Entering its first series of Mid-American Conference play, Ohio was not exactly playing at its highest level. Ohio lost seven of its last eight games, including its home opener against Marshall earlier this week. The first two games of its series against Ball State, Ohio looked like the struggling team that limped its way into conference games. However, that all changed on Sunday as it turned to its ace, Skipp Miller, when it needed her most to deliver a clean, smooth complete game shutout to return Ohio to the win column.
While winning just one game in the series does not illustrate much in the long run, Ohio looked like the team it was earlier in the season during a lengthy winning streak.
Game 1:
From the onset, Ohio looked like it could be in some trouble. In the bottom of the first, Miller delivered a pitch to McKayla Timmons that left the park for a solo home run.
Ohio started to go to work at the plate. One of the biggest issues for it in the game against Marshall was hitting with runners on base and capitalizing on opportunities. In the third inning, Austy Miller helped out her sister by leading off with a single, only to be followed by a bunt single by CiCi Keidel and a sacrifice bunt by Tori O’Brien. Yasmine Logan capitalized on the pair of runners in scoring position by hitting a home run, giving Ohio its first lead of the day, 3-1.
The elder Miller, Skipp, picked up a shutdown inning to keep the score where it was, but that would not be the case in the bottom of the fourth. With one out and the bases loaded, Ball State brought on Maddie Weaver as a pinch hitter. Weaver would hit a sacrifice fly that got one run home, but Ohio catcher Emma Hoffner threw out the runner trying to advance to third to end the inning with only one run coming home.
Logan delivered her second home run of the day and sixth of the season, a two-run shot to give Ohio more breathing room. Miller went back to work in the circle in the bottom of the fifth, surrendering a run off a two-out error by Austy Miller at shortstop. Regardless, Ohio led 5-3 going into the bottom of the sixth inning and had six outs to finish off the first game of the doubleheader.
From there, everything fell apart. Miller gave up another run to make it 5-4 as another Ohio error made it a one-run game. Ball State’s Haley Wynn blasted a three-run home run to give Ball State a 7-5 lead, one it would not relinquish as Ohio went in order in the top of the seventh.
Game 2:
The crushing defeat in the first game meant that Ohio had to flush the poor performance in the late innings to split the doubleheader. Ohio sent its freshman pitcher, Mikie Lieving, to the circle for her first MAC start.
In the bottom of the second, she surrendered a three-run home run to Timmons, her second of the day, to give Ball State an early 3-0 advantage. At that point, Ball State did not need anything else offensively. Ball State’s starter Bridie Murphy gave up a single to O’Brien on the first batter of her outing but retired the next 15 Ohio batters. It was not until Sydney Grein led off the sixth inning with a single that the streak of dominance by Murphy was interrupted. Murphy responded by retiring the next three batters in the inning.
Regardless of the offensive struggles for Ohio, Lieving could not keep Ball State at bay. In the bottom of the third, Ball State struck for another pair of runs as two sacrifice flies pushed the score to 5-0 in favor of the home team.
Ohio put up a small rally in the top of the seventh as Logan led off with a double and Ohio had runners on the corners with two outs as it looked to avoid being held scoreless. However, a strikeout to end the game dashed those dreams.
Game 3:
Simply looking to salvage a game on the road, the Bobcats turned to Miller once again to attempt to turn the tide. In the top of the first, the Bobcats were facing Murphy for the second straight game. After two quick outs, the Bobcats got a runner on base after a walk from Logan, who was quickly driven in by an RBI double from Hoffner. Shelby Westler would single to bring home the second run of the inning and give Miller a cushion before heading to the circle against the Cardinals.
Miller would allow a single and hit by a pitch to open the frame but wiggled out of the jam without surrendering any damage. In the next inning, there was less drama as Miller induced a double play on a popup to end the inning to face the minimum amount of batters. The dominance from Miller would continue in the following innings as she worked around a walk and error to retire the side for a third straight scoreless frame.
Although it had given Miller an early 2-0 lead, the Ohio offense went stagnant against Murphy. After a pair of singles in the second inning that Ohio could not convert into runs, Murphy got a 1-2-3 inning in the third to keep the score at 2-0. In the fourth, Izzie Wilson led off with a single, only to watch as Ohio would not even get the pinch runner, Belle Hummel, past first base.
With Miller continuing to shut down Ball State, Ohio went on a mission to get insurance for its ace. Miller wiggled out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth, as Ohio’s offense rewarded her for her efforts. Westler hit the first home run of her sophomore campaign, doubling Ohio’s lead and knocking Murphy out of the game in the process.
In the top of the seventh, Ohio looked to continue to add to its lead. Back-to-back singles by Keidel and O’Brien set the stage for Lauren Yuhas to hit an RBI double to bring home Keidel before Logan cleared the bases and put Ohio up 7-0. In the bottom of the frame, Miller was able to retire the side, to snap Ohio’s losing streak, deliver its first MAC win of the season and finish off her complete game shutout.
