Ohio (19-11 Overall, 3-3 Mid-American Conference) split the doubleheader Saturday against the Northern Illinois Huskies (9-9 Overall, 3-3 MAC) to win its home opening series 2-1.
Prior to Saturday's doubleheader, the two teams played the day before, and the Bobcats won 11-7 in a high-scoring game.
Game One:
Game one started very defensively with great pitching. There was only one hit recorded in the first inning, which came from junior catcher Kylie Gorsuch as she hit a single with two outs.
In the second inning, the Huskies came very close to scoring the first run of the game after they opened up the inning with a triple, but the runner was thrown out at home to keep the game scoreless.
Ohio finally got some offense going in the third inning, and it started with Ohio’s Rylee McDaniel getting on base after being hit by a pitch. That was immediately followed by a bunt from sophomore outfielder Alexis Book, which advanced McDaniels to second base. Book then safely beat the throw to first base.
The Bobcats then had a runner on first and second base with zero outs. Senior outfielder Belle Hummel then hit a single to left field, which brought in McDaniel from second base, and the Bobcats would get the first run of the game and take the lead 1-0.
Ohio then loaded the bases with zero outs, looking to really bust the game open, but three straight strikeouts ended the inning with three runners on base.
Northern Illinois immediately struck back at the top of the fourth inning with a 3-run home run that gave the Huskies their first runs of the game and first lead of the game at 3-1.
Despite a bases-loaded opportunity in the fifth for the Bobcats, they did not score again in game one, and the score ended 3-1 in Northern Illinois' favor to tie the series at one win apiece.
Game Two:
The Huskies picked up right where they left off, as a hit by pitch followed by a double brought in the first run of the game.
The Bobcats struck back very quickly and completely broke this game open. Hummel opened up the bottom of the first with a double to left center, followed by a sacrifice bunt from senior infielder Colleen Bare to advance Hummel to third base. Gorsuch was then walked, and then stole second base to put two runners into scoring position for the Bobcats with one out.
Senior infielder Shelby Westler then advanced the runners after an error from Northern Illinois’ catcher. This error brought Hummel in, giving Ohio its first run of the day and tying it up at 1-1.
The Bobcats were far from done. Junior outfielder Izzie Wilson came up to bat and blasted a 3-run home run to give them their first home run of the day and their first lead of the game at 4-1. Sophomore Jordyn Wycuff then came up and hit another home run to give Ohio a 5-1 lead off back-to-back home runs.
The Bobcats continued their dominance in the third inning with four hits that brought in 3 runs to make the game 8-1.
After the Huskies' first inning run, they did not score another run for the rest of the game despite having four runners in scoring position throughout the final four innings as graduate student pitcher Skipp Miller shut down the Huskies’ offense.
Ohio tagged on an insurance run in the fourth inning to make it 9-1, which was the final score of the game, as Northern Illinois got mercy ruled.
After winning their home opening series 2-1, the Bobcats have four straight home games. Their next game is on Tuesday against Pittsburgh, followed by a conference series next weekend against Central Michigan.
