It's been historical start to Mid-American Conference play for Ohio.
No other Ohio team has swept the first two series of conference play. Now, everything is working for the Bobcats — they're on a nine-game winning streak. The team has allowed three runs or less in seven of those nine games.
The pitching tandem of Danielle Stiene and Madi McCrady has been the main reason for the Bobcats' surge, as they have 37 combined strikeouts in conference games.
Leading the lineup for the Bobcats has been Mikayla Cooper, with a hit and RBI in every conference game. She's also hit four home runs.
Ohio (18-12, 6-0 MAC) has had a balanced hitting attack with at least seven hits and four runs in each conference game.
Seven Bobcats are batting over .290 in the MAC. The team is making consistent contact, too, with only 14 combined strikeouts.
Ohio's pitchers will be matched up with one of the best-hitting teams in the conference against Kent State.
Holly Speers and Kennadie Goth lead the Golden Flashes, (17-13, 3-3 MAC) with .520 and .472 batting averages, respectively. Speers is the main threat on the team, with nine home runs and 36 runs batted in for the season.
The Bobcats are the best team at striking out hitters in the MAC, and they will face off with the Golden Flashes' hitters, who have the third-most strikeouts in the conference.
Kent State has needed its offense to score plenty of runs, as its pitching staff has a 4.93 ERA. In conference play, its ERA has been 6.32 as Madi Huck has started four games and pitched in over half the innings.
The three-game season series will wrap up with a single game in Kent on April 11 at 2 p.m.
