Ohio Softball Set for 2020 Charleston Invitational

2/20/2020 12:00:00 AM | Softball

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ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio softball team returns to action Feb. 21-23 when it travels to Charleston, S.C. for the 2020 Charleston Invitational, which will take place on the campuses of College of Charleston and Charleston Southern. While there, the Bobcats will take on Army West Point, N.C. Central, Dartmouth, Charleston Southern and Appalachian State.

�� The Bobcats are back in action this weekend at the Charleston Invitational! @ClaireGeary7 caught up with @katieyun_ and @CarolineSpacek to discuss the season and the 15-inning thriller last Sunday. #BleedGreen pic.twitter.com/bGJYCzmKbv
— Ohio Softball (@OhioBobcatSB) February 20, 2020

SCOUTING ARMY WEST POINT
Army West Point is currently 5-5 after opening the season with the Bash in the Boro as well as the Golden State Classic. While at the Bash in the Boro they played against, Rutgers, Hartford, ETSU and Georgia Southern. While at the Golden State Classic, they played against Hawaii, LIY, Bradley, Portland State and Sacramento State.

Overall, Army is batting .301 with 52 runs scored on 87 hits. They have registered 19 doubles, one triple and five homeruns over the first 10 games, while also slugging .426. They have drawn 22 walks and have struck out 37 times for a .363 on base percentage.

Leading the team individually is Ally Snelling, who is batting .485 with 16 hits, three doubles, two homeruns and nine RBI with a .758 slugging percentage. Brook Mitchell is hitting .333 with six hits and three runs scored. In the circle, Jolie Duong is 1-1 with a 1.27 ERA, allowing six runs in 15 innings of work. Macey Newberry is also 1-1 and sports a 1.97 ERA, alloing 13 earned runs in 15.2 innings in the circle.

The team finished the 2019 season 26-28 while under the leadership of Michelle DePolo as head coach and Renee Poirier and Taylor Gaff as the team captains.

Returning to the Army team is senior Emily Ballesteros. Ballesteros finished the season off with a .286 batting average. In 46 games she finished her junior season two doubles, a home run, 20 runs and 19 RBI, 15 walks. Junior Ally Snelling follows with a .271 batting average, hitting two home runs last season.

Returning to the field is senior Macey Newbary. In the 2019 season, Newbary appeared in 27 games and started 15 of those games. Pitching 107.1 innings as a career high.

SCOUTING N.C. CENTRAL
Currently N.C. Central is 0-4 as they opened up their season playing USC Upstate in a double header, before falling to #22 North Carolina on Tuesday and No. 17 South Carolina on Wednesday.

Over their first four games, N.C. Central is batting .149, having scored four runs on 13 hits with two doubles and two homeruns.

Nadia Blevins was named a third team All-MEAC Outfielder as well as MEAC All-Academic Team. Blevins has a batting average of .246 in 48 games last season which were all starts. Tamiera Sanchez started in all 49 games last season in her first season at NCCU, batting .267 with 35 hits, 18 runs and 11 RBIs.

To finish the 2019 season, the team went 23-26 overall. The team was lead to victories by star hitters, Olivia Daniel batting .360, Dalika Wallace .317 and not far behind Miriam Duen with .300.

Returning to the team is junior Jacobia Johnson. Johnson started in all 49 games last season with a batting average of .262, 37 hits, 27 runs, 7 RBIs and one double. Johnson was ranked second on the team with 23 walks and 13 stolen bases as well.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth will be opening their 2020 season at the Charleston Classic as they face Virginia Tech, Charleston, Army West Point, Ohio and North Carolina A&T.

In the 2019 season, the team finished 13-27. The team won 5-3 against Charleston Southern as well as Radford 7-0 in a class. The team also beat out Yale 11-3 and 10-2 while playing them along with Cornell 16-1 and 7-3. The team also dominated over Princeton with scores of 8-6, 12-4 and 1-0.

Returning to the team is senior Jade Bravo. Bravo played in 23 games last season as a junior, including 7 starts. Bravo had recorded hits against Toledo 3/3 and against CSUN 3/19 while scoring three runs. Also returning to the team is, senior Sophie Ausmus who appeared in six games last season with four of those games being starts. She contributed to the team with two hits with a triple and three RBIs.

