled since the fall. I was just really proud that they came out here today and put that into affect.”

GAME ONE
After a scoreless first three frames from both sides, the Bobcat offense jumped all over Kent State in the bottom of the fourth. The inning began when Taylor Saxton (Circleville, Ohio) led the inning off with an infield hit. Deanna Cole (Akron, Ohio) followed that up with an infield hit of her own. Both base runners would then execute a double steal, placing them on second and third where Madison Claytor (Alpharetta, Ga.) placed the ball perfectly in rightfield for a double, scoring Saxton. The next batter, designated hitter Morgan Geno (Chillicothe, Ohio) then took a 3-1 pitch and crushed it over the centerfield wall, giving Ohio a 4-0 lead.

“It felt great,” Geno said. “I just wanted to get a hit so the people we had on base would score. I just got a pitch and got lucky. All week we were working on hitting it to the opposite field so I was expecting that. I saw the ball and just did what we’ve been practicing.”

Kent State would get on the board in the top of the next inning on a solo homerun from Bailey Brownfield, cutting the Bobcat lead to 4-1. After the Brownfield homerun, the Golden Flashes would only get one more base runner the remainder of the game.

Ohio would threaten to add another run on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Michaela Dorsey and Saxton each had base hits, however the Bobcats would not score and the Ohio defense would stand their ground, allowing Ohio to come away with game one with the final score of 4-1.

Aside from the solo homerun, starting pitcher Savannah Jo Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) was dominate in the circle once again, pitching seven innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out 10. The win was the 55^th of her career, placing her first all-time in Ohio history in career wins.

“They’re a great team to beat,” Dorsey said. “Kent State is one of the toughest teams in the MAC and we were ready for it.”

At the plate, the Ohio offense strung together seven hits, led by Saxton who was 2-for-2 with a run scored and Geno who was 2-for-3 with a homerun, three RBI and a run scored. Cole, Claytor and Michaela Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) all had one hit.

GAME TWO
The Ohio offense wasted little time getting back to work in the second game. In the bottom of the second inning, Claytor led off with hit to centerfield. Geno followed it up with a hard knock to centerfield, and with no outs, Casie Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio) took the first pitch and rocketed it over the rightfield wall, her second homerun of the season, putting the Bobcats up 3-0.

In the top of the third, Kent State got on the board when Holly Speers led the inning off with her 10^th homerun of the season, cutting the Ohio lead to 3-1.

Ohio responded immediately in the bottom of the third when Mikayla Cooper (Delaware, Ohio) hit her eighth homerun of the season to right center, giving Ohio a 4-1 lead.

Kent State added a run in the top of the seventh inning when Erika Warren sent the first pitch of her at bat over the centerfield wall. However, that is all the offense the Golden Flashes would have and Ohio would take game two, 4-2, securing the sweep and the series win.

Ohio and Kent State will face off in the final game of the three-game series on Wednesday, April 13 at 2 p.m. in Kent, Ohio.

In the circle, Savannah Jo Dorsey (16-8) got the nod again, pitching seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out 13, while only walking one.

“That’s why we have a big pitcher and that’s what we need a big pitcher to do,” Hermanek said. “Dani [Stiene] was well and ready, but Sav’s forte is strikeouts and against a team that has pretty good power numbers in the lineup, I wanted to keep going with what was working. And it was working, so why change it?”

At the plate, Ohio had six hits, led by Saxton once again who went 2-for-3. Claytor and Geno both added a hit for the Bobcats, while Hutchinson registered a hit, which was the homerun, a run scored and three RBI and Copper added a homerun, RBI and a run scored.

Ohio returns to action April 8-9 when they head to Toledo, Ohio for a three-game series with the Rockets. On Friday, April 8, first pitch is set for 3 p.m., with the series concluding with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 9 with first pitch set for 1 p.m.

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