Heading into this weekend’s Battle of the Bricks matchup, the stakes were high as Ohio (31-12 overall, 14-4 Mid-American Conference) was set to face off against its bitter rivals in Miami (26-22 overall, 15-7 MAC) in what has been one of the best rivalries in the conference.
Adding in the fact whoever won the series was going to be the leader in the conference standings, as well as it being Ohio’s senior day on Saturday, the rivalry, which was already highly anticipated, got a boost in importance.
After a brutal non-conference schedule for the RedHawks, which included a slew of Big 10 and SEC opponents that tanked their overall record, they started out blazing hot in MAC play, winning their first nine games against MAC opponents.
That hot start put Miami firmly in the top spot of the conference standings, blocking Ohio from the top spot after hiccups against Northern Illinois and Akron. Ohio’s non-conference schedule was much lighter, and it claimed the overall best record in the MAC, just not the best record in MAC play.
That changed starting Friday, after Ohio picked up two wins in the Friday doubleheader, with each game playing out as a pitchers' duel as two of the best pitchers in the MAC in Miami’s Madilyn Reeves and Ohio’s Skipp Miller, faced off.
Miller ended up getting the better of Miami’s lineup, throwing a complete game shutout with 10 strikeouts and just five hits. The only mistake Reeves made was giving up a two-run homer to Maddie Wilcox in the third inning, which were the only runs scored in the game, as it ended 2-0.
The following game was another pitchers' duel, this time between Miami’s Lea Chevrier and Ohio’s Anna Wise, with Ohio again coming out on top by a score of 3-1.
Miami struck first this time with an RBI single in the fifth, bringing home an unearned run, which was the only one for Miami with Wise on the mound. Wise finished her day with a complete game, only giving up one run while striking out six and giving up five hits.
Later in the fifth, Brenna Farmer delivered a two-run shot for the Bobcats, and in the next inning, Shelby Westler knocked through an RBI double to give Ohio an insurance run to seal a close win.
The Saturday game was full-on madness, featuring a walk-off in the seventh inning to secure Ohio’s senior day win.
The Bobcats led by as much as five in the fifth inning thanks to a two-run home run from Shelby Westler, RBIs from Brenna Farmer and Abby Kennelly, and a wild pitch scored Belle Hummell in the fourth. Miami scored six runs in two innings and stormed back to take a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning.
Ohio’s clutch player of the day was senior outfielder CiCi Keidel, who scored both RBIs to tie the game in the sixth and win the game in the bottom of the seventh, completing the sweep.
Any sweep is huge in softball, but this sweep of Ohio’s rivals feels more important. Ohio won the first two, coming out on top in pitchers duels, and the final game with a late comeback in the seventh inning. This series showed Ohio can beat the best teams in the conference in many different ways.
With a big stretch of games coming up against Ohio State and MAC contenders Central Michigan and Ball State, a series sweep of this magnitude can inspire tons of confidence moving forward at a key time where the Bobcats will play some big MAC games to end the season before hopefully heading to Akron to compete for a MAC title.
