Ohio downed out-of-conference opponent Dayton on Tuesday and now seeks more Mid-American Conference victories.
Tuesday’s win against Dayton earned Ohio a plus one in the win column. It didn’t mean too much in terms of the Mid-American Conference standings, however.
Don’t tell the Bobcats that, though.
“This is the state of the season where we need to be good, we need to be great,” coach Jodi Hermanek said. “We started it at practice yesterday, and had a great offensive practice.”
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Ohio’s offense was led by its cleanup hitter, sophomore Casie Hutchinson, who earned three RBIs against Dayton. Hutchinson’s performance raised her batting average to 317 on the year, for she is only one of four Bobcats to start in every game.
Hutchinson and the Bobcats (12-22, 4-4 MAC) will now look to build off of the momentum gained from Dayton and head to Bowling Green for a Friday doubleheader then a two-game series at Toledo Saturday and Sunday.
Ohio swept both teams in its matchup last season, while on the way to winning its first MAC Title in program history.
This is also the beginning of the last road trip of the season for the Bobcats. After taking on Bowling Green (13-20, 4-6 MAC) and Toledo (15-24, 2-8 MAC), Ohio will have just eight games left in its season.
“We have to be great for four games solid,” Hermanek said. “This is a huge weekend for us. We’re facing teams that are right with us in the conference.”
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The Bobcats will look to rely on their relief pitchers against the Falcons and Rockets, as an injury to Savannah Jo Dorsey has changed up the pitching rotation.
Senior Lauren McClary and junior Kaylin Clarke have done an adequate job at filling in for Jo Dorsey’s absence. The two have combined for 129 1/3 innings pitched and 87 total strikeouts in 34 games.
McClary struck out five straight batters on Tuesday, and recording seven outs in a relief performance. She has started 11 games as pitcher — which led the Bobcats — and appeared in 22, which is tied for first with Clarke.
With only two weeks left in the regular season, the Bobcats finds themselves in the seventh spot in the MAC, but hope that can change with just one weekend.
“We gotta battle, we gotta fight,” Hermanek said. “We got to make sure we’re grinding out every single pitch.”
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