Returning to the field is junior Schae Nelson. Nelson played in 37 out of 38 games as a catcher last season. Her batting average was .257 with six doubles, three triples, two home runs, 13 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

SCOUTING CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Charleston Southern is currently 1-4 after opening the season at the D9 Citrus Blossom. While at the D9 Citrus Blossom they played against Saint Joseph's, Appalachian State, Lehigh and Georgia Southern.

Overall this season, CSU is batting .169 with 10 runs scored on 21 hits, while hitting two doubles and slugging .184.

Individually, Ashlyn Cribb his hitting .333 with three hits and one RBI. Katelyn Norris adds a .286 average with four hits, one double and three RBI. In the circle, Annah Junge is 1-1 with a 1.70 ERA, allowing four runs on 11 hits in 10 innings. Alyssa Heinrich is 0-3 with a 1.51 ERA in 15.2 innings of work.

The team finished the 2019 season 18-37 lead by head coach Venus Taylor.

Returning to CSU is senior Summer Moore. Moore finished the season off with a fielding percentage of .991 and a batting average of .261 along with being seventh in the Big South in triples per game. Junior Meghan Gagliano was also named third in the Big South Conference in sac bunts with eight and a .263 batting average.

Returning to the field is senior Holly Clark. In the 2019 season, Clark appeared in 39 games making 23 games as a starter. Clark finished ninth in the Big South in strikeouts per game with 4.47.

SCOUTING APPALACHIAN STATE
Appalachian State is currently 7-2 while opening their season at the Charlotte Invitational and participating in D9 Citrus Blossom tournament last weekend. While at the Charlotte Invitational they played Virginia and Charlotte, beating each team once and losing to each team once. At the D9 Citrus Blossom Tournament, App State won against Bethune-Cookman, Charleston Southern, Lehigh and Saint Josephs.

Overall this season, App State is batting .244 with 36 runs scored on 57 hits, while recording nine doubles, one triple and five homeruns to go along with a .355 slugging percentage.

Individually, Baylee Morton is hitting .320 with eight hits, one triple and four homeruns to go along with 12 RBI and a .880 slugging percentage. Taylor Thorp is batting .300 with six hits, one double and four RBI. In the circle, Sydney Holland is 4-0 with a 0.25 ERA. In 27.1 innings she has allowed one earned run, walked six and struck out 21.

App State's Keri White led the team to victory last season with playing in 56 games, named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team, leading the Mountaineers in seven categories including runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, total bases, stolen bases, bats and a hitting average of .347.

Last season, the Mountaineers went 31-25 overall. Gabby Buruato lead the team with a .375 hitting average with Keri White not far behind hitting a .347 average.

Returning to the field is junior Baylee Morton. Morton started in all 53 games last season from behind the plate. Morton threw out 13 runners and was tied for second in the Sun Belt this season.

LAST WEEK AT CHATTANOOGA CHALLENGE
The Bobcats finished up the Chattanooga Challenge with a 2-3 record. The Ohio softball team (2-8) secured their first victory of the season against Indiana State (3-6) on the second day of competition. Ohio led the Sycamores early in the game, scoring their first run in the bottom of the second. Indiana State tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth, prompting Ohio score again. Despite two outs in the bottom of the inning, the Bobcats added four more runs before returning to defense. The Sycamores took the lead in the top of the sixth after scoring five runs, but Ohio quickly regained control by scoring five of their own, putting the Bobcats up 10-6. Indiana State's run in the top of the seventh was not enough to produce a comeback, and Ohio defeated ISU 10-7.

Ohio's second win came during a 15 inning standoff against Lipscomb. The first run of the game was scored by the Bobcats in the top of the sixth inning. Lipscomb added two of their own in the bottom of the inning, giving the Lady Bisons the led going into the seventh. Responding in the top of the inning, Ohio tied up the game 2-2. With no runs from either team in the eighth or ninth inning, the game was sent to extra innings. The Bobcats struck in the 15^thinning when Katie Yun (North Canton, Ohio) crushed a solo homerun. Lipscomb was unable to respond and the game concluded with a 3-2 score.

Individually, Alexis Dawe (Valley Springs, Calif.) led the Bobcats with a .529 batting average this weekend. Scoring three runs for Ohio, Dawe also started all five games and had zero errors. Allie Englant (Long Beach, Calif.) and Katie Yun (North Canton, Ohio) score four runs each, including a game winning homerun by Yun.

SCOUTING OHIO
The Bobcats are 2-8 overall after competing in the Chattanooga Challenge.

