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ATHENS, Ohio – After two impressive comeback wins, the Ohio softball (22-6, 3-0 MAC) team swept Mid-American Conference West foe Toledo (12-23, 0-3 MAC) in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the Ohio Softball Field. The first game was an exciting 8-7 comeback win in eight innings, with the win coming thanks to an RBI in the bottom of the eighth by Alex Day. Toledo would lead in game two until the seventh inning when Alexa Holland earned two RBI walk off single to give the Bobcats a 3-2 victory.

“We didn’t even play our best game and we still beat this team that came out strong today and we knew they would,” head coach Jodi Hermanek said. “But we have to just trust when somebody gets the role and the opportunity, we can push through and make things happen. It was a lot of emotions, I am tired, I am exhausted and that’s the way it should be when you leave it all on the field.”

GAME ONE: Ohio 8, Toledo 7 (8)
Toledo got on the board first in the top of the first inning when the Rockets’ Chandler Rice doubled down the left field line then quickly advanced to third. Samantha Showalter would earn a walk to give the Rockets two on and stole second before Rice scored a run on a wild pitch to put the Rockets up 1-0 in the top of the first.

Celeste Fidge earned another walk for Toledo and stole second with Showalter on third. Samantha Golden would earn a third walk for the Rockets to put three on for the Rockets. Savannah Jo Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) would suffer another walk after Katie Cozy was hit by the pitch to allow Showalter to score a second run in the top of the first inning, giving Toledo a 2-0 lead.

Fidge would advance to third on Cozy’s walk with Golden on second and Cozy on first. On a single down the right field line, Megan Choate allowed both Fidge and Golden to score and Cozy advanced to third. The Rockets would lead 4-0 in the top o the first. Dorsey would strikeout for a third time in the top of the first to give the Bobcats a chance to score.

The Bobcats were unable to score in the bottom of the first inning.

Rice would single to third base in the top of the second to put one on for the Rockets. Ohio’s defense did not let up in the top of the second and Toledo would suffer three outs in a row on pop ups by Ashley Rausch and Showalter and a Fidge fly ball to give the Bobcats a chance to put runs on the board. Ohio would make an effort to lessen Toledo’s lead in the bottom of the second when Natalie Alvarez (Long Beach, Calif.) earned a walk to put her on first. Brittany Keen (Perth, Western Australia) would enter the game to pinch run for Alvarez but the Bobcats were unable to convert at the plate and suffered quick back-to-back outs to allow Toledo to continue its lead. The second inning would go scoreless.

Toledo would score again after Golden doubled to left field followed by a single by Cozy to put two on for the Rockets in the top of the third inning. Choate would single through the left side to allow Cozy to advance to second and Golden to advance to third. With the bases loaded, Gross singled to left field allowing Golden to score and Choate and Cozy to advance. Toledo would increase its lead to 5-0 in the top of the third. The Rockets weren’t done there. Rice would score on a wild pitch while Showalter advanced to third, increasing their lead to 6-0 in the top of the third. Dorsey would strikeout Rausch to send the Bobcats to the plate.

In the top of the fourth inning, Showalter earned the fourth walk on the day for Toledo to put one on for the Rockets. Showalter would advance to second after Fidge grounded out. Golden would foul out to send Cozy to the plate where Showalter would advance to third on a passed ball. Showalter would score on a wild pitch to give Toledo an 7-0 lead while Cozy walked to put one on for the Rockets in the top of the fourth. Ashley Maynard flied out to centerfield to send the Bobcats back to the plate.

The Bobcats struggled to put runs on the board throughout the first four innings.

The top of the fifth would start with a quick out for Toledo after Choate struck out swinging. Gross flied out to left field, allowing Alexa Holland (Rochester, Ind.) to make a big defensive catch and give Toledo its second out. Dorsey would record her sixth strikeout on the day when Rice struck out swinging to send the Bobcats to the plate for a chance to score.

