Ohio surrendered three first-inning runs to Western Michigan in Wednesday’s Mid-American Conference Tournament opener, and that deficit was too much to overcome.
The Bobcats dropped a 7-2 contest to the Broncos in a disappointing start to the conference tournament. The loss snaps Ohio’s five-game MAC winning streak and puts the team one setback away from the end of its season.
Next on the Bobcats’ agenda is preparing for a matinee matchup with Kent State on Thursday. They beat the Golden Flashes twice last weekend at the Ohio Softball Field.
But repeating those wins will require more success at the plate than Ohio had on Wednesday.
“We just need to be able to get five at-bats in one inning,” coach Jodi Hermanek said. “We need to drive the ball together and manufacture runs, and we weren’t able to do that (Wednesday),” Hermanek said.
Bobcat freshman pitcher Lauren McClary started the game and ran into trouble in the first inning. She allowed a two-RBI double by senior third baseman Gracie Barstad with one out. A single from junior Diana Patterson brought her home. The Broncos got another run off McClary in the top of the third before sophomore Kaylin Clarke replaced her.
Ohio had a strong chance to make up ground in the bottom of the fourth. Senior second baseman Brooke Morgart led off the inning with her first home run of the year and of her career.
Junior catcher Lauren Gellerman then hit a double with one out but was left stranded after two consecutive Bobcats struck out to end the threat. Hermanek said her hitters did a better job the second time through the order, though they were stymied for most of the game.
In the top of the sixth inning, senior pitcher Meredith Whitney homered to extend the Broncos’ lead to 5-1. The Bobcats scored again in the bottom of the sixth, when sophomore Raven King drove in Gellerman.
Clarke held the Broncos in check, allowing one run from the fourth through the sixth inning.
“She did exactly what we needed her to do, produce ground-ball outs, allow our defense to play, and she did a great job at it,” Hermanek said.
But Western Michigan tacked on two more runs in the seventh. McClary re-entered the game and got out of the jam by stranding two runners.
Ohio managed a single from senior center fielder Jillian Van Wagnen in its half of the inning, but that was all the Bobcats could muster.
Whitney held the Bobcats to two runs in the complete-game effort. She struck out 10 Ohio batters in the game.
Hermanek said Whitney is a familiar opponent and that the team didn’t do as well as she had hoped in adjusting to her.
“I feel like we kind of chased her zone a little bit and we took the pressure off of her,” Hermanek said.
Ohio will play Kent State tomorrow at 11 a.m. If Ohio wins, the team will play again on Friday at 1:30.
Hermanek said as long as her team trusts the game plan, the Bobcats will be fine against the Golden Flashes.
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