Entering the weekend, Ohio (30-22, 18-8 Mid-American Conference) had already locked up its spot in the MAC Tournament following a mid-week doubleheader sweep against Akron. The pending matchup against Bowling Green on Senior Night would determine what seed they would finish with.
The Bobcats swept the Falcons, thus landing them the No. 2 seed and giving them an extra day of rest before their opening matchup in the tournament. Ohio’s second-place finish is exactly where the team was expected to place in the Preseason MAC Coaches Poll. Additionally, the Bobcats have won 17 of their last 19 games in the conference, recovering from a 1-7 start to MAC play.
Game One
Skipp Miller made the start in the first matchup for the Bobcats, leading the defense to a dominant 9-3 victory.
Alexis Dawe, a graduate student, made a ceremonial start at first base, immediately being replaced by the usual starter, Brenna Farmer. Dawe represented the Bobcats as their first base coach for most of the season.
Bowling Green would get the scoring started in the first inning as Aaralyn Nogay scored on a wild pitch, but was quickly followed up in the bottom of the inning as Lauren Yuhas would get in on a wild pitch as well.
After a silent second inning, Ohio would build a lead in the third. Izzie Wilson would double down centerfield, scoring Yuhas once again. Wilson would then be swung in by Syndey Grein, who singled to left-center field.
In the fourth, Ohio would again respond to a scoreless Bowling Green outing with two runs. With CiCi Keidel reaching first on the Falcons pitcher's error, Tori O’Brien ran in. Two batters later, Emma Hoffner would single and score Keidel.
The fifth inning would repeat the pattern as Ohio went up 7-1 on a run from Grein followed by a home run out of left field by Annalia Paoli.
Bowling Green would finally break their five-inning scoreless streak, as Scarlet Anderson would score Peyton Dolejs and Marti Henkel would score Peyton Steffes on a ground out.
Ohio would keep the lead at six runs as the sixth inning ended, as both Hoffner and Belle Hummel scored off an Izzie Wilson single. Bowling Green would go scoreless in the seventh, giving Ohio the win.
Game Two
To cap off Senior Night, Ohio coach Jenna Hall gave senior Ellie Greene the start, allowing her to play the second complete game of her Division I career. The game would be much quieter than the first of the doubleheader, containing six shutout innings on both sides en route to a 2-0 shutout victory for Ohio.
Greene and the Bobcats' defense would prevent any baserunners from scoring while Mackenzie Krafcik and the Falcons would go 1-2-3, quickly ending the first.
In the second, Bowling Green would be shut out at the top of the inning as all three batters would ground out. Paoli would single to the left side of the field in the bottom of the inning, allowing Grein to score. Paoli would be followed by Emily Caron, who would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Farmer from third.
The rest of the game would be scoreless on both ends, featuring few base runners and numerous strikeouts, ground outs and fly outs, propelling the Bobcats to a Senior Night sweep.
