After clinching the fourth seed for the Mid-American Conference Tournament against Kent State last weekend, the Golden Flashes returned the favor on Thursday afternoon to end Ohio’s season short of its MAC Championship goal.
The Bobcats (28-29, 14-10 MAC) lost their second consecutive game of the MAC Tournament to the No. 7 Golden Flashes 9-5, despite a constant back-and-forth battle between the teams.
“I’m proud of our character and our leadership,” Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek said. “When the pressure is on us we can’t back down, and I think we were able to prove today we will always fight back.”
The Bobcats jumped ahead to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a home run off the bat of second baseman Brooke Morgart, which was her second blast of the tournament and the season.
But Kent State responded with three runs of its own during its first turn at the plate, followed by two more runs in the second. Ohio starting pitcher Kaylin Clarke allowed four earned runs on five hits, including two home runs, in just 1-1/3 innings pitched.
The Bobcats settled down after Clarke’s early departure, as freshman Lauren McClary pitched 4-2/3 innings of shutdown relief before getting into trouble in the sixth.
On offense, the Bobcats were not able to get the wheels moving for much of the game. Ohio scored two in the third inning off a two-run single from senior Alexis Joseph, but did not score again for the next two innings, stranding four base runners.
Down 5-3 in the sixth, Ohio once again had runners reach base. With runners on first and third, senior Jillian Van Wagnen hit a fielder’s choice to bring the game within one run. After a walk, catcher Lauren Gellerman reached base on an error with the bases loaded to tie the game at five.
But Kent State responded once again in the bottom of the sixth. After a home run and multiple base hits, the Golden Flashes took a 9-5 lead and did not allow another run.
“It would have been nice to win the championship, but I don’t regret anything,” Van Wagnen said. “Our chemistry was awesome and I would not change it for the world.”
Though they only scored five runs, the Bobcats had 16 base runners in the game. Leading the Bobcats overall was outfielder Erin Lashley, who had two hits, scored one run and made four put outs in the outfield.
With the win, Kent State stays alive in tournament play and will play again on Friday against the loser of Central Michigan and Miami.
Ohio falls just below .500 at season’s end. The Bobcats advanced to the conference final last season befor losing to Western Michigan.
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