Trailing 2-1 at the top of the sixth inning in Sunday’s matchup against Miami, Ohio was on the receiving end of a questionable — which saw Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek ejected because of an argument with an umpire. The call, whether the batter was in the box when contact was made, was heavily criticized by Ohio’s bench, as Miami took advantage.
The RedHawks would score five runs after the ejection, paving the way to a 10-1 victory and season sweep of the Bobcats.
“It wasn’t tactical, it wasn’t something I was trying to do to motivate my team,” Hermanek said. “I was hoping that it would be delivered in a way that would cause some steam and fire.”
The top of the fifth inning appeared to be a turning point for Ohio, as junior shortstop Amanda Dalton fired the ball home to tag out a Redhawk. Senior pitcher Lauren McClary, who came on in relief, would strike out the following batter to prevent any damage.
However, the solid defensive effort was not enough.
The Bobcats (15-28, 7-9 Mid-American Conference) were looking to their rivalry matchup with Miami (29-20, 12-6 MAC) to guarantee their spot in the MAC post-season tournament, however, they will have to wait until next weekend against Akron to try and play their way into the MAC tournament.
With the loss Sunday, the Bobcats have now lost four of their last five.
“We just didn’t play well on either side of the ball, six errors in a game is not something that you’re going to win a game with,” Hermanek said.
The beginning of the weekend was kinder to the Bobcats, as they defeated the MAC’s second best team, Ball State, 6-1 on Friday. However, they would fall 4-1 in the second game of the doubleheader and eventually be swept by Miami on Saturday and Sunday.
After scoring six runs in the first game against Ball State, Ohio would only score three runs — one in each game — for the remainder of the weekend.
Ohio will now enter the final week of the season fighting for a postseason berth, which will undoubtedly be tough on the Bobcats going through finals week.
Hermanek said, however, Ohio still should be focused on the task at hand next weekend.
“Schedule practice, expect them to show up. Use the physical exertion to blow off the steam of finals studying, and just train to get better,” Hermanek said. “We still have a hugely important weekend ahead of us against Akron.”
@AGill072
ag079513@ohio.edu
