Sports
Ohio Softball: Wild Day at OSF Ends with ‘Cats Sweep of BGSU
By: Taylor Jedrzejek
Posted on:
ATHENS, OH — Fans in attendance at the Ohio Softball Field on Saturday were certainly treated to some great softball on Saturday afternoon. There was no shortage of hits, runs, and especially drama, during the Bobcats doubleheader against Bowling Green.
But after all the dust had settled and seven hours of softball had concluded, it was Ohio that had come away with two more victories.
The Bobcats (21-10, 3-0 MAC) completed the series sweep of the Falcons (10-16, 0-3 MAC) winning the both games in come-from-behind fashion.
The first game saw the ‘Cats with 8-7 in extra innings on Morgan Geno’s bases loaded single. The second half of the doubleheader saw Ohio erase an 8-4 deficit on their way to a 15-10 win.
“The exciting thing about this team is that they don’t stop fighting. If one person goes down, the other ones have their back,” Ohio head coach Kenzie Roark said. “They just keep getting after it.”
Game one got off to a good start for the Bobcats with Charlie Pond plating two runners with a single up the middle in the top of the first to give Ohio an early 2-0 lead.
However, the next five runs would be scored by the Falcons. After pitching a great game on Friday afternoon, Bobcat pitcher Madi McCrady started again in the first game of Saturday. The sophomore was unable to find the strike zone for much of her first 1 and ⅔ innings in the circle, giving up four runs before being lifted for Kendall Meeks.
McCrady would get a chance to redeem herself later in the game when she was given the ball to pitch with a 6-5 lead needing just 6 outs for the win.
Just two batters in to her return trip to the circle, she gave up a two-run blast to Madi McCoy that hit off the scoreboard in deep center to give the Falcons a 7-6 lead.
What came next was the most dramatic moment of either game.
With two outs in the bottom of the 6th, Allie Englant was at third base when the fourth ball to Geno slipped passed the Bowling Green catcher. Englant took off in an attempt to score the tying run, only to find her path to the plate blocked by Falcon pitcher Brooke Parker.
Englant was initially ruled out at home, but after some protest from Roark and the Bobcat fans in the stands, a long meeting between the three umpires commenced. When the meeting concluded, the call was overturned and Englant was awarded the run to tie the game at seven.
“They got it right,” Roark said. “That was a turning point for us.”
The Bobcats would score the winning run two innings later with Geno’s walk-off single.
After a short break, the two teams, fresh off an emotional first game, had to line up and do it again.
Just like game one, the Bobcats jumped out to an early lead, this time 4-0, only to see in vanish in a single inning.
After pitching 4 and ⅔ scoreless innings, Ohio’s game two starter, Mackenzie Kohl, was driven out of the circle by the Falcons.
Bowling Green scored eight runs with two outs in the 5th to take an 8-4 lead.
Ohio wasted no time chipping away at that lead.
Katie Yun led off the bottom of the 5th with a solo home run. Five batters later, Alex Day drew a bases-loaded walk to bring the Bobcats back within two runs, trailing 8-6.
The next batter, Deanna Cole, erased the Falcon lead entirely with a 3-run homer to right field to put the ‘Cats back on top 9-8.
But Ohio wasn’t done there.
In the bottom of the 6th, the Bobcats blew the game open when Geno sent a ball over the fence in left for a grand slam home run that gave the ‘Cats a 13-8 lead.
The four RBIs registered by Geno on that swing also tied her for most all-time in Ohio Softball history with 118.
“It’s pretty cool,” Geno said. “Everyone always talks about batting average, but that’s not the most important thing. That’s RBIs because that’s the team part of it.”
“She wants to do well for her team. Any of the accolades she’s gotten, she’s always like ‘oh, cool’. Our win-loss record is more important to her,” Roark said. “She’s all about the team.”
For the two games, Geno was just 2-for-5 at the plate with two hits. But those two hits drove in five runs.
Yun also continued her torrid home run pace on Saturday. The shortstop has now homered eight times in her last 26 at-bats.
The most impressive plate performance for Ohio on Saturday goes to Deanna Cole. The senior center fielder finished the day 4-for-7 with six RBIs and three runs scored. She also made a stellar catch on the run while slamming into the center field wall to rob the Falcons of an extra base hit.
Despite her struggles in the early going of game one, McCrady bounced back to earn wins in both games of the doubleheader to bring her record on the season to 12-6 with an ERA of 3.63.
Ohio will be back on the field on Tuesday when they take on Northern Kentucky at OSF. It will mark the first time the Bobcats and the Norse will meet on the diamond.
First pitch is set for 5 p.m.