It’s been nearly two decades, but Ohio is again atop the Mid-American Conference.
No. 5 Ohio captured its first MAC Tournament title since 1995 with a 4-0 win on Saturday against No. 2 Buffalo. It the was the teams' second meeting in less than 24 hours, but the Bobcats made sure the second game didn’t last 13 innings.
Once again, Ohio was led by another stellar pitching performance from sophomore Savannah Jo Dorsey, who threw a complete game, five-hit shutout to capture her fourth victory in as many days.
Dorsey, the MAC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player, got herself out of multiple jams to keep the Bulls’ offense at bay. She allowed just one run in 34 innings pitched during the tournament and struck out 46 batters.
“I’m so extremely proud of the work that these players and this team unity that was displayed out here for four games in a row,” coach Jodi Hermanek said. “I can’t tell you enough how this experience has been program changing.”
Unlike Friday’s meeting, the Bobcats’ offense gave Dorsey plenty of run support. Ohio opened the scoring in the second inning when Alyssa Wolfe drew a bases-loaded walk from Buffalo pitcher Tori Speckman and junior Adrienne Gebele came around to score.
After not capitalizing on multiple opportunities to add insurance runs in the following innings, Dorsey helped herself out and hit a solo home run to left field to lead off the fifth. That started an Ohio rally, as it tacked on two more runs in the inning when senior Alexandria Basquez’s sacrifice fly drove in senior Erin Lashley, before freshman Madison Claytor then scored on an error.
And those four runs runs were enough for Dorsey heading into the final two frames. Despite allowing two singles to lead off the sixth, she retired the next three Bulls hitters to keep the shutout intact. She finished with 10 strikeouts for her fifth straight double-digit strikeout performance.
“She has been such a big component part of our lineup this week because she kept putting the bat on the ball,” Hermanek said. “We moved her from the six to the four hole for us today. I’m just so impressed by her doing it on both sides of the ball, offensively and in the circle.”
Dorsey was selected to the All-MAC Second Team behind Buffalo’s Speckman, who was selected to the All-MAC First Team. But Dorsey got the best of Speckman twice by outdueling her in the 13 innings on Friday and again in the championship Saturday.
Now, the Bobcats (32-24) will wait until 10 p.m. Sunday show to see where they will play in the NCAA Regionals. The selection show will be televised on ESPNU and the Bobcats are having a watch party at Buffalo Wild Wings in Athens.
“I’m excited to see where we’ll go, obviously, but these girls have already played a challenging schedule,” Hermanek said. “They have been on the field against people who have been at regionals before, so we are prepared for that.”
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