One run in two games led to two losses for the Ohio softball team yesterday.

Marshall took two crucial conference games from Ohio winning the first game 1-0 in nine innings and taking the second game 4-1. The Bobcats dropped to 23-28 overall and 11-8 in the Mid-American Conference with their third straight loss.

With the two victories, the Thundering Herd have climbed into a tie with Bowling Green for third place in the MAC East Division with an 8-8 conference record. They got great pitching performances from Sara Gulla and Natasha Johnson. The two combined to limit Ohio to 12 hits in two games.

Johnson matched Bobcat ace Kasey Dowd inning for inning in the first game. Both pitchers had shutouts going until the bottom of the ninth inning when Marshall left-fielder Kelli Hall ended the game with an RBI single off Dowd. Dowd dropped to 13-11 on the season with the loss.

Hall hurt the Bobcats again in the second game. She drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double off of pitcher Heather Hagen in the third inning. Ohio could manage only one run off Gulla who went the entire game.

The two losses all but eliminate Ohio in the race for the MAC regular-season championship and hurt the team's chances of catching Kent in the MAC East. Kent raised its conference record to 14-6 with a doubleheader sweep of Akron Tuesday.

Ohio gets back into action with doubleheaders at 2 p.m. Friday at Akron and at 1 p.m. Saturday at Kent.

Ohio signs three players

Ohio head softball coach Roanna Brazier has received national letters of intent from three players for next season.

Shortstop Crystal Turner, outfielder Melanie King, and utility player Lyndsay Eirich all have committed to Ohio.

"The group as a whole is extremely talented and enthusiastic," Brazier said in a press release. "We have confidence they can step in as freshmen and help our team reach its goals."

Turner, of Kansas City, Mo., batted .532 as a senior with four home runs and 30 RBIs. She was named all-conference four times and all-district and all-state twice.

Eirich is from Powell, Ohio. She had 30 RBIs and 17 stolen bases her junior year.

King, of Littleton, Colo., was named Colorado's high school state player of the year. She hit seven home runs her junior season, and her summer team is the Colorado Comets, ranked third in the nation.

- Jay Cohen