Ohio’s Mid-American Conference Tournament seed is on the line as Ohio gears up for final six games of season.
This weekend is arguably one of the most important weekends for coach Jodi Hermanek and the Bobcats and will feature a slate of Mid-American conference opponents vying for better tournament seeding.
Ohio will host Ball State and rival Miami starting Friday and as an eight seed, are looking to move up in the rankings.
Ohio (14-25, 6-6 MAC) will look to take advantage of their success at home this season to regain their composure after a 12-4 loss to Ohio State on Tuesday. The team has spent the majority of their season on the road, playing 24 games this season away from Athens. Mixed with travel and early season injuries, the Bobcats have embraced their adversity and believe there is no time better than now to take advantage of being home.
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“I feel like this is a perfect time for us to pull everything together. It's a pretty important weekend and it determines a lot,” junior infielder Amanda Dalton said. I think we're ready to get this together and put 100 percent in.”
Ball State (25-21, 10-3 MAC) sits atop the MAC West and will have a bit of vengeance heading into Friday’s doubleheader. Ohio took a 3-0 victory over Ball State in the 2014 MAC Tournament, when junior Savannah Jo Dorsey threw a perfect game for the Bobcats. Ball State has won its previous two games, even enacting the mercy rule against Indiana, 19-9, on Tuesday.
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For the second matchup of the weekend, Ohio will face rival Miami in another installment of the “Battle of the Bricks.” Miami (25-20, 8-6 MAC) will also be vindictive against Ohio, because the last time these two teams met, the Bobcats picked up their first road series sweep against the RedHawks since 2009. Picking up wins against Miami will help the Bobcats move up the standings in the MAC East, but Hermanek knows that this is much easier said than done.
“Our expectation is that we have some big teams coming in, and that we're playing some great softball right now,” Hermanek said. “So, it's a great time in the season for us to come out here and put the best game we can put together.”
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Hermanek and her squad understand the importance of this weekend and will use their home field to any advantage. With four MAC games this weekend, a successful weekend could potentially move the Bobcats in to a higher spot in the standings, as the season comes to a close.
"I think this weekend is going to determine where we go in our season,” assistant coach Jillian Van Wagnen said. “Because it's a huge turning point, so it's kind of a 'make it, break it’ for us, so I think we need to come out and play, and play to each other strengths, and I think that will get it done.”
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