Sports
Ohio Outlasts Kent State 5-4 After Delay
< < Back to ohio-outlasts-kent-state-5-4-after-delayThe Ohio Bobcats finished off the Kent State Golden Flashes 5-4 after five hours and 31 minutes of a rain delay kept the two teams off the field. The delay began after Ohio took a 5-4 lead in five innings of play.
Ohio pitcher Lauren McClary shut down the last of the Kent State batters to maintain Ohio’s 5-4 lead to the end. The win advanced the Bobcats to the next round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Down 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Ohio’s offense stormed back to claim the lead. Kaylin Clarke entered the game to pinch hit with runners on second and third and one out. She delivered with a long single to right center that brought in two runs and tied the game at 4-4.
Chelsea Hortman then hit a clutch RBI-single and the Bobcats took the lead before the infield tarp was rolled out.
Thursday’s hero, Alyssa Wolfe, set the table for the top of Ohio’s lineup. She drew a walk with one out, and then advanced to third base when Tessa Bailey hit a double off of the fence in left field. Clarke then hit her two-run single.
Lashley ran for Clarke, stole second base, and got into scoring position for Hortman to drive in the lead run.
Ohio starting pitcher Savannah Jo Dorsey pitched with few disturbances until the Golden Flashes finally got to her in the fourth.
Kent State did all its damage with two outs. Abbey Ledford led off the inning with single, and Michele Duffy drew a walk with one out. Lauren Kesterson then hit a bases clearing triple to tie the game at 2-2.
After Kent State tied the game, Ohio head coach Jodi Hermanek replaced Dorsey in the circle with sophomore Laruen McClary.
A single by Jessacca Gironda drove in Kesterson and the Golden Flashes took the lead. Kesterson was Dorsey’s last base runner. Dorsey pitched 3.2 innings and allowed three runs on four hits.
The freshman has been workhorse for the Bobcats in the MAC Tournament. She has pitched 13 innings and allowed four runs in three games.
A single by Dani Ramos plus Gironda’s hustle scored her from first base and extended the Flashes’ lead to 4-2.
With the lead, Kent State’s starting pitcher Emma Johnson retired the Bobcats in order in the bottom of the fourth, and picked up two strike outs. She has pitched all five innings in the game, allowed three earned runs and struck out 11 Bobcat hitters.
Ohio’s offense got to work early in the game. With runners on first and second base and two outs, Adrienne Gebele hit a routine grounder to the pitcher. Johnson threw the ball over the head of the first baseman while two runs came in for Ohio. Bailey scored from second, and Lashley hustled from first to beat out the throw to home.
Ohio moves on to play Ball State in the next round. The game time has yet to be determined after the delay shuffled the tournament schedule.
*Bradley Parks contributed to this report.