Sports

Dorsey Shines As Ohio Sweeps Toledo

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Savannah, Jo Dorsey came through with her bat in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader against Toledo, just a few hours removed from winning the first game with her arm. Dorsey capped a 5-4 victory with a walk-off single to left field that scored the speedy Taylor Saxton, giving Ohio the win in exhilarating fashion.

“I refocused like five times, and then I hit it," said Dorsey.

“One pitch is all it takes in an at-bat,” said Ohio head coach Jodi Hermanek. “And that calm mentality right there got her a hard shot. And with speed like Taylor Saxton … I’m glad we never have to throw her out.”

A grand slam by Casie Hutchinson gave the Bobcats just the lift they needed as they blanked the Toledo Rockets 6-0 at home in the first game of their doubleheader on Friday. The two wins pushed the 'Cats to 21-17, and 6-2 in Mid-American Conference play.

Alyssa Wolfe started it off with a short bunt in the bottom of the fifth to reach first. She then stole second. Then a series of walks by Toledo’s Emily Anderson loaded the bases before “Clutch” Hutchinson sent it past the Ohio Softball Field fence to give the Bobcats a 4-0 lead. Her grand slam was the first home run of her Bobcat career. Anderson, who had been pitching well all game, got another out and it seemed like the damage was done. That was before Savannah Jo Dorsey took the plate and slapped a solo homer to further hurt Toledo’s chances and give Ohio a solid 5-0 lead.

Dorsey was effective on both sides of the ball, pitching the whole game and giving up six outs while recording eight strikeouts to grab her 15th (15-12) win of the season. She and Anderson were having a pitching battle through the fifth inning but one inning was all it really took to unravel Toledo (14-25, 5-6).

Anderson looked to shake off the bad inning in the sixth but things quickly got out of control again as bases were once again loaded with Hutchinson at the plate. However, this time it didn’t take much work from the third baseman as she was walked and pushed Sloan Walker home to add another run to effectively seal the win for the ‘Cats.

In game two, Ohio got on the board first with a grand slam off the bat of Alexandria Basquez, who slugged the ball deep over the fence in left field, giving Ohio a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. It was then that both starting pitchers, Lauren McClary and Emily Anderson kicked into overdrive on the mound.

Working quickly, McClary induced ground balls and easy flies, and did not surrender a single run until the seventh inning.

The second through the sixth innings finished without a run scored in that time frame, even as the Bobcats hit the ball on the button several times.

In the top of the seventh, up 4-0 McClary quickly got the first out but then found herself in trouble. Hutchinson made two errors at third base, and the Rockets quickly scored two runs to put themselves right back in the game. With a runner on and two outs, Jessica Lemieux hit a long blast into the netting in left-center field to knot things up at a score of 4-4. McClary bared down to get the last out of the inning by striking out Ashley London.

Despite losing a 4-run lead in the seventh for the second time in three days, the top of the Bobcat order came through in the home half of the inning. It was then that Savannah Jo Dorsey came through with the RBI single that won the game for Ohio as the Bobcats sprinted out of the dugout to celebrate their win.

“I was confident the whole time,” Dorsey said. “Even when they tied it up in the dugout, I looked at our pitcher and said we’re going to get your back." McClary went the distance, and did not give up an earned run (all four were unearned) and only yielded six hits in moving her record to 5-4.

Ohio finished with seven hits at the plate and only struck out twice, hitting the ball hard all day.

The 'Cats will host Bowling Green for two games on Saturday and Sunday.