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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio softball team (25-10, 6-4 MAC) opened a three-game series against Mid-American Conference leading Ball State (25-17, 9-1 MAC) Saturday (April 8) for a doubleheader at the Ohio Softball Field. The Bobcats dropped game one, 3-2. Ohio would then come back later in the day for game two where they would rally to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Unfortunately, the Bobcats would fall to the Cardinals by the final of 3-2 in eight innings.

“It’s disappointing,” head coach Jodi Hermanek said. “That’s the feeling. We swung that bats well in the game and had a lot of leadoff opportunities to score and we just did not coming through with timely hitting. So it’s pretty disappointing. We’ve got to continue to work on timely hitting. That’s what they [Ball State] did. They had five hits and they won because they had timely hits. We knew this was going to be a dogfight coming into today because both teams are at the top of the conference and both teams swing the bats real well. Savannah pitched a heck of a 15-inning day today against a team that hits a lot out of the park. We need to be better than we were today in both games.”

GAME ONE: Ball Sate 3, Ohio 2
In the first game of the day, the Bobcats would start to make noise in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Morgan Geno (Chillicothe, Ohio) registered a single through the left side. She then advanced to second when Natalie Alvarez (Long Beach, Calif.) drew a walk. Alvarez would then be replaced on the bases by Brittany Keen (Perth, Western Australia). All runners would advance when Mikayla Cooper (Delaware, Ohio) drew another walk to load the bases. Still with two outs, Alexa Holland (Rochester, Ind.) would rope a single up the middle, scoring Geno and Keen, and giving Ohio an early 2-0 lead.

After starter Savannah Jo Dorsey (Grove City, Ohio) struck out the side in the top of the second inning and the Bobcats also went down in order in the bottom of the frame, Ball State would strike in the top of the third. Brittany Hopper would lead the inning off with a double off the left field wall. She would then move to third on a sacrifice bunt. The next batter would draw a walk, putting runners on first and third. Hopper would then score on a sacrifice fly by Haley Dominique. Then with two outs and a runner on third, Dorsey would get the final batter of the inning to strike out, keeping Ohio with the 2-1 lead. The strikeout by Dorsey in the inning moved her to second all time in MAC history in strikeouts.

After Ball State would get a runner on in the top of the fourth, Ohio would go back to work and attempt to add on in the bottom of the frame. Cooper would lead the inning off with a hard hit single through the right side. However, the Ohio offense would not be able to get her around and the score would remain 2-1 in Ohio’s favor.

Ball State would make a run in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Olivia Huffman would be hit by a pitch. She would then advance to second on a base hit by Maddy Labrador. Huffman would score on a base hit by Dominique to tie the game, however in the process, Labrador would be thrown out at third. Then with two outs, Dominique would advance to third on an infield base hit by Rachel Houck. Dominique would then score on a Bobcat fielding error when Houck stole second. Then with Houck on third, Dorsey would get the final batter to strike out, however the Cardinals would take a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the fifth inning.

Ohio would make noise in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Geno would single to right field. She would then be replaced on the bases by MacKenzie Brunswick (Bellefontaine, Ohio). With two outs, Brunswick would advance to second on a passed ball. However, the Bobcat offense would not get the runner around and the score would remain 3-2, Ball State.

After Dorsey sent the Cardinals down in order on three pitches, the Bobcats would try to mount a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning, however they would not be able to do so and Ohio would fall in game one by the final of 3-2.

In the circle, Dorsey went all seven innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits. She struck out nine and only walked two Cardinal batters.

At the plate, the Bobcats recorded two runs on four hits. Geno led the way, going 2-for-3 with two singles and a run scored. Holland added a hit and two RBI and Cooper also recorded a hit for the Bobcats.

GAME TWO: Ball State 3, Ohio 2 (8 Innings)
Ball State would get a runner on in the start of game two, with Labrador leading the game off with a single up the middle. However, starter Dorsey would get the next three batters to strike out, sending the game to the bottom of the first scoreless.

