After a 1-5 start in Mid-American Conference play, it looked unlikely that Ohio (26-22, 14-8 MAC) would be able to achieve the second-place spot the team was projected to finish with, according to the conference’s preseason coaches poll.
However, as Ohio has just wrapped up its final weekend series of April, sweeping Buffalo (15-28, 7-15 MAC), the team sits third in the conference.
The Bobcats have now won 13 of their last 15 in-conference games.
Game One
The inaugural game of the series was its quietest and longest, featuring three shutout innings for both teams before Ohio finally got its first run in the fourth inning. The game would finish with a 3-1 Bobcat victory, needing an eighth-inning to cap off the win.
Skipp Miller pitched her 20th complete game of the season in the opening game, tallying three of her six total strikeouts in the first three innings. Miller and the defense kept the Buffalo offense silent, as it could not get a single runner on base entering the fourth.
Ohio started the game’s scoring in the top of the fourth as Syndey Grein was able to make it home off a single up the middle from Annalia Paoli. The game would stay 1-0 until the bottom of the seventh, with the Bulls only being able to get two runners on base until the final inning.
The drought would finally end as Buffalo’s Alexis Lucyshyn homered to left field, sending the game into extra innings.
Belle Hummel stepped up and delivered the biggest hit of the game with a go-ahead RBI single, allowing Emma Hoffner to score.
O’Brien would then get caught trying to steal second, but not before Hummel ran in and gave Ohio a 3-1 lead. Miller and the defense would shut Buffalo out and give Ohio the win.
Game Two
While the second game of the series wouldn’t need an eighth, the game ended with a similar final score of 4-1 in favor of the Bobcats.
Mikie Lieving would get the start for Ohio, pitching six of seven innings before Skipp Miller came in to close it out. Lieving was credited with the win.
The first two innings would again be shutouts on both sides before Ohio got going in the third. The Bobcats would load the bases for the first time in the series with just one out on the board, with Yasmine Logan on third, Grein on second and Izzie Wilson on first.
Annalia Paoli went up to bat next, generating an error on the right fielder and getting to third, allowing all three of her teammates to score. Lauren Yuhas would score for the Bobcats in the fourth, putting the game at 4-0 entering the fifth, where Buffalo would be shut out once again.
Buffalo would finally score in the bottom of the fifth after getting several runners on base, but it would only amount to one run as Ohio’s defense would tally its third run before any more damage could be done. The rest of the game was silent, with Miller coming in for the seventh inning, as the Bobcats would head into the second game of the Saturday doubleheader on the verge of a sweep.
Game Three
Lieving would get her second consecutive start for the Bobcats in the final game of the series, totaling 2.1 innings pitched before Miller would come in during the third to close out an 8-3 victory, completing the sweep.
Unlike the prior two games, Buffalo would get on the scoreboard first after Lucyshyn stole home during a chaotic break between swings, where Abbey Nagel stole second and advanced to third on the throw.
The Bobcats would come into the second with a vengeance, tallying 4 runs in the inning, finishing the offensive masterclass with a 2-run homer from O’Brien that sailed down the left-field line, allowing Paoli to score.
Innings three and four would be silent as Ohio made its pitching change during the calm. Ohio would end the silence in the fifth, building a 5-1 lead as Hoffner batted Yuhas in.
Ohio would net 2 more runs in the sixth as Wilson ran three bases to home after a single from Farmer was followed up by a Buffalo error in the sixth, followed by CiCi Keidel hitting Farmer in.
The Bulls would score 2 runs of their own in the final two innings, alongside a final run by the Bobcats in the seventh, allowing them to cruise to a series sweep.
