Spring break came late for the Bobcats as they took a rest from their hectic softball schedule for almost a week.
With no games during the week, Ohio (12-16, 1-3) had the opportunity to recollect itself after a 1-3 weekend against Ball State and Miami.
“It’s good for us just to kind of walk away from the field for a second and just be able to relax our bodies and relax our minds and regroup after a 1-3 weekend,” coach Jodi Hermanek said. “I think that is something that we all deserved and is something that is necessary for us to get recharged and ready to go for Akron this weekend.”
The Bobcats have not had more than two consecutive days off since mid-March, when they played out west. Since then, they have gone 4-10.
Ohio plays against Akron (16-11, 2-2) tomorrow and Sunday, with whom the Bobcats split a double header last season, winning one game 6-2 and losing the second game by the same score.
“We had an awesome practice (Wednesday),” Hermanek said. “The high level of intensity — we had some amazing defensive plays going on. We got some good live pitching workouts in for our pitching staff.”
Recent good weather also has helped the team improve in practice, Hermanek said, adding that practicing outdoors is far superior to the alternative.
“It is definitely something that we take advantage of because we can get a lot of things in,” Hermanek said. “When we are stuck inside, we have to adjust a lot of things, so we have to adjust workouts so our defense doesn’t really get a chance to get the practice in.”
Hermanek said the team has focused on mistakes it made last weekend, and the Bobcats hope they can improve upon them for the rest of the season.
“We have just really been letting each one of them work on their own skill set in the box and make the adjustments that they think they need to make from the weekend,” Hermanek said. “We have only had one practice because we had Monday off, and then Tuesday we watched some videos.”
The team is working to increase on base percentages and take advantage of situational hitting for the rest of the season, Hermanek said, adding that it will be a continual goal.
“We practiced situational hitting yesterday and putting pressure on the defense and getting our runners within 60 feet,” she said. “We will be successful with it whether it is Akron or another conference component.”
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