Softball weathers storms, sweeps Buffalo

by Joe Arnold
Staff Writer

Forced to play a tripleheader because of inclement weather, the Ohio softball team made the most of its time in Buffalo, downing the Bulls in three straight games Saturday.

The Bobcats (21-11 overall, 6-1 Mid-American Conference) trailed the Bulls (3-23, 0-6) only once in the three games. The Ohio pitching staff tallied three complete games.

Although the team had a successful weekend, run production needs to improve, pitcher Kasey Dowd said.

"We played well, but we should have scored more runs," she said. "Overall it was a good three games for us. We had good defense and good pitching, but we really needed to score runs."

In game one, Ohio used three straight singles in the first inning to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. The one run proved to be enough for Dowd. The right-hander pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits. The Bobcats' second run came on an RBI double by Sara Kraus that scored shortstop Crystal Turner in the second, giving the Bobcats the 2-0 win.

In game two the Bobcats came out swinging, putting the Bulls in an early 3-0 hole after four. A sacrifice fly by Kraus and a two-run single by second baseman Tiffany Bolton accounted for the Ohio offense as the Bobcats held off a late Buffalo rally to win 3-2. Ohio starter Heather Hagen fanned 11 batters in six innings of work, and reliever Val Wood picked up her fifth save of the season.

Game three saw the Bobcats in an unfamiliar position against the Bulls. Ohio trailed for the first time in three games when Buffalo's Kelly Malone scored on a wild pitch to put the Bulls up 1-0 early. The lead would not last long as the Bobcats tallied four runs in the fourth and three runs in the sixth en route to a 7-1 win and the three-game sweep. Wood, Ohio's starter, earned 10th win on the mound, striking out 10 in the complete-game victory.

Although the Bobcats put seven runs on the board in the third game, the team needs to work on situation hitting and moving runners ahead, Wood said.

"We definitely need to execute better in terms of hitting," she said. "We need to string our hits together and work on scoring the runners in scoring position. We've done that well all year, but this weekend we kind of fell short."

Despite playing in poor weather conditions, the Bobcats performed well, Wood said.

"We ran into a few rough spots, especially the weather, but it really didn't affect us too much," she said. "We kind of wanted to get the games over with and get out of the cold, but it really wasn't a big deal."

The Bobcats compete in doubleheader action this weekend when they take on Toledo at 2 p.m. Friday in Toledo and Eastern Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday in Ypsilanti, Mich.