Sports

Ohio Softball Heads To Nashville On Five-Game Losing Streak

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Update, March 4, 2014, 12:19 p.m.: The first game of Ohio's road trip against Tennessee State has been cancelled with no makeup date set.


Coming off a five-game skid, a trip north may do Ohio some good. The Bobcats will head to Nashville, Tenn., for a game with Tennessee State and two with Lipscomb.

Ohio squares off against Tennessee State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Tigers have struggled thus far in 2014, and have posted a record of 6-14.  Tennessee State has only scored 49 runs this season, compared to 111 for its opponents. Not only have the Tigers been poor on the mound and in the batter’s box this season, they also have committed 46 errors defensively.

One bright spot for the Tigers is Lindsey Burgess, who comes into play hitting .340 and is getting on base at a rate of .448. Another is Kate Morris who is hitting .293 with a team-leading 13 RBIs.

Ohio will likely face off against a combination of Olivia Gamache and Shea Morris, who have combined to pitch 117 1/3 of the team’s 129 1/3 innings. The ‘Cats may be looking to play long ball off of Morris, who has surrendered 14 home runs in 2014.

Wednesday’s doubleheader will present a bit harder of a task for Ohio. The Lipscomb Bisons come in at 15-3 and play the ‘Cats in back-to-back games at 3 and 5 p.m.

The Bisons sport three athletes who are hovering right around the .400 mark in terms of batting average. Lipscomb also boasts a balanced lineup that is capable of production from top to bottom. Seven players in the regular lineup have at least 10 RBIs. Paige Neeley comes in as the most productive bat in the lineup with a .397 average, and three home runs, all while leading her team in RBIs (17) and total bases (40).

Bison pitching has boasted a 5.48 ERA and are led by No. 1 starter Ashley Anderson, who is 6-0 with a 0.98 ERA.

Lipscomb is coming off a series where it went 2-1 against the same North Florida squad Ohio defeated 1-0 in a Savannah Jo Dorsey no-hitter.

Ohio saw much of its production on offense slip in Gulport, Miss., over the weekend. The Bobcats only scored six runs in five games at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Softball Classic.

Players like Amanda Dalton, Madison Claytor and Casie Hutchinson were hitting right around .400 a few short games ago, but have cooled off and are now right around .300.

Adrienne Gebele also has cooled off a bit, but is still hitting an impressive .418.

Pitching was still a strong factor for Ohio, who kept games close over the last weekend of play, even while losing. The team ERA is 2.81 and Savannah Jo Dorsey maintains a record of 9-4. Raven King or Kaylin Clarke could see time on the mound due to the amount of work Dorsey and McClary have put in over the last several weekends.