In a bizarre sequence at home plate, the Bobcats earned a 4-0 win and a crucial split in their final regular-season game yesterday in Akron.
Akron ripped three straight one-out base hits to turn a 4-0 deficit into a threat in the seventh with Candace Saucedo on for her second inning of relief,
Shortstop Alexis Zambrana's error allowed Sarah Earley to stretch her base hit into a double, but Deanna Hartsough gunned down Crystal Hernandez at third.
After Lisa McLean stole her second base of the day and team-leading 45th of the season, the Zips got caught.
Earley gambled and attempted to score, but Zambrana threw her out at home to seal the win.
With the split, Ohio grabbed the sixth seed in this week's Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Bobcats will face Western Michigan on Wednesday.
It was one of those things
maybe it wasn't as exciting as it appeared coach Jodi Hermanek said of the final inning. But their runner on third decided to go home - it was a great play by (Zambrana) to recognize it and Jordan (Paden) did a great job as usual to put the tag on.
It was a routine play for her, just like playing catch.
Hartsough continued to be an offensive threat for the Bobcats although her 11-game hitting streak was snapped the day before.
She doubled in the first inning and brought two runs in to score extending Ohio's lead to 3-0 after only one out had been recorded.
It was a welcomed offensive outburst for the Bobcats (22-23
12-10 MAC)
who allowed the only three runs of Saturday's game in a messy fifth inning.
Zambrana's two-out single to center field pushed across a big fourth run in the sixth
and made things a little easier for starting pitcher Emily Wethington and Saucedo.
The run we got there was huge for us, Hermanek said. We just kept putting the ball in play and applying pressure.
Their second pitcher came in and we hit the ball real solid
and that allowed us to extend the inning.
Wethington cruised for most of yesterday's game, but ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Akron pushed runners to second and third with two outs, but Wethington got Allison Dorr to ground out to Brooke Morgart at second to end the inning.
The Zips wouldn't threaten again until the seventh inning, when their rally was squashed by Zambrana's play at the plate.
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Sports
Rob Mixer
