Ohio continues its homestand after winning its series against Bowling Green to play against Marshall. This is the last non-conference game for the Bobcats this year, who are looking down the last three series of Mid-American Conference play and hoping to continue making a splash before the tournament.
Ohio (28-15) is coming off a series against Bowling Green, where it won two out of the three games. Ohio relied heavily on graduate student pitcher Skipp Miller to slow down the Falcons' bats. Miller had 12 strikeouts this past weekend against Bowling Green and has continued to look phenomenal on the mound.
Ohio hitters, on the other hand, stayed right where they had been all season. The Bobcats added another grand slam to the history books. Senior infielder Shelby Westler also added 19 RBIs in the past week, marking herself on other teams' scouting reports with that performance.
Home runs were another consistency for Ohio; even in a poorly played second game, the Bobcats managed to hit the ball out of the park at least once in every game. Heavy hitting has been the motto for Ohio this season, and it has shown in its record.
Marshall (32-10) has been a dominant force in the Sun Belt Conference this season, having almost locked up a spot as the regular season reaches its end. Sitting a comfortable two spots ahead of the next team, Marshall is currently on a nine-game win streak.
Some of those wins include an 8-0 win in six innings against Pittsburgh and a series sweep of Sun Belt opponent Coastal Carolina. The final game of the series was capped off with 15 runs from Marshall.
Game Information:
Opponent: Marshall
Time: Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Location: Ohio Softball Field, Athens, Ohio
Where to watch: ESPN+
Get to know the opponent:
Head Coach: Morgan Zerkle (Third season)
Statistical Leaders:
Batting average: Sydni Burko (.412)
Hits: Burko (54)
Home runs: Burko (16)
RBIs: Burko (36)
Innings pitched: Jules King (102.2)
Strikeouts: Ava Blake (23)
ERA: Paige Maynard (2.56)
Marshall Notes:
Despite Marshall’s batting stats being dominated by Burko, the roster is very deep, as most of the players trailing her statistics are very close. Blake and Bella Gerlach are second and third in several of the universal batting stats.
In the home run category, three players have more than 10, and Marshall leads the Sun Belt with 75 home runs on the season. The game between Ohio and Marshall could very easily become a home run derby, seeing which team can send the ball out of the park more.
While Marshall is the top team in the Sun Belt standings, the team doesn’t rank at the top in any statistic. The team is very well-rounded, with batting ranking as its worst category. Pitching and fielding are ranked third and fourth in the Sun Belt, respectively. Despite the low average batting for the team, Burko is still ranked fifth in the Sunbelt for batting average.
Marshall pitcher Jules King has struck out 106 batters this season, ranking fourth in the Sun Belt. Numerous other Marshall pitchers are ranked in other top spots in pitching categories, showing a well-rounded pitching core. Ohio can expect to see Marshall throw multiple pitchers out on the mound if it counters one of them.
