Many times, advancing in postseason play depends on which pitcher is better that day. Luckily for Ohio, sophomore Savannah Jo Dorsey bested her Kent State counterpart Emma Johnson.
Although it wasn’t her best performance of the season, Dorsey did what she needed to do to help her team advance. And she did it with little run support, as the Bobcats grabbed a 2-1 victory in round one of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Wednesday.
Third baseman Casie Hutchinson, who was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team on Tuesday, lived up to her nickname “clutch” and she drove in both the Bobcats’ on two singles up the middle.
In the third, fellow freshman second baseman Taylor Saxton led off the inning by drawing a walk. She proceeded to steal second before coming around to score on a Hutchinson single.
Then, in the sixth, junior left fielder Dakota Pyles singled to center to lead off the inning before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. Two outs later, Hutchinson came up yet again and singled up the middle past the shortstop scoring to drive in what turned out to be the winning run.
“We call her ‘clutch’ for a reason, we did a great job of getting runners on lead off at-bats,” coach Jodi Hermanek said. “We did a great job of manufacturing bunts and putting runners in scoring position for her. That’s why we have her in our jersey to drive in those runs.”
No. 5 Ohio (29-24) had trouble lately scoring runs on a consistent basis, but the Bobcats' two runs were enough to stay in the winner's bracket. However, the Bobcats stranded 11 runners on base.
In the circle, Dorsey was her usual overpowering self and recorded her ninth double-digit strikeout game of the year. She struck out 10 Golden Flashes in seven innings and stranded what could have been the tying run at first in the final frame.
“There was a lot of stress on my teammates today who kept getting the job done today,” Dorsey said. "Every time the ball left the infield, it was taken care of. Every time it was in the infield, it was taken care of, so it was a lot of fun to have that kind of backup, but I’m happy to help my team any way I can.”
With the victory against No. 4 Kent State (27-21), Ohio will face the winner of No. 1 Ball State or No. 8 Miami, which played the game following the Bobcats’ win.
The Cardinals possess plenty of firepower throughout the lineup. In the teams’ two game series at the end of the season, Ball State dominated Ohio with a 10-0 victory in game one and 7-0 victory in game two.
“We keep saying that every game we play is a championship type game for us not just the game on Saturday,” coach Jodi Hermanek said. “Every game has stakes in it, every game has a lot of mental focus. For us, every game we have to bring our best.”
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