The Ohio softball team's season came to an end Friday in a close loss to Kent State in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
The No. 5 seed Bobcats (20-31 overall, 13-13 MAC) got out to a three-run lead but could not hold it. The No. 2 seed Golden Flashes (27-20, 16-8 MAC) went up 5-4 with a four-run fourth inning and went on to win, 6-5, at Firestone Field at Akron.
Ohio got on the board early with one run in the first inning and three in the second. First baseman Robin Miller knocked in second baseman Kiersten Scrima in the first to tie the game at one.
Shortstop Sarah Melvin tallied an RBI single in the second inning and later scored along with right fielder Kelly Rodriguez on a Kent State error, giving Ohio a 4-1 lead.
Fielding errors, however, came around to hurt the Bobcats as well. Two of the four runs Ohio gave up in the fourth inning came in unearned after a Melvin error with two outs.
The Golden Flashes added an insurance run in the top of the seventh for a two-run lead. It proved important in the bottom of the inning when Ohio threatened to rally. Left fielder Jenny Tisevich singled to start the inning and scored on an error, but the Bobcats could not manage a second run, leaving one on base when the game ended.
The game against Kent could have gone either way
Ohio coach Roanna Brazier said. We just needed another hit here or there.
Pitcher Katlyn Mallette (3-5) started for Ohio and lasted three innings. She gave up five runs -two unearned -on seven hits.
Natalie Armstrong pitched the final four innings, giving up one run on four hits. Brazier said she was confident in her choice to put in her two freshman pitchers in the must-win situation.
We thought against Kent who are highball hitters that we should put in our two lowball pitchers
she said. They just fit Kent better.
Senior outfielder Erin Chapman, Ohio's leading hitter during the season, went 0-for-6 between Friday's loss and Thursday's 7-2 loss to No. 4 seed Miami. She said she is pleased with the season overall but that the weekend's games were disappointing.
Obviously we're pleased with making the tournament
but I can't say I was pleased with the outcome. None of us had intentions of going up there and losing two
she said. I haven't stopped thinking about it yet. I obviously would have liked to have finished on a little better note
and that's the hardest thing for me.
Ohio's season ended with a loss in the tournament that it was not expected to reach at the outset of the season. After a disappointing last-place finish one year ago, Brazier said the Bobcats improved steadily throughout the 2004 season.
It's nice to say at the end of this season that we improved tons
she said. We went from last in the conference to fifth
and we made the tournament. That's more than we can say for seven of the 13 teams in the conference.
No. 6 seed Bowling Green (34-28, 18-12 MAC) emerged from the loser's bracket to defeat Miami (25-26, 17-11 MAC) twice Sunday for the MAC Tournament Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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