Ohio would attempt to strike first in the bottom of the first, then Alex Day (Hilliard, Ohio) led the inning off with a double to shallow left field. However, the Bobcats would not be able to score and the game would go to the second inning tied at 0-0.

After a quick inning from the Cardinals in the top of the second, the Bobcats would get runners on again in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Madison Claytor (Alpharetta, Ga.) would rocket a single through the left side. She would then advance to second when Taylor Saxton (Circleville, Ohio) drew a walk. However, Ball State starter Darcie Hueber would get the next Bobcat batter to foul out, and send the game to the third inning tied at 0-0.

The Bobcats would finally strike in the bottom of the third inning. Day led the inning off with her second double of the game, this one to straight away center. She then advanced to third on a hard ground out by Jamie Wren (Whittier, Calif.). Then with one out, Geno would drop a single into shallow left center, scoring Day and giving Ohio a 1-0 lead after three innings.

Ball State would respond in the top of the fourth inning. Houck would lead the inning off with a double off the left field wall. Then after Dorsey got Janae Hogg to pop out, Danae King would come to bat and crush a two-run home run to left field, putting the Cardinals up 2-1.

The Bobcats would try to respond in the bottom of the fourth inning when Holland led the inning off with a double to centerfield and Claytor would then reach first on a fielding error. Dallas Messenger (Bellaire, Ohio) would then enter the game to run for Claytor. Holland would be out at third when Saxton reached first on a fielder’s choice and both runners would advance a base when Brunswick grounded out. However, with two outs, the Bobcats would be unable to score a run and Ball State would continue to lead 2-1.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Bobcats would get a runner on when with two outs, Cooper would reach on a base hit to left center, however she would not score. Then in to top of the sixth inning, Ball State tried to add on after Houck reached first on a fielding error by the Bobcats. She would then advance to second on a sacrifice bunt, followed by King reaching first on a walk. Then with two runners on and one out, Dorsey would get the next two batters out, sending the game to the bottom of the frame with Ball State still leading 2-1.

After Dorsey sent the Cardinals down in order in the top of the seventh, the Bobcats came to bat in the bottom of the frame looking to tie the game. They did just that, starting with one out, Wren cranked a double to center field. She then advanced to third on a passed ball. Then, as she has done all day, Geno came to bat and crushed her own double to left center, scoring Wren and tying the game at 2-2.

Geno then would be replaced by Deanna Cole (Akron, Ohio) on the bases and Cooper would come to bat smash her own single to centerfield. However, Cole would be thrown out at home trying to score. Cooper would then advance to second when Alvarez singled to shallow right field, putting runners on first and second. However, Huber would get the last Bobcat batter to strike out and the game would go to the eighth inning tied at 2-2.

As they did earlier in the game, Ball State would respond in the top of the eighth inning. Dominique would draw a walk to lead off the inning and then be replaced on the bases by Aeshia Miles. Miles would advance to second on a passed ball. Then with two outs, King would draw walk, putting runners on first and second. Then with a 0-2 count, Wynn would hit an RBI single to center field, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. Still with two runners on, Arnett would draw a walk to load the bases with two outs. Dorsye would then get the next batter to strike out, ending the inning and sending the game to the bottom of the frame with Ball State leading 3-2.

Ohio would come to bat in the bottom of the inning trying to repeat what they did the inning prior. At first it seemed like Claytor would fly out for the first out of the inning, however, Ball State never officially entered the new pitcher into the game, and with that, Claytor got another chance at the plate. Unfortunately, the second chance would not start a rally and the Bobcats would go down in order, falling to the Cardinals, 3-2.

In the circle, Dorsey (15-5) was solid for the second-straight game, pitching all eight innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out 13.

At the plate, the Bobcats scored two runs on 11 hits. Day went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored. Geno went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Claytor went 2-for-3 and reached base on an error. Cooper also added two hits for the Bobcats. Wren added a double and a run scored, while Holland hit a double and Alverez also had a base hit for Ohio.

UP NEXT
The Bobcats wrap up the three game series with Ball State on Sunday, April 9. First pitch is set for noon at the Ohio Softball Field.

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