The Ohio softball team dropped two of three games to the Ball State Cardinals this weekend. Early leads for Ball State and a lack of runs did the Bobcats in.
Ohio (10-21 overall, 4-4 Mid-American Conference) won the first game of the series, 6-2. Ball State jumped out on Ohio by scoring a first-inning run, but the Bobcats answered in the fourth inning with four runs of its own.
Jennifer Tisevich singled to start the rally and advanced to second on an error. Erin Chapman drove Tisevich home with a single, and Emily Futscher broke the scoreless tie with a three-run home run to put the Bobcats up 4-1.
Ball State (11-23, 4-2 MAC) scored a run to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth. However, Ohio answered again in the fifth, scoring two runs in the frame. First baseman Robin Miller collected two RBIs when she blasted a double, scoring Tisevich and Chapman.
Kerri Harley (5-8) and Natalie Armstrong combined to hold Ball State to only two runs. Harley pitched five innings and Armstrong pitched the final two to close out the win. The win was the fourth straight for Ohio.
The fortunes changed for Ohio, though, as Ball State won the final two contests. In game two the Cardinals scored two first-inning runs to take an early lead. Futscher cut the lead in half in the second inning as she hit a sacrifice fly that scored Chapman.
Ball State got that run back in the third inning to go up 3-1. Ohio came back in the fourth inning, though. Chapman doubled and scored on a wild pitch two batters later, but that was as close as Ohio got.
The Bobcats had a scoring opportunity in the seventh inning as they put runners on first and second with one out. But Kelly Rodriguez and Kiersten Scrima were retired on a fielder's choice and a pop out to end the threat.
Candy Warden (1-3) started the game and pitched 2 1-3 innings, giving up all three runs. Armstrong shut out the Cardinals for the final 3 2-3 innings.
The rubber match in Saturday's final game of the series went to Ball State, 4-3. The Cardinals kept up the theme for the weekend by scoring three runs in the first inning. Tisevich (0-3) started the game for Ohio and failed to retire a batter. All three first inning runs were charged to her.
Scrima got the Bobcats on the board in the fourth inning, connecting on her fourth home run of the season.
Ball State scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning off of Armstrong, who was pitching in relief for Tisevich. The run ended Armstrong's scoreless inning streak at 27 1-3 innings. She pitched a total of 11 2-3 innings in the three-game series, giving up only one run.
Ohio will try to stop its two-game losing streak today as it travels to Wright State (12-23). First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the WSU Softball Field.
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Kevin Wiseman
