Ohio Softball Sweep Sets Tone for Season
By: Tyler Corbit
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An old saying in baseball and softball is that your first at-bat says a lot about the rest of your season. For Ohio University, their first at-bat was a home run.
OHIO swept the Central Michigan Chippewas in three games to get out to a 3-0 start in conference play. The reigning Mid-American Conference runners-up were looking to start where they left off last year, and that they did with three wins in two days. The three wins improved OHIO to 14-12 on the season and dropped the Chippewas to 9-15.
Game One
The series got underway on Friday with senior first basemen Mikayla Cooper hitting a home run to get the Bobcats out to an early lead; from that point on there was little doubt that each game would go to the green and white.
“I feel like once I set the tone with my pace, it’s just going to keep the hits flowing,” Cooper said.
Freshman Madi McCrady started the first game of the series for the Bobcats and came out with the win. She exited the contest after pitching six of the seven innings – Sophomore Kendall Meeks then came in to shut the door on the Chippewa offense, sealing a 4-3 victory for OHIO.
McCrady seemed dominant on the mound, but coach Jodi Hermanek said she felt she could have pitched even better.
“She didn’t have her best control day today, and that’s the fun part about it — she’s still winning,” Hermanek said.
Game Two
Game two gave fans a dose of déjà vu as Cooper launched a ball over the right-field wall to give the Bobcats an early lead. Junior third baseman Alex Day matched Cooper’s bat hitting a home run right after Cooper, giving the Bobcats back-to-back home runs and an early 2-0 lead. The Bobcats had a 5-1 lead after the second inning
OHIO gave the ball to Senior Danielle Stiene on the mound. It was smooth sailing for Stiene until the fifth inning when Stiene gave up four runs, tying the game at 5. But OHIO’s confidence in their pitcher never wavered.
“We can play behind our pitchers and not feel pressured,” Cooper said.
That lack of pressure showed in the next two innings as OHIO would put three more runs on the board and come away with an 8-5 win. OHIO would also come away with a win the final game in the series by a score of 5-1.
Next for the Bobcats is one game at home against the Pitt Panthers on Thursday before they hit the road and take on Eastern Michigan over the weekend.