While Ohio (6-4) found itself on the bottom of the totem pole at the FAU Paradise Classic last weekend, dropping four-straight games after an opening-game shutout against Penn State, the team saw quite the opposite happen in its second weekend of the season.
The Spiro Classic was Ohio’s second tournament of the season. For this past weekend, the team was pitted against Sacred Heart, Drexel and UNC Greensboro. The Bobcats would go undefeated in five games against these opponents, winning the tournament and finding a breakout star in the pitching room.
Friday: Sacred Heart and Drexel
The Bobcats entered Friday’s games with only improvement on the horizon. It had dropped its previous four matchups, including back-to-back shutout losses to Penn State and Florida State in the FAU Paradise Classic.
Ohio opened the tournament with its first of two matchups against Sacred Heart, winning 4-3. The Bobcats started dominant, notching 4 runs in the bottom of the second inning alone. The impressive second inning was highlighted by a 2 RBI triple from CiCi Keidel.
From then on, the Bobcats would allow 3 unanswered runs to the Pioneers, but it would ultimately be too little too late, resulting in a Bobcat victory.
Just hours later, Ohio faced off against Drexel, in which it would see itself facing a deficit entering the bottom of the seventh, ultimately coming on top in a comeback win that would finish 4-3.
The Dragons maintained a 1-0 lead until Yuhas hit into a fielder choice, allowing Westler to run home.
However, after a scoreless third inning, Drexel scored 2 runs in the fourth. The score would remain 3-1 until the fifth when Annalia Paoli would come around to score off of an Austy Miller double.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ohio would still be looking at a deficit, but it would not last long. The defense stood strong, keeping Drexel at 3 runs, and as the game changed sides, Ohio would consistently find runners on bases. The Bobcats would load the bases after Wilson walked, and an Emma Hofner single would see Paoli going home, followed by Miller, ending the game in a Bobcat victory.
Saturday: Sacred Heart and UNC Greensboro
Coming into the second day of the Spiro Classic, Ohio was 2-0. The Bobcats gave freshman Mikie Lieving a chance to find her stride and try to make it three straight wins. In the second matchup against Sacred Heart, Lieving would pitch both her first complete game of her career and her first shutout, as the Bobcats would win 6-0.
Both Logan and Paoli – the Bobcat's two leading hitters from last season – would find themselves with 2 runs scored and an RBI in the game, supported by Wilson and Yuhas with 1 run scored a piece.
The Pioneers would notch just six hits against Lieving and the Bobcats defense.
Against UNC Greensboro, Ohio would give Lieving a rest, returning to the team’s top pitcher from the past season in Skipp Miller. Miller and the Bobcats defense would keep the Spartans at bay, winning on a score of 6-2.
Yuhas and Logan led the way for the Bobcats with 2 runs scored each; while the team registered just six hits, they would match the total with runs, getting on to bases with four separate walks and being able to convert on the opportunities they were given.
Sunday: UNC Greensboro
After four straight wins leading up to the tournament finale, Ohio entered as the No. 1 seed, with UNC Greensboro being the No. 2 seed. Just like the day before, however, the Bobcats would outmatch the Spartans, walking away with a 6-4.
Ohio would generate a 2-0 lead early off an inside-the-park home run from Logan that allowed Yuhas to score from first. However, following that play, the Bobcats would concede 4 unanswered runs to the Spartans, including three at the bottom of the second.
Ohio would not score again until the top of the seventh when it rattled off four runs.
To end the inning, Paoli would hit a home run, allowing her and Logan to both score, giving the Bobcats a 2-run cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh; where Miller and the Bobcats' defense kept the opposition scoreless, winning the Spiro Classic and going undefeated on the weekend.
