The Bobcats have spent about 3,000 miles on the road since their last home game. This weekend, they will return to Ohio Softball Field and open conference play with a three-game series with Toledo.
The Bobcats will enter the Friday-Saturday series tied with the best record through 25 games (19-6) in school history. They haven’t started this well since 1995, but they also know that doesn’t mean anything yet.
Coach Jodi Hermanek has 14 players who felt the pain of losing in last season’s Mid-American Conference Championship Game, and she knows they don’t overvalue the regular season.
“They know what this part of the season’s about,” Hermanek said. “They understand where we’re at right now. It’s not new to them.”
They finished the non-conference schedule with the best record in the MAC, but barring a tiebreaker, those wins won’t determine the conference tournament seed.
The three games against Toledo this weekend, however, will. Toledo finished non-conference play with a 12-19 play, but are a stingy offensive team.
The Rockets are only 10th in conference batting average, yet they are in the top half of nearly every other offensive category. Hermanek said getting them out is hard labor.
They take a lot of pitches and are aggressive on the base paths. They are third in the conference in walks and second in steals.
So for pitcher Danielle Stiene, the strategy is simple: force Toledo to be more aggressive at the plate, and trust her defense.
“If we can get them to hit my pitch versus trying to get them to miss, we’ll be good,” Stiene said. “I have 100 percent faith in my defense.”
Stiene is right to trust her defense. The Bobcats have committed the fewest errors in the conference this season, despite multiple position changes.
That’s just one reason the Bobcats look like the best team in the MAC heading into conference play. They rank in the top half of every pitching and defensive category, and only rank in the bottom half of one offensive category.
Those numbers have translated to a record pace for wins, and the players’ attitudes reflect it. Stiene said she’s had a good feeling about this year’s team since the first practice. The non-conference slate confirmed her beliefs.
But Ohio still remembers the pain of losing in the title game to Miami last season. The Bobcats know their work is not done, and they know there is no such thing as a conference champion at the end of non-conference play.
“We’re confident, not cocky,” Stiene said.
