After Ohio defeated Toledo 15-1 last weekend, several players threw up their arms in the shape of an O. The Bobcats hope to make some W’s with their arms this weekend, as they hit the road to take on Ball State and Miami.
The team leaves Athens for the first time in Mid-American Conference play after going 3-1 against Bowling Green and Toledo last weekend.
One obstacle the Bobcats might face is opposing pitchers. Miami and Ball State are the top two leaders in the MAC respectively in terms of team pitching.
The Cardinals are coming off a win against the Raiders on Wednesday. Ball State is a sound defensive team as well as a force inside the pitching circle. The Cardinals have a team fielding percentage of .968, which has allowed them to turn 17 double plays this season.
Senior catcher Amanda Montalto leads Ball State with a .368 batting average and a .726 slugging percentage to go along with six homeruns and 22 RBIs on the year. The Cardinals lead the MAC in batting average, with a team mark of .309 and a league-leading 33 homeruns.
Ohio sophomore first baseman Raven King said there is some retribution this year after the Cardinals took two straight from the Bobcats last season.
“We’re going to come out hungry, especially this year, and we felt a little jipped last year in some of those Ball State wins,” King said. “So we’re really hungry and we’re going to come out and get them tough.”
Miami is a strong pitching team, just like Ball State. The RedHawks are coming off two straight losses to MAC West leader Western Michigan. The RedHawks lead the MAC in pitching with a team ERA of 1.31. Senior Jessica Simpson leads the MAC in strikeouts, with 152 over 130-2/3 innings pitched.
Ohio softball coach Jodi Hermanek said the game against Miami is a big game, but she wants her players to treat it like every other game.
“You gear up against everybody in this conference, yeah they’re our rivalry because they’re like schools, but for us every win for us is a great merit,” Hermanek said.
King said midweek games, such as last week when Eastern Kentucky came to town on a Tuesday, should help the Bobcats.
“This weekend, we’re playing two tough teams so we want to get that extra work in so we can come out winning against these teams,” she said.
With both teams displaying excellent pitching staffs, Hermanek stressed in practice this week the importance of limiting at-bats for other squads.
Hermanek said her team would have to play its best against two fundamentally sound teams to walk away with wins.
“We’re going against strong competition, two teams that have been traditionally top teams in our conference, and it’s time for us to rise to the occasion,” she said.
mk277809@ohiou.edu
