Ohio traveled to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, to take on Central Michigan in a three-game series that saw the Chippewas defend home territory by snatching two of three games.
Friday
After entering the game riding a 10-game win streak, Ohio ran into a brick wall on Friday afternoon, being shutout 6-0 by Central Michigan.
The Bobcats had their worst offensive performance of the season, managing just a single hit for the day as team. Chippewas pitcher Grace Lehto dominated the pitching circle for her second complete game of the season in which she allowed a single hit, throwing a no hitter until the fifth inning.
As much as Ohio struggled on offense, they had just as tough a time on defense. Three errors on the day each allowed a runner to score, and Central Michigan jumped to an early 3-0 lead after the fourth that Ohio could not climb back from.
Central Michigan’s discipline in batting was the key factor in their victory on Friday. Long at-bats let the Chippewas wear down Bobcats pitcher Skipp Miller, who threw 127 pitches. This allowed Central Michigan to score three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to keep the game out of reach and finish with a 6-0 win.
Saturday - Game 1
Central Michigan kept up the momentum from Friday’s victory by putting up another shutout against the Bobcats, this time winning 5-0.
Ohio put up better hitting stats in game two of the series with six hits, but struggled to get any players in scoring position and came up with no runs. Emma Hoffner went 3-3, but got little help from the rest of the lineup.
Central Michigan’s pitching had been the anchor of this series thus far, with Kaitlyn Bean getting the complete-game shutout. Meanwhile, the Chippewas’ hitting came in clutch in the third, fourth and fifth innings, leading to their 5-0 victory.
Saturday Game two
To start the third game of the series, after 14 scoreless innings, Ohio scored its first run of the series after a costly Central Michigan error put it 1-0.
Central Michigan struck back in the bottom of the first when Sklar Coberley’s single brought in two runners to make it 2-1.
Both teams had a scoreless second inning, but the first batter in the third, Yasmine Logan, homered to left-center field to tie the game at two. It was her sixth home run of the season, tying the team high.
In the fifth inning, the Bobcats rolled the dice as Belle Hummel stole home plate after Alexis Dawe’s strikeout to reclaim the lead at 3-2.
The seventh inning would be the most eventful inning of the entire series, as Ohio got a couple runners on base thanks to back-to-back errors, and then an Alexis Dawe single pushed the lead to 5-2.
Central Michigan fought back to load the bases with two outs in the seventh, Alyssa Hollo stepped up to the plate to try and win it for the Chippewas. Skipp Miller had other plans; however, and struck Hollo out for the 5-2 victory.
