Tuesday afternoon, Ohio (24-9, 7-1 Mid-American Conference) played Kent State (7-25, 0-8 MAC) twice, winning by a score of 2-1 in the first game and 8-2 in the second game. While the first game was very close, the Bobcats were able to pull out a much more comfortable win in the second game.
The first game was a very close game that came down to the wire. Kent State showed up to play and wasn’t letting Ohio get much done on offense, with Kent State having the 1-0 lead over Ohio up until the bottom of the fourth inning.
“I think that pitcher in the first game just kept us off balance a bit,“ sophomore infielder Brenna Farmer said. "So we talked in between games about being aggressive, scoring early and often, and we executed both things.”
The breakthrough for Ohio’s victory was in the bottom of the fourth inning, where senior catcher Emma Hoffner, hit a big home run to get both Farmer and her back to home plate. This play brought the game up to 2-1, which would remain the score until the end of regulation, where Ohio took the first game in the doubleheader despite the early scare and Kent’s great pitching.
“We saw lots of different speeds today," Farmer said. "Just be comfortable with the change, instead of panicking.”
Game two started with Ohio carrying the momentum from the home run in the first game and scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning, while Kent couldn’t get any. Ohio didn’t seem to be phased by the pitching much anymore with the offense looking more fluid, as they scored another 2 runs in the bottom of the second and third innings while Kent State was able to get on the scoreboard with a single run in the beginning of the second inning.
A standout from early on in both games was Ohio’s pitching though, as freshman Anna Wise and junior Skipp Miller allowed Kent State little wiggle room.
“Skipp's really turned a corner over the last month," Ohio’s coach Jenna Hall said. "For Anna being a freshman, being able to go the distance continually, she just has really good stuff. She’s got the presence and the mindset on the mound like nothing really phases her.”
With Ohio’s pitching and fielding being able to stop Kent State from gaining too much traction, only allowing one more run from Kent in the top of the fourth inning, Ohio’s offense slowed down a bit until the bottom of the sixth inning. Ohio would proceed to score 4 runs to shut down any chance of Kent State coming back.
“The game had stayed close until then and the first game had stayed close,“ Farmer said. "We needed to be hitting that ball more than what we were so just get after it.”
Kent wasn’t able to score any runs during the top of the seventh inning and Ohio would proceed to win the second game of the day with an 8-2 score. With both of these wins, Ohio moved to 7-1 in the MAC conference, which gives it huge momentum that it can carry into more MAC play.
“It's about preparation," said Coach Hall. "I loved the defense effort today to go through two full games. The confidence that they showed today throughout the game was something we continue to carry with us.”
