In one of its most entertaining games of the season, Ohio was able to best its in-state rival, Ohio State, to pick up a 1-0 victory on the road. The game was a pitcher’s duel throughout the nine innings of play, and in the end, Ohio also was able to pick up its first win over Ohio State since 2018 and the third since 2012.
The game was the Skipp Miller show from the start. She went all nine innings, allowing just eight hits and three walks in that time.
Miller’s dominance should come as no surprise as she has thrown a complete game in six of her last seven starts. After a shaky stretch in the middle of the nonconference slate, Miller has found a different groove. After not playing at all in 2022 due to injury, Miller has cemented herself as a future ace for Ohio, taking the reins from Coffelt, a graduate student in her final year of eligibility.
For as good as Miller was, Ohio State’s Allison Smith was just as dominant. Smith did struggle with command, surrendering eight walks, but did enough to keep Ohio’s batters off balance.
Although the first inning did not yield a run, a pair of walks perhaps gave the Bobcats confidence, as Miller weathered two hits by the Buckeyes to escape with a scoreless inning. The game wore on to the fourth inning, when Ohio loaded the bases with no outs, but two pop ups and a lineout ended the scoring threat.
As Miller kept mowing down Ohio State without really giving up many scoring opportunities, Ohio was attempting to break the scoreless tie. In the eighth inning, Ohio loaded the bases again, hoping to reward Miller for keeping the game scoreless. However, Smith wiggled out of the jam again.
In the bottom half of the frame, Ohio State looked like it would make Ohio pay for the wasted opportunity as it led off the inning with a double and eventually moved the runner to third with one out. Miller only picked up four strikeouts on the night, but induced the biggest one when it mattered to get the second out of the inning before eventually stranding the runner.
Ohio made it a mission to make Ohio State pay for its wasted scoring chance as Belle Hummel led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by MAC Player of the Week Yasmine Logan. Annalia Paoli subsequently hit an infield single which brought Alexis Dawe to the plate. Dawe drove in Hummel to score the first run of the game. Ohio would continue to threaten as it loaded the bases, but an umpire injury delayed the game and Ohio was unable to add any more runs.
Miller then skirted around some trouble after walking two batters in the bottom of the ninth to retire the side and give Ohio the victory.
Not only did Ohio compete and prove it belonged on the same field as Ohio State, it outplayed its opponent in almost every statistical category. Ohio was threatening to score in virtually every frame, stranding 15 runners. As the game wore on, there was a growing sense that Ohio could come away with the win.
For Jenna Hall, in her first year at the helm for Ohio, this win is massive. Not only did Ohio prove to itself that it can beat any team at any venue, but it validated the feeling that this team is going to make some noise as the season goes on, in both MAC play and possibly beyond.
