After two days of frustration, Ohio closed out the first weekend in its Mid-American Conference schedule with a win over Buffalo. With a 10-2 victory Saturday afternoon, Ohio aired its frustrations and trampled Buffalo.
Saturday’s game was the Bobcats’ second-highest scoring game of the season. They cashed in 10 runs on a season-high 13 hits, and they managed to cut the game short after six innings when the game was called due to the mercy rule.
The first two innings went by scoreless until Ohio’s offense broke through the stalemate. Yasmine Logan blasted a pitch to right center field for a home run in the third inning. Logan was the first of four Bobcats to record a home run Saturday, and she continued to impress from there. The sophomore hit a double in the sixth inning and later scored after Caroline Spacek hit a double of her own.
After Lauren Yuhas was hit by a pitch in the third inning, Spacek made the Bulls pay with the Bobcats' second home run of the day. Spacek drove in another run in the fourth, putting the Bobcats up by four runs until an RBI double from Buffalo shaved the lead down. Caitlin Fogue added a solo home run to re-extend the lead in the fifth inning.
The sixth inning is when Ohio blew the game open. Two doubles and a pair of stolen bases allowed Ohio to get up 8-1. Sophia Bernard dealt the crushing blow with a two-run home run to left field, putting Ohio up by nine runs. The Bulls were able to get a run back, but it wasn’t enough. Mackensie Kohl, who pitched the entire game for Ohio, allowed just two runs and struck out six.
For all their success on Saturday, the Bobcats struggled during a doubleheader on Friday. Their first game began scoreless for both teams until the fourth inning, when Bernard put the Bobcats on the board with a solo home run. An RBI triple tied it for the Bulls, and they soon took the lead with a solo home run in the fifth inning.
A pair of singles from Annalia Paoli and Fogue tied the game again. A single from Yasmine Logan and an error allowed Fogue to score, giving Ohio a late one-run lead. It wasn’t until Buffalo’s Anna Aguon hit a two-run walk-off home run that Ohio’s chances of winning evaporated. Ohio fell short in the first game of the doubleheader, and it suffered a 4-3 loss.
Ohio didn’t fare much better in game two. Buffalo started the game with an RBI single in the first inning. Tori Walker was able to match it in the third inning after reaching on a single and advancing on a throwing error, and Yuhas batted her in on a double.
Spacek contributed to her spectacular weekend performance with an RBI single to score Ohio’s second run of the game. However, that was Ohio’s final scoring play. The Bulls matched the score on a wild pitch in the sixth and added another run on a fielder’s choice to once again win the game with a walk-off.
Although Ohio dropped its first two games of the weekend, it crawled back and exploded on offense Saturday. It showed that while it can compete with other teams in the MAC, it still needs to find a way to close games out.
