Ohio won its fourth straight series as it traveled down south to Oxford to take on the Miami RedHawks in the annual Battle of the Bricks softball series.
The Bobcats came back to take game one, outlasted the Redhawks in a high-scoring affair in game two and had a late-game collapse in game three to end the series with two wins and one loss.
Game One
The first game of the series took place Friday in Oxford. The game was dominated by the defenses, as through the first six innings, there was only a total of two runs scored, both coming from Miami, before Ohio came back to win 5-3.
The Bobcats could not figure out the Redhawks' senior pitcher Presley Hosick, as through the first six innings she allowed just two hits and also had four strikeouts.
The closest the Bobcats got to scoring in the first six innings was in the first inning, where they got both of their hits. The inning started with senior infielder Colleen Bare getting hit by a pitch, followed by a hit from both senior infielder Shelby Westler and junior outfielder Izzie Wilson, but Bare got thrown out at home plate for out three.
Luckily, Ohio’s ace pitcher Skipp Miller knew she had to be strong to combat her team's struggling offense, and that’s exactly what she was. Through the first six innings, Miller only allowed two runs on six hits and got three strikeouts.
Despite her great performance, Ohio entered the final inning down 2-0, but that’s when it all changed.
The Bobcats picked up two outs quickly with only one runner on as Hosick was an out away from pitching a scoreless game. However, Ohio’s Alexis Book, Belle Hummel, Colleen Bare and Brenna Farmer all earned four back-to-back hits, three hits being doubles. This was enough for Miami to pull out Hosick, as she had given up Miami's slim lead as Ohio led 4-2 after all of that.
She was replaced by senior pitcher Angelina Ricciardi, who allowed one run before finally ending the brutal inning for the RedHawks.
Miller allowed only one run in the bottom of the seventh before getting three outs and ending game one with a Bobcats comeback win.
Game Two
The second game of the series, the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, quickly became a footrace between the two teams.
The game opened up with Ohio loading the bases immediately with a Hummel single, a Bare single and a Farmer walk. With the bases loaded and zero outs, Westler hit a grand slam to give the Bobcats a 4-0 lead almost immediately.
Miami’s pitcher Ricciardi took care of the rest of the inning, but the damage was already done.
The game was defensive until the bottom of the third inning, when the RedHawks had an offensive explosion of their own. Miami started the bottom of the third inning with four straight hits, giving it two runs and cutting Ohio’s lead to only one run with a score of 4-3.
That led to Ohio junior pitcher Mikie Lieving leaving the game and being replaced by Keegan Moore. Moore immediately came in and got an out, but then allowed a three-run home run to give the RedHawks a 6-4 lead over the Bobcats.
Moore locked in and ended the dominant RedHawk inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
The Bobcats immediately struck back with a three-run inning of their own to take back the lead 7-6. This inning started with graduate infielder Rylee McDaniel getting hit by a pitch. Then followed up with a single by Hummel and Bare getting to first base on a fielder's choice, and Farmer was walked. This all led to the bases loaded with two outs as Westler came up to bat.
She then hit a double down the line, bringing in all three runners on base and giving the Bobcats back the lead.
In the next three innings, Miami picked up two runs and entered the seventh and final inning up 8-7.
In just three hits, the Bobcats scored a whopping six runs in the final inning to take a huge lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Miami’s defense struggled heavily, walking three runners and allowing a runner to get on base from an error.
Miller came in to pitch the final inning, and she wrapped it up quickly. The Bobcats took game two of the series again in dramatic comeback fashion.
Game Three
The RedHawks were able to take the third and final game of the series due to a strong opening and closing inning. Miller struggled in the first inning and allowed three runners to get on base and two hits, with one being a home run.
After the first inning, Miller locked in. Through the next four innings, she allowed only two hits while tallying up four strikeouts and allowing zero runs. Her strong pitching led to the Bobcats slowly coming back with a tie heading into the sixth inning.
Right when it looked like Ohio was going to have its third comeback win of the series, Miami’s offense exploded.
After two straight singles to open up the bottom of the sixth inning for Miami, Miller got two outs and looked hopeful to end the inning strong. Miller then walked two runners and allowed two doubles, bringing in a grand total of five runs to completely bust the game open and give the RedHawks a huge 8-3 lead.
Despite three hits and two runs in the seventh inning, the Bobcats came up short of the comeback victory and were not able to sweep their rivals.
Even with the loss, Ohio still picked up another series win against a very strong team as they continue to roll through conference play with a 4-1 series record so far in the MAC, and only four series remain.
After two straight road series for the Bobcats, they are back in Athens this weekend to take on the Bowling Green Falcons, trying to pick up their fifth straight series win.
