Ohio’s season concluded May 16 after what was the first full year played since 2019 when the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.
The Bobcats finished 21-26 overall with a 17-21 conference record, playing the least number of games of any team in the Mid-American Conference with 47 due to cancelations. They finished seventh in the MAC, a step back from their third-place finish in 2019. Ohio hit a rough patch in May, losing seven of its 10 games that month. By new conference rules, there was no MAC tournament this season, and the regular season champion, Miami, automatically advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to struggling in the last few weeks of the season, the Bobcats spent much of 2021 teetering around .500, a pattern represented by their season’s stats. Not all of Ohio’s numbers were top notch, but none of them were unacceptable either. Ohio’s season performance was, like its standing in the MAC, down the middle.
Here’s how Ohio’s stats compare to the rest of the MAC:
Batting
Ohio’s offense managed to land in the upper-half of the MAC and was often the team’s strong suit throughout the season. The Bobcats’ combined for a .288 team batting average, which was fifth overall in the conference.
Allie Englant and Katie Yun were Ohio’s strongest hitters this season. Englant led the Bobcats in batting average with .364, while Yun led the team in slugging and on-base percentage, averaging .655 and .439, respectively. Yun also recorded the team-high 11 home runs this season.
Englant, Yun and other names on the Bobcats were consistent in making Ohio’s offense reliable in 2021. For their performances, Yun was named to the All-MAC First Team, while Englant and Mikenzie Vaughn made Second Team.
The Bobcats finished fourth in runs per game (4.76), home runs per game (.75), and on-base percentage (.353). Even more impressive is that Ohio finished third in slugging with a percentage of .434 and second in stolen bases with 84.
Even if Ohio’s offense wasn’t always top tier, it did its job to be a competent threat.
Pitching
Ohio’s team ERA was 5.00, tied for seventh in the MAC with Northern Illinois.
Mackensie Kohl was Ohio’s best starting pitcher this season, finishing the season with a solid 4.32 ERA. Despite the Bobcats playing the least number of games in the MAC this season, Kohl pitched the sixth most innings in the conference with 146. She started 23 games for the Bobcats and completed 17 of them.
Kohl and fellow starter Madi McCrady were also both in the top 10 in the MAC for strikeouts. McCrady finished ninth with 95 and Kohl finished 10th with 84.
Fielding
One stat Ohio can boast about is its lack of errors. The Bobcats were one of four MAC teams to finish the season with an average of less than one error per game.
Caroline Spacek, who was named to the MAC All-Defensive Team, had the best fielding numbers for the Bobcats this season. She was tied for the second for the best fielding percentage in the MAC at .996, had the fifth most putouts with 257 and was tied for fifth for fielding double plays with 10.
