Ohio hopes to tighten up its pitching staff before the Indiana classic this weekend.
Another weekend, another out of state road trip for the Bobcats.
This time, Ohio will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, for the Indiana Classic.
Ohio will need to improve its pitching staff, after it gave up eight home runs last weekend.
"What I keep telling them is those home runs are not on our good pitches," coach Jodi Hermanek said. "There have been two that we've given up on really good pitches."
"The rest of them are ones that we have left in the zone and we've been too flat on. So, the good news is, they're not hitting our good pitches. The bad news is, they're capitalizing on our bad ones."
Hermanek added her biggest concern with the pitchers is cutting down on walks. With fewer base runners, the home runs wouldn't be as detrimental.
Although Hermanek knows the pitchers need to improve their command over their pitches, she has dealt with pitchers Danielle Stiene and Savannah Jo Dorsey delicately in the week following their rough outings.
"I try not to harp on it too much during the weekend," Hermanek said. "I want them to keep getting on the mound and competing."
Hermanek said she has not tried to "re-create the wheel" with her pitching staff, because she does not believe there is too much broken. She said her pitchers just need to focus on every pitch, and trust what they've been doing all season.
Offensively, Ohio was a tough team to get out a week ago. It averaged almost a full run per game more last weekend than it had coming into that weekend (4.8 compared to 3.89).
Hermanek is looking to continue that success, but she isn't too concerned with statistics.
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"We talk about quality at-bats more than anything," Hermanek said. "Ninety percent of it is how you're picking up the pitch, and 10 percent is about how you're contacting the pitch."
Hermanek mentioned that Morgan Geno, among others, have been doing exactly what their coach wants them to all year, but it hasn't translated to the stat sheet yet.
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