The weather tried to be the major storyline of the second day of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Rain delayed the start of the day’s opening game from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., which subsequently pushed Ohio’s start back twice from 3:30 p.m. to about 8:50 p.m.
But neither the rain nor the delay could faze Savannah Jo Dorsey.
The Ohio ace threw a complete game shutout to secure a 1-0 victory for No. 2 Ohio over No. 3 Northern Illinois. Dorsey struck out 14 while only giving up one hit and two walks.
“We just got an amazing performance out there from Sav,” coach Jodi Hermanek said in a postgame interview. “With 14 strikeouts today and just really going after a talented offense that Northern Illinois has.”
While Dorsey was baffling Huskies batters, Northern Illinois starter Tara Thacker was keeping the Bobcats off balance. She threw a complete game, striking out two while only allowing one hit.
But she took the loss after allowing an unearned run in the first inning — the only run of the ballgame.
Mikayla Cooper singled to lead off the game and reached second on a sacrifice bunt. Morgan Geno then ripped a hard ground ball to the shortstop, who flipped the ball to second to try and catch Cooper off the base.
Cooper slid in safe, and the Northern Illinois second baseman tried to put out Geno at first but threw the ball out of play, allowing Cooper to score.
With the win, Ohio will advance in the winner’s bracket to the next round to face No. 4 Kent State on Friday. The Golden Flashes advanced after defeating No. 8 Western Michigan, 9-3.
The Golden Flashes have won two out of three games against the Bobcats this season.
