Ohio's dominant win against the University of Pittsburgh was decided by beautiful offense and masterclass pitching as the Bobcats rolled past the Panthers 12-2 in under five innings.
They took control of the game with very strong hitting, as they were able to record 11 hits. Out of the nine players in Ohio’s batting order, seven of them were able to record a hit, including four of them having more than 1 hit.
After the Bobcats got control through hitting, the pitching sealed the win. Graduate student pitcher Skipp Miller pitched all five innings and made it impossible for Pitt to come back because of her dominant pitching.
In her five innings, she threw 4 strikeouts while only allowing 2 hits and 2 runs. The Bobcats' strong hitting plus Miller’s great performance made it impossible for the Panthers to win.
Ohio’s strongest inning was its first inning, as it immediately took control of the game. Senior outfielder Belle Hummel and senior infielder Colleen Bare led the game off with back-to-back hits, setting up a sac fly from senior infielder Shelby Westler, bringing in the Bobcats' first run of the game.
After that, the Bobcats got a triple, 2 doubles, a single and got walked once to bring in a total of 5 more runs to end the inning with 6 runs.
“It was huge,” Ohio head coach Jenna Hall said about how important the first inning offense was. “Whenever you’re able to put an opponent in a hole like that, you know they’re going to have to climb out of it for the rest of the game. For us to also continue pushing after that inning set an even bigger tone.”
On top of the hitting performance from the offense, Miller recorded 3 strikeouts this inning and only allow 1 hit.
“This is the best she’s looked,” Hall said about Miller’s performance. “She’s spinning the ball really well, finding the zone with her off-speed and mixing her speed really well.”
After all of this, Ohio ended the inning 6-1.
Inning two started with Skipp keeping up her great game, as the top of the second inning ended very soon after it started. A strikeout by Miller and 2 quick pop flies ended the inning without Pitt even having a chance to score.
Pitt was playing better defense in the inning, but despite that, the Bobcats got 2 runners on base with just 1 out. Then junior outfielder Izzie Wilson stepped up to bat, and on a full count, she sent the ball flying into right center field for 3 home runs to make it an 8-run game.
“Earlier in the (at-bat), I had a swing and a miss, so I was really just trying to make adjustments and focus on honing in on that pitch,” Wilson said. “I was trying to look for her mistake pitch, and luckily, that was the pitch I had inside.
The game was already starting to feel out of reach at that point, but Wilson’s home run felt like a very early exclamation point for the Bobcats.
“For (Wilson) to put that dagger in there, I think it’s a huge mark in the game,” Coach Hall said.
Inning three started off a little shaky for Miller, as she walked a couple of batters and let in a run, but she was able to reel it back in and force 3 straight groundouts to make sure the inning didn’t get out of hand.
Offensively, despite the Bobcats putting a lot of pressure on Pitt’s pitcher and even loading the bases with just 1 out, Pitt forced Ohio into its first scoreless inning of the game, as the inning ended 9-2.
Inning four was another quick one defensively for the Bobcats, as Miller easily took care of business, only letting up 1 hit, which was only her second hit allowed all game.
It was Ohio’s offensive aggression that officially put the game away in the fourth inning. Ohio tallied a double, a single, 2 walks and a hit by pitch to record another 3 runs this inning, making it 12-2.
Skipp took care of business easily in the final inning, and the Bobcats got a huge win over a Power Four team.
The Bobcats look to keep this momentum going forward, as they’re back in Athens this weekend in another conference series against Central Michigan.
“If we stick to our game plan and play the game aggressively, it’s really hard to beat us,” Hall said.
