Ohio (22-16, 12-4 Mid-American Conference) kicked off a three-game weekday series on Tuesday against in-state rival Kent State (9-24, 4-7 MAC) with a 3-2 win thanks to a late rally.
While the records in both overall and conference play make it look like the Bobcats would be in control of this game, the Golden Flashes brought energy into the game, and they were hungry for a victory.
The energetic Golden Flashes took an early 2-0 lead after Bekah Zachrich’s RBI double put them on the board in the second and Delaney Robeson’s sac-fly extended the lead in the third.
After four scoreless innings, the game seemed to be slipping out of reach for the Bobcats, but they dug in and capitalized on aggressive base running and Kent State’s errors. CiCi Keidel’s bunt turned into an out-of-play fielding error that brought the first runner in for the Bobcats, and Yasmine Logan capitalized on her own bunt later that inning to bring in Keidel and tie the game at 2-2.
Going into the sixth, both teams knew how important the inning was going to be, whether it was Ohio finishing the comeback or Kent State fighting back for the upset. Ohio was the one to answer the call, as in the bottom of the inning, Sydney Grein hit a triple to center field and was brought in by Keidel’s go-ahead double to give the Bobcats the lead for the first time.
The seventh inning for Ohio was put in the hands of Skipp Miller in the circle and Tori O’Brien on the field. O’Brien’s heads up double play allowed the Bobcats to clear the bases after giving up a single to start the inning. Miller then got Kent State’s best power hitter, Emily Lippe, to hit a ground ball for the final out with two runners on to end the game. It was Miller’s 12th win of the season.
“Winning today was a big confidence booster for us, and I think that we’re gonna come out tomorrow even stronger and win both of those games,” Cici Keidel said.
“I’m very proud,” head coach Jenna Hall said. “I think it’s just been a consistent thing that we’ve done and just really proud for them executing the things that we were trying to get done, It was nice to see us fight through to the seventh.”
