Set to make their final road trip of the regular season, the Bobcats will travel to Wright State to face a struggling Raiders squad in a doubleheader Wednesday evening.
Ohio (23-26, 10-8 Mid-American Conference) has endured its problems on the road this season, sporting a 5-16 record, but the team is coming off an even weekend after going a combined 2-2 at Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
Although the Bobcats have not been road warriors, Wright State (21-29) owns a sub-.500 record at home. The Raiders have endured some struggles lately as they are 1-4 in their last five games, but are coming off a 5-1 win in their last outing on Sunday against Green Bay.
“I think we have been playing very well lately and do not expect anything to change,” Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek said. “If I have to choose one thing to focus on it would be our defensive relays, because that has hurt us. Our hitting, however, is something I know will be there.”
The Bobcat offense will be tested, as projected Wright State starting pitcher Krystian DeWitt (14-25) has been imperative to the Raiders’ success. She has pitched a league-leading 245 1/3 innings on the season, piling up 202 strikeouts while maintaining a low earned run average of 3.02.
While DeWitt has dominated her competition this season, she has allowed 18 home runs. Ohio will hope to add to that total on Wednesday, having hit 14 home runs in its last six games.
“We have seen a lot of pitchers this season and I know we are able to hit anyone,” Hermanek said. “Lately we have done really well bringing runners around in key situations and with two outs and if we can do that, we will have a good shot.”
In the circle for Ohio will be freshman pitcher Lauren McClary (15-15), who needs just six strikeouts to tie the all-time single-season mark set back in 1995 with 191 in a season.
Though Wright State is not a member of the MAC, they have played a combined six games this season against Miami, Bowling Green, Toledo and Ball State. In those six games, the Raiders finished only 2-4.
Ohio and Wright State have not played since 2010, but the Raiders have won the last two match-ups. The teams have split the last eight games dating back to 2007.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