Ohio would get on the board in the bottom of the fifth after Casie Hutchinson (Lebanon, Ohio) made a big hit to right center for a double. MacKenzie Brunswick (Bellefontaine, Ohio) would enter the game to pinch run for Hutchinson while Madison Claytor (Alpharetta, Ga.) came to the plate then Brunswick advanced to third on a passed ball. Claytor would earn a walk to give the Bobcats two on and Alexis Milesky (Plain City, Ohio) would substitute to pinch run for Claytor. Milesky would steal second on a swing by Holland who would make a single to shortstop allowing Milesky to advance to third and Brunswick to score making it a 7-1 game in the bottom of the fifth.

Holland would steal second on a hit by Taylor Saxton (Circleville, Ohio) who would then make a big hit to left field allowing Milesky to score and Holland to advance to third, making it a 7-2 game with two on and no outs in the bottom of the fifth. Saxton would steal second on a hit by Deanna Cole (Akron, Ohio). Cole suffered Ohio’s first out on a foul ball to the catcher. Alex Day (Hilliard, Ohio) would earn a walk load the bases for Ohio and Morgan Geno (Chillicothe, Ohio) would step up to the plate.

Geno made another big play for the Bobcats when she grounded out to third base, allowing Holland to score, Saxton to advance to third and Day to advance to second, making it a 7-3 game. Wren was up next runners on second and third, singling to second base and allowing Saxton and Day to score, decreasing Toledo’s lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the fifth. Wren stole seconded before Mikayla Cooper (Deleware, Ohio) doubled to center field, allowing Wren to score and making it a one-point game at 7-6 in the bottom of the fifth. Toledo would respond to Ohio’s offense, making a substitution in the circle replacing Webb with Minarchick and Hutchinson would enter the game for Brunswick who would ground out to third base, sending Dorsey back to the pitching circle. In the bottom of the fifth, Ohio would record six runs with no errors and one left on base.

The top of the sixth would start with a quick out made by the Bobcat defense on a groundout by Rausch. Dorsey would then catch a hit by Showalter straight to her to give Toledo two outs early on. Fidge and Golden would each earn a walk to put two on for the Rockets. Toledo would suffer a third out after Cozy popped up to first base, giving Ohio a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth.

Saxton would single to shortstop followed by a single to third by Cole, advancing Saxton to second and putting two on for Ohio before Day would step up to the plate. Day would then single up the middle to allow Saxton to score and Cole to advance to second, tying up the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the sixth. Day’s hit would mark as a 15-game hitting streak for the sophomore.

Dorsey would strikeout three in a row to start the seventh inning and send the Bobcats to the plate to try and take the lead and the game.

The bottom of the seventh would start with a walk earned by Cooper. Claytor would hit a grounder to left field, allowing Cooper to advance to second and putting two on for Ohio. Holland was next up at the plate and was hit by a pitch to advance Claytor and Cooper as Saxton was next at bat with the bases loaded and two outs. Saxton was reached on a fielder’s choice to send the game into extra innings.

Toledo was unable to score in the top of the eighth after Rice grounded out to the pitcher followed by a fly out by Rausch.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Cole would hit a single then advance to second and steal third on a throwing error. Day would then hit a big single to left field to allow Cole to score and win the game at 8-7.

The 8-7 win would mark as the biggest comeback by the Bobcats since 2015, where Ohio rallied from an early 7-0 deficit to defeat the Broncos 9-8 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

At the plate, Ohio scored eight runs on 11 hits. Leading the way for Ohio was Saxton who went 2-for-2 with one double and one RBI on the game. Both Cole and Day went 1-for-2 while Day also recorded two RBI and one double. Day’s hits would also mark as a 15-game hitting streak for the sophomore. Geno, Cooper and Holland each added one RBI while Wren added two. Wren, Cooper, Hutchinson, Claytor and Holland each added to Ohio’s hit total.

In the circle, Dorsey allowed seven runs on seven hits and walked seven. Dorsey would strikeout nine in her eight innings of work.