Offensively, the Bobcats are hitting .280 as a team, scoring a total of 36 runs with 81 hits, 16 doubles, and three homeruns. They've also registered 35 RBI and have a team slugging percentage of .388. The Bobcats also have a .340 on base percentage, while drawing 25 walks.

Leading the way is junior Katie Yun (North Canton, Ohio) who is hitting .432 with 16 hits, five doubles, two homerun, six runs scored and nine RBI. She also has an .730 slugging percentage. Junior Allie Englant (Long Beach, Calif.) is hitting .469 with 15 hits, one double, seven runs scored and two RBI, while sophomore Caroline Spacek (Beaumont, Texas) follows with 5 runs, three of which were scored during the Chattanooga Challenge.

2019 BOBCAT REWIND
Ohio finished the 2019 season 34-21, 12-8 in-conference, just shy of winning back-to-back Mid-American Conference titles after falling to Toledo (29-26) in the final round. Thanks to a grand slam in the seventh inning that increased the lead to 7-2, Ohio was able to defeat the top-seeded Miami (35-14), giving the Bobcats another shot at claiming the regular season crown. Despite a 5-0 lead in the first game against Toledo, Ohio was unable to recover from three errors late in the first game and five errors in game two.

Overall, the team finished with a collective on-base percentage of .365, a .462 slugging percentage and a .295 batting average. The Bobcats scored 299 runs, had 269 RBIs, hit 64 doubles and 68 homeruns, stole 52 bases and had 4 shutouts.

RETURNERS
This season, the returners for Ohio consist of five sophomores, five juniors, and one senior. Last season, senior outfielder Alexa Holland (Rochester, Ind.) had a fielding percentage of .958, with 37 outputs and nine assists. Holland finished the 2019 season with the highest batting average of her career, .266. With 29 hits in 109 at bats, she scored 18 runs, hit one triple and registered six RBI. Last Season, Holland was named to the Academic All-MAC team for the second time.

Junior Katie Yun (North Canton, Ohio) also returns for the Bobcats. Last season, Yun was batting a team high of .394 with a .711 slugging percentage, 14 homeruns and 18 doubles. Registering 78 hits, Yun set the single season hits record. Yun earned First Team All-MAC, 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District Team, and All-Mideast Region First Team.

In the circle, junior Madi McCrady (Brimfield, Ohio) is back in the Green and White after posting a 23-13 record and a 3.20 ERA in 229.1 innings pitched, while striking out 207. McCrady also earned a spot on the Academic All-MAC squad.

Other returners include sophomores Caroline Spacek, Justice Ruggles and Mackensie Kohl as well as juniors Allie Englant and Brooke Rice.

NEW TO THE SQUAD
Ohio is welcoming 10 newcomers to the team, seven freshmen and three transfers.

Incoming freshmen for this season include, Alexis Dawe, Kaci Branch, Sydney Larson, Molly Troutman, Ryan Shaughnessy, Sophia Bernard and Holly Brehm.

The Bobcats also added three transfers to the roster for the 2020 season, including junior Ava Heidorn (Marysville, Ohio) who comes to Ohio after spending two seasons at UL-Monroe. Ohio also sees redshirt sophomore pitcher Baylie Thornhill (Baton Rouge, La.) come to Ohio from LSU, and sophomore infielder Caitlin Fogue (Columbia, Mo.) puts on the Green and White after one season at Missouri.

PRESEASON POLL
Ohio softball team has been selected fourth in the 2020 MAC Softball Preseason Poll, the league announced today (Feb. 5). The poll was voted on by the head coaches of the 11 MAC institutions.

The Bobcats earned 86 votes, but did not receive a first-place vote. Finishing ahead of Ohio is Miami who was selected as this year's favorite with 113 votes and four first place votes, followed by Kent State with 112 votes and four first place votes. Ball State finished with 90 votes and two first place votes.

Selected behind Ohio is Toledo (68) with one first place vote, Central Michigan (66), Northern Illinois (65), Western Michigan (48), Bowling Green (32), Akron (25) and Buffalo (21).

Miami and Kent State both were selected to take home the 2020 MAC Tournament crown, earning five votes each. Ball State also received one vote to win the tournament.

COMING UP
Up next, the Bobcats head back to South Carolina for the 2020 Courtyard Marriott Barefoot Landing Invitational hosted by Coastal Carolina, Feb. 28-March 1 in Conway, S.C. While there, Ohio will take on Maryland Eastern Shore, Coastal Carolina and Monmouth.

#BleedGreen