Softball holds Ohio batters at bay, wins all four weekend games
The CMU softball team claimed first place in the Mid-American Conference West division with four weekend wins.
The team beat Ohio 3-1 on Sunday using a defense that allowed just five runs since Friday.
CMU (21-13, 8-4 MAC) finished with eight hits against Ohio’s seven in the two-game series, but Central outscored its opponent 6-2.
“I thought we certainly took advantage of the hits we had,” said coach Margo Jonker. “We’ve been doing a lot of the power game, and today was more of the short ball.”
A pitching battle between Ohio’s Emily Wethington and CMU freshman Kara Dornbos kept the game scoreless through the first 3 and 1/2 innings and continued to limit the game’s offense.
After a leadoff walk and a hit batter in the bottom of the fourth, senior outfielder Katie Greenman singled down the right-field line, advancing sophomore Ashley Gilson and scoring senior Christina Novak.
A sacrifice bunt by sophomore Molly Coldren scored Gilson and pinch runner Amber Olejniczak to increase the lead to 3-0.
Ohio (11-26, 6-4 MAC) threatened in the top of the sixth inning after a single by Shalene Petrich. She advanced to third base following a two-out hit batter and a fielding error, which loaded the bases.
Dornbos got out of the jam unscathed, however, after a pop-up to shortstop ended the inning.
But Dornbos was tested again in the seventh inning. Jordan Paden attempted to rally her team with a leadoff double, and was sent home later in the inning to put the Bobcats on the board. With a runner on base, the tying run stepped to the plate, but Dornbos induced a groundout back to the circle to end the game.
Dornbos struck out four and gave up one run on five hits in her ninth complete game of the season, advancing to 9-3 overall.
“I hit my spots really well and we also had amazing defense that was key to the win,” Dornbos said.
THE WEEKEND
The first game of the Ohio series Saturday almost mirrored Sunday, with junior Kari Seddon pitching a shutout heading into the seventh inning.
CMU’s offense came in one inning as well.
A fielding error and hit-batter put runners in scoring position for Central in the third inning, and a double by Coldren sent both home to take a 2-0 lead. Jill Schulz singled to advance Colden to third, and a fielding error scored the third run.
With a three-run lead to work with, Seddon brought a no-hitter into the last inning before giving up a run on two hits. The win improved her season record to 11-7.
Central swept Akron on Friday, winning the first game 3-0 and following with a 4-3 victory to sweep the Zips. The team finished the weekend 4-0, improving to 8-4 in conference play.
“We want to make some noise in the conference and always compete for the championship. We need to get on a roll and, hopefully, this will get us going,” Jonker said.
CMU will finish its home stretch at 6 p.m. Thursday against Michigan State.