GAME TWO: Ohio 3, Toledo 2
Game two started with Danielle Steine (Loveland, Ohio) in the circle. Steine would strikeout two right away followed by a quick catch by Day to send Ohio to the plate. The Bobcats were unable to add runs in the bottom of the first and the first inning would go scoreless.

The first three innings would go scoreless.

Toledo would strike first in the top of the fourth inning when Rice singled to right field to put one on for Toledo. Rice would advance to second on a fielder’s choice by Rausch who would reach first. Golden would come to the plate and hit a single to allow Rausch to advance to second and Rice to score to give Ohio a 1-0 lead. Golden’s hit was caught and would end the Rocket’s efforts at the plate for the fourth inning.

Ohio would make an aggressive effort in the bottom of the fourth when Cole hit a single up the middle to put one on for Ohio. Cole would steal second on a Day swing then Day would hit a single to put two on for the Bobcats as Geno walked up to the plate. Geno would line out and Cole would get caught between second and third base to send the Rockets to the plate to start the fifth inning.

Toledo would increase its lead in the top of the fifth when Maynard singled to shortstop and Heinritz entered the game to pinch run for Maynard. Choate would hit a sacrifice bunt to allow Heinritz to advance to second. Gross would then single through the left side to allow Heinritz to advance to third then Gross would steal second. Rice was next to bat and she would ground out to shortstop, allowing Heinritz to score and give the Rockets a 2-0 lead. Rausch would strikeout looking to give Ohio the chance to score.

Ohio was unable to score in the fifth inning. The Bobcats saw potential for scoring when Alvarez singled to left field to put one on for the Bobcats. Brunswick would enter the game to pinch run for Alvarez before Cooper came up to the plate. Brunswwick would then steal second. Cooper, Claytor and Hutchinson would each fly out to send Stiene back to the mound to start the sixth inning.

The Rockets would finish the top of the sixth inning scoreless, giving Ohio the chance to catch up at the plate.

Ohio would strike back in the bottom of the sixth inning when Holland earned a walk to put one on while Saxton walked up to the plate. Saxton reached first on an error by Toledo and she was able to advance to second allowing Holland to advance to third. Cole then grounded out to first base. Day came to the plate and flied out to left field for a sacrifice RBI allowing Holland to score and Saxton to advance to third, making it a 2-1 game before the seventh inning. Geno would ground out to send Toledo back to the plate.

Toledo would suffer an out quickly in the top of the seventh on a fly out up leftfield then Stiene would strikeout one followed by another fly out to give the Bobcats the chance to tie it up in the bottom of the seventh.

Cooper would single to left field and Milesky would enter to pinch run for Cooper once again. Claytor would make a big play on a double to the left field wall allowing Milesky to advance to third as Wren came to the plate. Wren would make a strong effort at the plate, but would find herself struck out swinging to earn a second out for Ohio. The Bobcats would secure the win on a single up the middle by Holland allowing Milesky and Claytor to score, earning herself two RBI and winning the 3-2 game for the Bobcats.

“I wanted the opportunity,” freshman, Alexa Holland said. “The fact that I am a freshman [means] I have nothing to lose. I’m getting opportunities because there are players in front of me that are hurt so I’m trying to make the best of those opportunities.”

At the plate, Ohio recorded three runs on seven hits and three RBI on the day. Leading the way for the Bobcats was Day who recorded one hit and one RBI. Scoring runs for Ohio was Milesky, Claytor and Holland.

In the circle, Stiene would get the start pitching all seven innings. Stiene allowed five hits and two runs on the day while also recording five strikeouts in her seven innings of work.

“I’m just really proud of my kids today and all weekend long,” Hermanek said. “They’ve done a great job of stepping up in the moment.”

The Bobcats continue Mid-American Conference play when they travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take on Western Michigan on March 31. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday and a doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday with game three set for 3 p.m.

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