Ohio rose to the challenge on Thursday when it slowed Dayton’s high-powered bats to earn a split of the doubleheader.
In the first game, Ohio sophomore pitcher Savannah Jo Dorsey held the Flyers’ offense scoreless through four innings, before allowing them to score three in the bottom of the fifth. Dayton then tallied three more runs off Ohio junior pitcher Lauren McClary to seize the first game 6-1.
But Ohio answered in the second behind timely hitting and clutch pitching from their duo of freshman Leanna Bachman and McClary to pull out a 5-2 victory.
The Bobcats never got their bats going in the first game, as Dayton pitcher Kayla English had one of her best outings of the year. She tallied nine strikeouts and held Ohio to just a pair of hits, including a hitless stretch from the Bobcats until the fifth inning.
“She did what she needed to do to keep us off balance,” coach Jodi Hermanek said. “She also kept throwing to a zone that we were swinging at and not putting our bat on the ball.”
However, Dorsey answered English’s performance by allowing just one runner to reach safety until the bottom of the fifth when things started to fall apart. An error by Ohio sophomore shortstop Amanda Dalton allowed Dayton’s leadoff hitter to reach. After a wild pitch moved the runner to second, the Flyers’ Katie Ryan singled in a run, which was followed by a home run to push the Bobcats’ deficit to 3-0.
McClary then relieved Dorsey for the bottom of the sixth, but Dayton tacked onto its lead with a leadoff home run on its way to another three-run inning. That’s all the run support English needed, as the only run she allowed came in the top of the seventh on Ohio’s Alexandria Basquez’s RBI single.
The second game appeared to be winding up similar to the first as Ohio freshman pitcher Leanna Bachman allowed the first two runners to reach before getting out of her first collegiate jam. She was in the circle for the first time this season and allowed two runs on seven hits in 3 1/2 innings pitched.
“I was impressed by her and I was impressed by our defense,” Hermanek said. “I thought our defense did a great job of being able to play every pitch. Bachman threw a lot of pitches that produced foul balls and our defense was ready to play behind her and I was really proud of how the combination worked out.”
Once again, McClary came in for relief, but shut down the Flyers’ offense and allowed two hits. Ohio’s duo of pitchers allowed just 10 runners to reach base.
The Bobcats also used clutch hitting to support the pitching duo. Sophomore second baseman Alexia Cortez cleared the bases on a single in the second to give Ohio the only run support it needed.
The Bobcats then tacked on another run in the sixth and seventh frames.
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Fast Facts:
Game one: Dayton 6, Ohio 1
Game two: Ohio 5, Dayton 2
— The Bobcats are now 15-13 on the season. Dayton is 9-13.
