Ohio (9-4) didn’t have its best weekend in the Bear Down Fiesta, going 1-4 against several strong opponents, including No. 15 Arizona. To say it bounced back in the Lowcountry Classic this weekend would be an understatement. The Bobcats walked away with four wins in three days, playing dominant softball in all facets.
The weekend opened with its most tightly-contested matchup, a 1-0 victory over Dartmouth that required an eighth inning to finish. Freshman pitcher Anna Wise secured her first career win in the victory, playing all eight innings and throwing four strikeouts while forcing five outs.
Pitching was a premium on both ends, with only eight hits combined between the two teams. Ohio had the advantage in walks with two to zero, but at the end of the seventh inning Ohio was looking at a 0-0 game.
It didn’t take long for Ohio to get its first score in the top of the eighth, with CiCi Keidel scoring junior Colleen Bare with a single to center field. Another shutout inning where Wise only allowed one hit secured the opening win for Ohio.
Ohio’s offense showed more life in the second matchup of the day against Rhode Island, winning 8-0 in five innings. The pitcher earning the shutout this time was redshirt junior Skipp Miller, who pitched six strikeouts in five innings.
At the end of two innings Ohio led 6-0 with massive plays from sophomore Brenna Farmer, Keidel, senior Lauren Yuhas and senior Emma Hoffner offensively. All it took was 2 more runs in the following three innings to bring about a mercy rule.
Ohio’s second matchup against Dartmouth followed the next day, logging yet another shutout. Ohio won 5-0 with a five-strikeout performance from sophomore Mikie Lieving in yet another complete game. Lieving was lights out, walking just one batter and allowing one hit.
Offensively, sophomore Izzie Wilson made the most of her three at-bats, logging two hits and three RBIs. Yuhas also had a productive game, logging three hits and 1 run. Ohio’s most productive offensive day was still yet to come, however.
In the first of what was supposed to be two games against Charleston (the latter was canceled), Ohio scored 15 runs, only needing six innings to finish its weekend early. Ten of those runs came in the sixth inning, with Ohio coming back from being down 2-0 early in the game.
Wise and Miller split pitching duties, for the first non-complete game from an Ohio pitcher in the Lowcountry Classic. Wise was awarded her second career win, allowing just one hit in four innings.
Juniors Belle Hummel and Shelby Westler chipped in 3 runs apiece on the offensive end, with senior Maddie Wilcox notching four RBIs and three hits in just as many at-bats.
Ohio’s dominance didn’t start until the fourth inning, following three shutout innings from Rhode Island. Ohio was only able to score a single run in the fourth with Wilcox’s first RBI on a single to the left but would heat up quickly in the remaining two innings.
Although Ohio hit mostly singles and doubles, its batters simply couldn’t be struck out for the remainder of the game, looking automatic at home plate as it took the lead with 4 runs in the fifth inning. A 10-run explosion followed in the sixth, sealing the deal.
Ohio will continue its incredible season in the Purple/Gold Challenge next weekend in Nashville, Tennessee, where it will play Northern Iowa, Lipscomb and Illinois State.
