Past the midway point of its longest homestand in 14 seasons, Ohio has yet to enjoy the home cooking after the Bobcats were swept in each of their past three series at the Ohio Softball Field.
With Marshall (27-17) scheduled to travel to Athens for a doubleheader Wednesday, Ohio coach Jodi Hermanek is optimistic her team will snap a seven-game losing streak.
“Marshall is a team that comes out and hacks, so we are going to put pressure on them,” Hermanek said. “We aren’t talking about pressure on us, we are just going to come out and be aggressive.”
The Bobcats’ (19-20) offense struggled this past weekend against Miami and Ball State, which combined to outscore Ohio 29-16 in four Mid-American Conference contests.
Though Ohio showed signs of life in later innings by attempting comebacks against Ball State, the Bobcats will face another tough test with the Thundering Herd.
Marshall strung together a 14-game winning streak earlier this season, but has since gone just 3-5, including being swept by Eastern Carolina in a three-game series this past weekend.
Senior pitcher Andi Williamson will likely start at least one game inside the circle for Marshall. She not only leads the Thundering Herd staff with 272 strikeouts this season, but Williamson’s punch out total also ranks first in the NCAA.
In comparison, Ohio’s pitching staff has combined to strike out just 219 batters, though it has played five fewer games than Marshall.
“(Williamson) is doing something that you don’t really see very often and when it happens, it’s hats off to that girl,” said Ohio sophomore pitcher Lauren McClary. “It’s cool to watch players that play like that, because they deserve it.”
If the Bobcats wish to escape their losing streak, they will likely have to score first. When Marshall’s opponents have scored first this season, the Thundering Herd is just 6-13.
During a doubleheader between the schools this past season, the Bobcats were stomped by the Thundering Herd, which won both contests by mercy rule after outscoring Ohio 27-6 on the day.
But it’s a new season and the Bobcats are ready for a new opportunity.
“I think we are going to go out and play our hardest,” McClary said. “The past isn’t in our mind whatsoever, so we are just going to go out and do us.”
McClary will attempt to counter senior first baseman Alysia Hively, who leads Marshall with eight homers, while also posting a .283 batting average and 22 RBI.
The Thundering Herd and Bobcats have scored 198 and 192 runs respectively, but Marshall has a better team batting average by 13 percentage points.
Wednesday’s doubleheader will be the first of two Ohio will play in consecutive days, before resuming MAC play again this weekend.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
