Sports
Ohio Softball’s bats go cold in loss to Ohio State
By: Grayson Wolf
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – It was a record-setting crowd of 1,009 people at Ohio Softball Field on Tuesday to see the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Ohio Bobcats. The Buckeyes came into the contest ranked 25th in the nation with a record of 17-5.
Mackensie Kohl got the start in the circle again for the Bobcats and pitched well against the vaunted Buckeye offense. She gave up an RBI single in the second inning and then a two-run home run in the third.
The Bobcats bats were silenced by Ohio State starting pitcher Allison Smith until the third inning when they got their first hit.
Smith walked the next two batters, and the Bobcats had the bases loaded with only one out. The Buckeyes made a pitching change to Lexie Handley and she shut the door on the Ohio threat.
The Bobcat offense was never able to threaten again as Handley never gave up a hit in her three and two thirds’ innings of work.
Ohio head coach Kenzie Roark said that the big crowd played a factor in the Bobcats offensive struggles.
“Half of my team’s never played in front of that many people,” Roark said. “Got people a little amped up and they were swinging at things that maybe they don’t normally do.”
The Buckeyes put up two more runs in the sixth. Maggie Otte then hit a home run to give them some more insurance and Ohio State took home the 6-1 victory.
Kohl pitched another complete game and gave up six earned runs on 10 hits and one walk. She also struck out one batter.
One of the bright spots for the Bobcats was their defense.
“They wanted to make outs,” Roark said. “They made a bunch of really good plays, key plays that kept runs off the board.”
Ohio will look to rebound as it stays in Athens to face Bowling Green in a three-game weekend series beginning Friday.