Feb. 18, 2017
Final Stats
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio softball team (7-1) continued its home portion of the schedule on a warm and windy Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18). The Bobcats defeated Mid-American Conference foe Northern Illinois 4-3 in extra innings carried over from Friday night's game. Ohio then picked up a 3-2 win over NIU in the final game of the day. The Bobcats outing against Rutgers originally scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday was canceled due to the length of the earlier games darkness. Ohio will play one final game against Rutgers on Sunday at 11 a.m.
"Yesterday, it felt like we were super ready to play so it was kind of different to get that height back up in the morning and then try to bring that out again but we did it and it was fun," Savannah Jo Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) said.
GAME ONE (Extra Innings): Ohio 4, NIU 3
The battle with the Huskies would continue in the top of the eighth inning Saturday morning with a tied score, 2-2.
Dorsey struck out three to begin the morning while Ohio went 1, 2, 3 in the bottom of the inning.
Both teams produced two scoreless innings to start the day. NIU then scored one on a double to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th inning after the international tiebreaker went into effect.
MacKenzie Brunswick (Bellefontaine, Ohio) started on second for Ohio to start the bottom of the 10th.
Taylor Saxton (Circleville, Ohio) hit a single down the left field line and Brunswick advanced to third. Saxton stole second.
With two-outs Morgan Geno (Chillicothe, Ohio) hit a walk-off two-RBI single to plate Brunswick and Saxton, giving Ohio a 4-3 victory.
"I didn't really think anything of it because that's my job and anyone that you put in is going to do that," said Geno. "It's just expected and that's what we do, we get the job done."
GAME TWO: Ohio 3, NIU 0
In the circle for the Bobcats, Danielle Stiene (Loveland, Ohio) drew the starting nod. Stiene started off strong striking out two hitters with runners on second and third in the top of the first. Although the Huskies were coming off of a 6-2 victory over Rutgers, NIU was unable to score in the first inning.
Ohio made a strong play in the bottom of the first, when Alex Day (Hilliard, Ohio) singled to first base and Geno followed with a double, but Ohio was unable to score in the opening frame.
Stiene would strikeout two to start the third inning to give Ohio a chance to take the lead.
After two scoreless innings, the Bobcats struck first when Jamie Wren (Whittier, Calif.) reached first on an NIU error. Geno hit a two-run homerun to break the scoreless tie and give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
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Ohio went 1, 2, 3 in the fifth with Stiene striking out two.
In the bottom of the frame, Geno walked and Deanna Cole (Akron, Ohio) was called in to pinch run. Cole stole second and moved to third on a groundout. Junior short stop Mikayla Cooper (Delaware, Ohio) doubled plating Cole, but Cooper got called for missing first base and the run was called back.
The Huskies would make a comeback in the top of the sixth inning. Kali Kossakowski singled to center field and Jenny Van Geertry followed doubling to right center allowing Kossakowski to advance to third. Kayti Grable grounded out but plated Kossakowski. Bekah Harnish hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Van Geertry to tie the game 2-2 going into the bottom of the sixth.
In the bottom of the sixth, Alexa Holland (Rochester, Ind) was called in to pinch run for Madison Claytor (Alpharetta, Ga.). Holland scored the winning run when she stole home giving the Bobcats a 3-2 lead heading into the seventh.
Dorsey would come in to pitch for Ohio to begin the seventh inning and quickly struck out one. The Bobcat defense held strong and sat NIU down in order.
At the plate, the Bobcats scored three runs on six hits. Geno went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and a home run to lead Ohio.
In the circle, Stiene would pitch 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on four hits, striking out seven. Geno would see some pitching time against the Huskies, to earn a win, facing one batter, while Dorsey earned her first save of the season.
UP NEXT
Ohio will compete one last game on Sunday, Feb. 19 when the Bobcats battle Rutgers at 11 a.m.
