Sports
Softball: Ohio Gets Swept By Ohio State
< < Back to softball-ohio-gets-swept-ohio-stateGame one: Ohio 2, Ohio State 4
Ohio softball fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes in game one of a doubleheader, 4-2. The Bobcats lost despite stellar performances pitcher Savannah Jo Dorsey and catcher Lauren Gellerman.
Dorsey (9-6) allowed four runs and struck out nine in a complete game. Though the freshman pitcher allowed four runs, she kept the Buckeyes hitless through 4.1 innings. Gellerman continues to tear the cover off of the ball, as she blasted two solo home runs over the center field wall to score her team’s only runs.
“I really wasn’t thinking too much,” Gellerman said of her performance. “I just felt so comfortable, it kind of felt like batting practice.”
The game got off to a bit of a shaky start for Dorsey. She loaded the bases with one out, but worked out of the jam to allow no runs. She then cruised into the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead.
The Ohio pitcher was named MAC East Pitcher of the Week Tuesday, and said that thinking about her accolade helped her in the game. “It became fuel when I needed the fuel,” Dorsey said. After allowing a hit in the game she said she would think about the award. “I’m not usually like that, but it fueled me a little bit today.”
With no score in the third inning, Gellerman put the Bobcats ahead when she hit her first home run off of Ohio State pitcher Olivia O’Reilly.
Adrienne Gebele walked to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. Erin Lashley pinch ran for Gebele and stole second. After the steal, Kasie Kelley relieved O’Reilly and shut down any scoring threat.
Ohio State second baseman Melina Saalfeld drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth inning and was replaced by pinch runner Jesse Machovina. Dorsey got the next Buckeye to pop up to the third baseman, but she hit Taylor Watkins to put runners on first and second base. Cammi Prantl drove in the first Ohio State run on a single that was also the team’s first hit. Designated hitter Leesa Gresham then hit a three run home run to put Ohio State up 4-1 in the fifth.
Gellerman responded in the bottom of the fifth with her second home run of the game to score Ohio’s final run at 4-2.
Her two shots were the senior’s 15th and 16th home runs of the season. Her competition with first baseman Caitlin Colvin to lead the team in home runs continues. Gellerman passed Colvin, who hit her 15th blast on April 5. Both have already passed Ohio’s single season home run record of 13, which Gellerman and Raven King set last season.
Game two: Ohio 1, Ohio State 6
Led by an impressive 17-strikeout performance by Ohio State pitcher Alex DiDomenico, the Buckeyes rolled by the Bobcats in Ohio’s first game under the lights, 6-1.
Until a DJ Engelman pop-up during the bottom of the sixth, every Bobcat out had been a DiDomenico strikeout.
Coach Jodi Hermanek said that DiDomineco’s performance put Ohio batters “out of their own swing.”
“We need to get back to the small details of our own technique and make sure that we’re adjusting on them,” Hermanek said. “When you’re out of your own swing, it’s a hard thing to beat a pitcher with.”
Ohio pitchers Lauren McClary and Kaylin Clarke had some struggles of their own on the mound. McClary was pulled after a two-run blast by Ohio State centerfielder Taylor Watkins in the top of the third.
Clarke came in to relieve McClary but the sophomore appeared to have injured her leg after throwing a warm-up pitch. Clarke came back after a brief delay and pitched 3.1 innings.
Clarke was then pulled in the sixth inning after giving up a two-run home run to Ohio State third baseman Megan Coletta. Freshman Savannah Jo Dorsey relieved Clarke and finished the game.
Ohio’s lone run came off of a solo home run (17) to center field by senior Lauren Gellerman in the bottom of third. After recording two home runs in the first game, Gellerman felt comfortable at the plate, despite her teammate’s struggles against DiDomenico.
“I was just confident. It sounds stupid, but I just saw the ball and hit it; I wasn’t thinking too much,” Gellerman said.
Fellow senior Tessa Bailey had a tough evening at the plate, but not because she couldn’t hit the ball, but because the ball hit her three times.
“She’s a fighter. She will just brush it off her shoulder and get on base,” Gellerman said, “She’s going to have some markings on her for the next couple of days, but she’s a tough kid.”
The Buckeyes (23-14, 3-6) return to Big Ten play against Penn State on Friday.
Ohio (19-16, 4-4) looks to bounce back against rival Miami (OH) in a doubleheader this Friday at 1 pm.