Game Two
Accruing hits was not an issue for the Bobcats during the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
After a sub-par offensive showing earlier in the day, the Bobcats hit safely 11 times in game two. The problem was, it only resulted in two runs.
The Bobcats lost 3-2 in eight innings to Ball State, leaving 10 runners on base in the process.
Afterward, coach Jodi Hermanek scanned the stat sheet before talking to the media. The 10 stranded runners was all she needed to see.
“We definitely swung the bats well in that game,” Hermanek said. “We had a lot of leadoff opportunities to score, we just did not come through with the timely hitting.”
After pitching a complete game in game one, Savannah Jo Dorsey threw eight more innings in game two — signifying the importance placed on the weekend series.
On most days, three runs allowed would be good enough for a win. The Bobcats entered Saturday with the top-ranked offense in the Mid-American Conference.
And on most days, 11 hits would yield more than two runs.
But Saturday afternoon was different. And so were the Bobcats.
“Just disappointed,” Hermanek said. “That’s the feeling. We need to be better than we were today in both games.”
Game One
Until the fifth inning, the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader was going smoothly for Dorsey.
Dorsey entered the fifth with seven strikeouts. She had allowed just four baserunners, and sported a 2-1 lead.
Then she hit Ball State catcher Olivia Huffman with a pitch to start the fifth. And the inning unraveled from there.
Huffman advanced to third after a single from Maddy Labrador and scored on a blooper to center from Haley Dominique. A few plays later, Bobcat catcher Madison Claytor’s throw to second on a steal attempt glanced off of Mikayla Cooper’s glove and into right field, scoring Dominique.
Just like that, the Bobcats had lost the lead. And unlike most of this season, they could not salvage a victory with timely hitting in Saturday’s first 3-2 loss to Ball State.
“That sucks,” Dorsey said. “That’s how the game goes though. It feels like the scales were tipped towards their side today when that little stuff happened.”
Before then, it looked like Dorsey already had all the run support she needed in the first inning.
Alexa Holland came through with a two-out-single to left center field that scored the first two runs of the game.
But after the first inning, the Bobcats managed to produce just two baserunners the rest of the game.
Entering last week, the Bobcats had won 10 straight games. After Saturday’s losses, they have lost four of their last five games.
